ArcoScreen awarded CHF 1Mio Lopez-Loreta Prize to enable the team expansion and product development
14.10.2021
ArcoScreen SA, an EPFL spinoff and Venture Kick Alumni developing novel drug screening tools, announced today that its co-founder Dr. Margaux Duchamp has been awarded the Lopez-Loreta Prize 2021. This prize awarded by the Lopez-Loreta foundation recognizes academic excellence and provides the selected project with continuous funding of CHF 1Mio over 5 years. This financial support will be used to expand the team and industrialize ArcoScreen’s first product: the SynScreen kit. We interviewed CEO & co-founder Margaux Duchamps to learn more about the use of these funds.
 |
 |
ArcoScreen has developed a new cell membrane receptor screening platform based on a microfluidic system and focusing on G Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). This novel and unique patented assay embedded in a microfluidic chip, called SynScreen, is currently the only mean of rapidly and accurately identifying drugs targeting GPCRs directly on primary patient cells. The implications are game-changing: more accurate, cheaper, and faster drug discoveries.
“We are very thankful to the Lopez-Loreta foundation and all the jury members who believe in our mission at ArcoScreen. We are currently performing pilot studies with relevant key opinion leaders and have the first paying customers in our pipeline. Those significant achievements could not have been possible without our dedicated and talented team,” said Dr. Margaux Duchamp, co-founder, and CEO of ArcoScreen, pictured on the left.
“This financing will help ArcoScreen grow and scale up our product development, taking us to the next step in our business development plan. Our technology has received growing interest from the industry. This funding will be used to continue building on this momentum,” added Dr. Thamani Dahoun, co-founder and CTO of ArcoScreen, on the right in the pictures.
Margaux, how will the 1-million-investment from the Loreta-Lopez price help achieve your vision?
The 1Mio investment from the Lopez-Loreta prize will enable ArcoScreen to reach its next milestone in product development by permitting the industrialization of our first product SynScreen. This financial support will also be used to expand the team with core competencies in product development and quality control.
You won Venture Kick in 2021. How did it help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
Venture Kick and in particular the support from the team during the kickers' camps provided us with the business knowledge we were lacking. The Venture Kick program is at the foundation of our growth as it helped us sharpen our pitch and story.
When, and what, was your inspiration to found ArcoScreen?
We founded ArcoScreen in 2021 with Dr. Thamani Dahoun, on the right in the picture. We realized that our technology could be game-changing in the world of GPCR drug discovery and ultimately favor the discovery of new life-saving drugs impacting millions of patients.
What is your advice for the potential Medtech entrepreneurs launching companies in Switzerland today?
A piece of advice I got at the beginning was to build a strong team. I think the key to any venture is the team, you need to be surrounded by the best!
“We are very thankful to the Lopez-Loreta foundation and all the jury members who believe in our mission at ArcoScreen. We are currently performing pilot studies with relevant key opinion leaders and have the first paying customers in our pipeline. Those significant achievements could not have been possible without our dedicated and talented team,” said Dr. Margaux Duchamp, co-founder, and CEO of ArcoScreen, pictured on the left.“This financing will help ArcoScreen grow and scale up our product development, taking us to the next step in our business development plan. Our technology has received growing interest from the industry. This funding will be used to continue building on this momentum,” added Dr. Thamani Dahoun, co-founder and CTO of ArcoScreen, on the right in the pictures.
Margaux, how will the 1-million-investment from the Loreta-Lopez price help achieve your vision?The 1Mio investment from the Lopez-Loreta prize will enable ArcoScreen to reach its next milestone in product development by permitting the industrialization of our first product SynScreen. This financial support will also be used to expand the team with core competencies in product development and quality control.
You won Venture Kick in 2021. How did it help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
Venture Kick and in particular the support from the team during the kickers' camps provided us with the business knowledge we were lacking. The Venture Kick program is at the foundation of our growth as it helped us sharpen our pitch and story.
When, and what, was your inspiration to found ArcoScreen?
We founded ArcoScreen in 2021 with Dr. Thamani Dahoun, on the right in the picture. We realized that our technology could be game-changing in the world of GPCR drug discovery and ultimately favor the discovery of new life-saving drugs impacting millions of patients.
What is your advice for the potential Medtech entrepreneurs launching companies in Switzerland today?
A piece of advice I got at the beginning was to build a strong team. I think the key to any venture is the team, you need to be surrounded by the best!