Bordeaux, May 15^th, 2025 – On May 6–7, Bordeaux hosted the 10th edition of MEET2WIN, the European partnering convention dedicated to the fight against cancer. Organised by the French platform MATWIN (a 100% subsidiary of Unicancer), the event brought together more than 300 international stakeholders – researchers, major groups, biotechs, startups, investors, and support organizations – united by a shared ambition: to accelerate innovation in oncology.

A unique platform in Europe, MATWIN has been bringing together the academia, industrial, and entrepreneurial world for 15 years to accelerate the transformation of research projects into concrete clinical solutions. This model is powered by the commitment of 14 pharmaceutical company partners*, which directly involve their R&D World executive decision-makers to evaluate and support innovation with a high medical impact in the field.

‘As a key and valuable player in this innovation pipeline, our MATWIN subsidiary has already supported nearly 500 projects, enabled the creation of over 50 startups, trained almost 250 entrepreneurs, and contributed to launching numerous clinical trials over the past fifteen years. This is an outstanding achievement for such a small organization!’ — reports Jean-Yves Blay, President of Unicancer.

Fabrice Barlesi, President of MATWIN and CEO of Gustave Roussy comments: ‘MATWIN is a key driver of innovation in oncology, working in synergy with the recently established Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster. It is only by joining forces that the ecosystem will be able to truly transform research into concrete solutions for patients.’

MEET2WIN, a catalyst for innovation at the heart of the European ecosystem

The MEET2WIN convention, the high point of this dynamic, has established itself as a strategic crossroads between science, funding and technology transfer, a catalyst for added value and growth.

One of the event’s highlights was the selection of the three awarded 2025 projects by the prestigious MATWIN international board, uniting Oncology R&D decision-makers from the 14 partner pharma companies and academic experts from leading European cancer research centres.

• Best drug-based Innovation: Developed at the Lead Discovery Center (LDC) in Dortmund, Germany, Tim Bergbrede’s project has led to a novel inhibitor of POLRMT – a key enzyme in cancer cell proliferation. This first-in-class preclinical candidate compound, already patented by the LDC, has shown safety, selectivity, and efficacy in multiple animal models in mono and combination therapy. It offers promising potential for the treatment of breast cancer, lymphoma, and other currently untreatable cancers.
• Best Technological Innovation: Founded in 2024 and based in Saint-Mande, Brink Therapeutics is developing next-generation recombinase technology to revolutionize genome editing. Using an approach combining directed evolution, metagenomic exploration, and Artificial Intelligence, this TechBio designs enzymes capable of inserting, deleting or modifying DNA sequences with unprecedented precision, paving the way for safer and more effective gene therapies. Its main objectives is to enable the production of CAR-T cells directly in the body, making theses therapies more accessible on a large scale.
• Best Precision Medicine / Diagnostic Innovation: Co-founded in 2020 by Institut Curie and Home Biosciences, One Biosciences is developing a groundbreaking technology that analyzes cancer cells one by one, from patient samples. By combining single-cell technologies and artificial intelligence, it uncovers the molecular mechanisms driving each tumor’s behavior and resistance to treatment. This enables clinicians to make more informed therapeutic decisions and helps biopharma improve clinical trial outcomes – opening the door to more effective, personalized, and targeted precision medicine.

These three projects have all benefited from the MATWIN accelerator programme, a six-month strategic support package including mentoring/coaching, early due diligence and preparation for meetings with industry. A support which proved to be decisive for over 300 accompanied projects since the program was launched in 2009.

In addition to the MATWIN board, other panels also awarded a number of companies during the event:

• The OUI jury (Oncology Upward Investment) – composed of around 15 European investors –awarded two promising companies for their investment potential: Pan Cancer T (Netherlands) and Evariste (UK).
• The QUICK PITCH jury, composed of MATWIN board members and the full MEET2WIN audience, awarded two innovative projects led by Recobia Therapeutics (Strasbourg) and Pan Cancer T (Netherlands).

