Today we would like to introduce Belyntic to you. We got in touch with the startup during the program Unhide the champions. What exactly Belyntic does and what the program is about, you can find out in our interview.
What does Belyntic do exactly?
Belyntic is a chemistry-for-healthcare company. We have developed a linker molecule and a related chemical process that enable the parallelization and cost-efficient scale-up of peptide manufacturing – Peptide Easy Clean (PEC). The PEC technology improves the whole value chain for novel peptide-based drugs. Customers can make use of PEC in the form of kit products that contain the PEC linker molecule to improve their development and production of novel and complex peptide-based pharmaceuticals. Services for feasibilities, training and implementation complement the product experience.
Learn more about Belyntic’s PEC technology in this video
Which team is working behind Belyntic?
We are still in an early stage market where product applications are guided by specific customer challenges. Our technical team consists of organic chemists with peptide expertise and understanding of peptide-based therapeutics. We can translate the pharmacological requirements into structure and process improvements and find custom solutions on the chemistry side.
What is your goal?
We aim to help exploiting more complex peptide-based drugs with an emphasis on their economically and ecologically feasible manufacturing. We, therefore, strive to implement our technology in routine processes in the mainstream markets.
How did the idea for Belyntic come about?
The idea came up during the doctorate period of two of our co-founders Oliver Reimann and Robert Zitterbart. They themselves worked with peptides and had tough times with their purification using conventional chromatography. The idea to do it differently – easier, faster and less machine-dependent – was born. Two years later we had the first universally applicable and scalable PEC purification linker in hand.
What challenges did you have in starting up your business?
The key challenge is to introduce a novel technology into established processes. Even though the current chromatographic methods have their – sometimes even critical – limitations, some people just want to spend more hours into optimization than to look into a promising new approach. We are eager to address this by delivering best-possible customer support and whole product experience to build a trust into our offer.
What phase are you in right now?
Our core business is providing kits and services to our customers and partners to build a sustainable business. Understanding the potential of our technology, we have launched a strategic initiative to pursue own drug candidates. Furthermore, we are heading towards a Series A financing round in June 2021.
What support have you already received?
We have secured our seed investment in 05/2019 from the HTGF as well a large R&D project funding from Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). Till Knorr is our business angel.
You were part of the Unhide the Champions program. What exactly is the program?
We participated at two events of Unhide the Champions – chemistry and new materials and healthcare. The idea of the events is to connect established SME companies with innovative startups to find potential areas of mutual interest and collaboration.
How has the program helped you? Would you recommend other startups to participate as well?
Unhide the Champions provides a sophisticated platform for efficient and very affordable matchmaking. As young companies usually have a demand in support and networking at various ends of their business, it is certainly worth participating at an event that fits to the own business sector.
You have also received the EXIST sponsorship. What did the funding enable you and would you recommend teams to apply for funding programs?
I would say EXIST is a very efficient instrument to transform outstanding scientific ideas into marketable businesses. The funding size and period is ideal to engage in first relevant proof-of-concept studies and build up first industry relationships with partners and customers. Also, very importantly, you expand your team with a business expert. That is vital to complement the starting team that often consists of scientists only.
What would you advise teams that are in an early stage of formation? What should teams pay attention to?
Do not try to fix the whole thing – pick up a specific problem that is shared by a defined group of people and find pilot partners with whom you develop a whole solution for this group.
