AMAL Therapeutics’ keynote at the TOP 100: How 85 slides led to 2019’s biggest biotech exit in Europe

AMAL Therapeutics was a Venture Kick winner and a Venture Leader in 2012. In 2014, the startup first appeared among the TOP 100 Swiss startups—as number 98—and stayed in the ranking for four consecutive years (2014-2017), making it to the top 10 in 2016. 

Dr. Madiha Derouazi founded AMAL Therapeutics in 2012 as a University of Geneva spin-off. Together with her team, she advances cancer immunotherapy and accelerates AMAL’s first-in-class therapeutic cancer vaccine, derived from its immunization technology platform KISIMA®. The company aims to offer effective cancer therapies by complementing existing standards of care, such as chemo- and radiotherapies, without adding to their known toxicities.

In 2014, AMAL Therapeutics closed its Seed round: “That was the first lesson I learned,” said Madiha. “I had the chance to get the Seed financing round very rapidly, but it was not the same when it came to the A round. When it comes to biotech and oncology, the risk is very high, and investors do not like risk. I was a woman in a man’s world. I had to learn to be resilient, not take anything personally, to continue and lead with a very short runway.” In 2016, AMAL raised CHF 3 million, and a year later, the startup closed its first big financing round with CHF 33 million.

In 2019, AMAL started preparing clinical trials in both the US and Europe, and in the summer of that year, the first patient was dosed with the vaccine ATP128. But that was not the only highlight for AMAL in that year: “In December 2018, I went to Boehringer Ingelheim because I was interested in using one of their in-license products in combination with our vaccine. I was trying to convince them that the best thing they can do is to give me the molecule that we needed for free—instead of paying approximately CHF 2.5 million,” said Madiha. A three-hour presentation with 85 slides achieved that goal paved the way for Boehringer Ingelheim to provide the product free of charge. Little did Madiha and her team know that this collaboration was only the beginning of their relationship with the German pharma giant. 

“In April 2019, I got a call from a board member from Boehringer Ingelheim, offering me to buy AMAL. I was completely shocked; I could not believe it,” said Madiha. “He explained to me why they want to do it, how they want to do it, what the expectations are, and at the end, he told me the price: 425 million. I couldn’t speak anymore. I hung up, called my chairman to share the news, and she asked me: Is it 425 million Swiss Francs or Euro? Honestly, I had no clue. I didn’t ask.” Later that day, Madiha received all the documents for the transaction. Within 10 weeks, AMAL and Boehringer Ingelheim closed the deal. 

In 2019, AMAL was acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim for up to EUR 425 million, making it the largest biotech exit in Europe in 2019. Madiha continues to lead the AMAL team in Switzerland and drives the integration into the Boehringer Ingelheim oncology research and development departments. Her closing message was for all biotech entrepreneurs: “Do not try to oversell it and keep it on the scientific level because the science will drive the value and nothing else.”