This was another successful operation for MATWIN for this 10th anniversary edition of MEET2WIN which confirmed the growing impact of the event, with nearly 300 European participants, over 1,000 business meetings, around 30 speakers, and high-level conferences on immuno-oncology, Artificial Intelligence, paediatric oncology, innovation business models, and pathways to translating research into real solutions for patients.

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About MATWIN

MATWIN, a 100% subsidiary of Unicancer, is a French open-innovation platform dedicated exclusively to oncology. For the past 16 years, the platform has offered various support actions (expertise, accelerator programs, events, etc.) to boost the development of innovative cancer-related projects. Its activities are backed by a longstanding partnership with 14 global pharma companies committed to advancing impactful innovation in oncology* (Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Exact Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, insitro, MSD, Pierre Fabre, Pfizer, Sanofi, Servier, and Takeda). Since 2021, MATWIN also coordinates the OncoSTART consortium dedicated to oncology entrepreneurship, which brings together 14 expert organizations in cancer research and innovation.

MATWIN press contact: Lucia Robert – lucia.robert@matwin.fr

About LDC

Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need. LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential.

LDC sustains a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Society and its institutes as well as with KHAN-I and KHAN-II, and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo, Qurient, InvIOS, Novo Nordisk, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Pharma, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, e.g. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centers and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.

Further information available at: www.lead-discovery.de

About KHAN-I

KHAN Technology Transfer Fund I GmbH & Co KG (KHAN-I) is an early-stage life sciences venture fund with € 70 million under management. Their mission is to create value through cooperative drug development partnerships with academic innovators in Europe. KHAN-I focuses on first-in-class therapies for attractive markets with a high unmet medical need. The fund is managed by Khanu Management GmbH, an experienced team of professionals with proven track records in early-stage drug development and academic spin-offs as well as pharma licensing and partnering. KHAN-I received an investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the support of InnovFin Equity, and with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) under the Investment Plan for Europe.

KHAN-I is also supported by Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS with funds provided by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Foundation for Research, Technology, and Development), Max Planck Foundation, and Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft mbH. In addition, KHAN-I sustains a preferred partnership with the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft e.V.).

Further information available at: www.khanu.de

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Contact: pr@lead-discovery.de

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About the Kinase Inhibitor Program

The licensed program belongs to a series of novel and highly selective kinase inhibitor compounds that have initially been developed by LDC in a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Max-Planck-Förderstiftung. This project emerged from a collaboration of LDC with research groups from the Westfälische Wilhelms-University of Münster (Prof Dr Michael Meisterernst) and the Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg (Dr Gerhard Mittler).

About Lead Discovery Center GmbH

The Lead Discovery Center (LDC), a spin-off company of Max Planck Innovation, was established a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need.

With a world-class team of interdisciplinary scientists, drug discovery experts, pharmacologists and seasoned project managers, the LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals.

In close collaboration with high-profile partners from academia and industry, the LDC is building a strong and further growing portfolio of small molecule leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential. In addition to the kinase inhibitor program licensed to Bayer Pharma AG, the LDC has established a diverse portfolio of highly innovative projects currently comprising over 15 small molecules at various stages of drug discovery. Target indications of these LDC molecules cover a broad range of diseases including cancer, inflammation, infection and metabolic, neurological or neurodegenerative diseases.

Find more information at: www.lead-discovery.de

About Max Planck Innovation

Max Planck Innovation (MI) is the technology transfer organization for the renowned Max-Planck-Society (MPG), Germany´s largest basic research organization and has established the LDC in 2008. MI markets patents and technologies to industry and advises scientists to establish new companies based on research results, emerging from the more than eighty different Max-Planck-Institutes spread throughout Germany.

Contact

Thomas Hegendörfer
T. +49.231.97 42 70 02
E. hegendoerfer@lead-discovery.de

Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany

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