Mr. Ganss, what does RHEACELL do?

RHEACELL is an integrative biopharmaceutical stem cell company. We develop medications and stem cell therapies in-house for patients suffering from severe immune and inflammatory diseases, who are under significant distress and for whom there are currently no adequate treatment options.

Why did you found the company?

I have always been interested in the connection between research, medicine, and business. I worked as a doctor in a clinic for many years. Then the opportunity to start a company arose, and I seized it. Even back then, I believed that stem cell therapies could help many patients in the future. Today, we receive thank-you letters from participants in our clinical trials whose quality of life has significantly improved. This drives everyone in the company.

What were important milestones in your company's history?

I founded the predecessor company TICEBA together with Prof. Dr. med. Markus Frank from Harvard Medical School. Initially, we wanted to establish a stem cell bank, but we quickly shifted to developing medications. To finance the very expensive clinical trials, we brought a partner on board in 2012. We now operate as a joint company under the name RHEACELL.

For years, there has been intensive research on stromal cells worldwide, but only a few products have made it into clinical application. Our cell therapy product is one of the very few somatic cell therapeutics that has received national market approval for clinical application in Germany from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI). We are researching additional indications and have also received positive study results and feedback from regulatory authorities in those areas.

How did your cooperation with the Technology Park begin?

We have been tenants in the Technology Park for almost 20 years now. The contacts on-site have helped us wherever they could. This was particularly valuable at the beginning of our activities when searching for suitable premises. The Technology Park allowed us to install a cleanroom in the building we use. This is not something to be taken for granted.

We stayed in the Technology Park because the environment was right, and initially, our space requirements were not very high. For a company that grows organically, it always takes a few years to reach a size that necessitates and allows moving to larger premises. This step is now ahead of us.

What are the location advantages of Heidelberg?

The city administration is very active, supporting us in all areas together with the economic development agency. The research infrastructure is also excellent. At the university and research institutions, there are many very motivated and technologically open scientists.

The quality of life in the region is high. Heidelberg and its surroundings are therefore fundamentally attractive as a place of residence for our employees. However, for these advantages to be fully realized, two things are necessary: enough affordable housing and an efficient transportation infrastructure that allows employees to reach the company as quickly as possible.

There is still much to be done here. For example, a kind of dormitory for young employees of the Technology Park and a much better transportation infrastructure that allows them to reach the workplace quickly by car could be considered. The catchment area of our employees extends into rural regions, and the time they spend commuting unnecessarily takes away from their leisure time.

How important is networking for you?

Networking events in Heidelberg are certainly important for many local actors. However, we need to establish our networks globally. In the Heidelberg area, we are a rarity. Moreover, even in Germany are not many companies that work with stem cells. Therefore, we have conducted much of our scientific development with universities outside Heidelberg, especially in the USA.

Fundamentally, I believe that Germany should organize its cooperation and networks more supra-regionally. The three largest cities in China have as many inhabitants as all of Germany. To offer a counterbalance – also to European and US biotech clusters – regional networks are not sufficient.

Where did you encounter obstacles in your founding process?

At the beginning of our activities, we faced a lot of skepticism in Germany. No one could initially imagine that we could isolate and multiply stem cells from the skin. However, we did not let this deter us and managed to develop a corresponding medication despite many obstacles.

Additionally, there were obstacles due to regulatory requirements, especially in drug approval. While this strict regulation provides safety and helped us improve, it always comes down to a healthy balance. We overcame these hurdles thanks to the employees at the government presidencies in Tubingen and Karlsruhe, as well as the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute. It always depends on the individual.

Finally, there is still a significant shortage of skilled workers. We particularly have problems finding qualified personnel for our cell cultures and laboratory work. This shortage of skilled workers also has other impacts: for example, German hospitals often can no longer support clinical trials due to this shortage. Without our employees from other European countries, we would face great difficulties.

Despite these obstacles, we have achieved everything we originally planned and will continue to be successful in the future.

Where do you see potential for improvement in start-up support?

In Germany, it is not easy to acquire venture capital for a start-up. This leads to the country being one of the laggards in Europe in terms of the number of start-ups. The situation is better in the USA and the UK. Of course, there are also government research funds, but the approval of applications takes much too long due to the bureaucratic-administrative burden. And fundamentally, government programs are only helpful if the risk appetite of potential investors and contacts with private financiers are given. Therefore, it makes sense to professionally and purposefully organize networking between advanced start-ups and VC investors. Most founders do not have time for this.

Another challenge is the management of intellectual property: German universities sometimes derive too high shares from patents resulting from research cooperation. It would be sensible to be more accommodating, especially for start-ups. And fundamentally, patent matters are associated with high costs. Professional licensing and patent departments are essential to successfully commercialize research successes. This requires a lot of judgment and experience. A good example is the licensing departments of Harvard, with which we have had the best experiences so far.

What are your plans for the future?

We will clinically develop and bring to approval more drugs that we have in the pipeline. Since we will need to massively increase our production capacities in the near future to meet the emerging global demand for our cells, we will expand outside the Technology Park and seek partners for global commercial marketing. However, there are also considerations to pursue our own distribution. We will see what ultimately proves to be the best model for us.

by Dr. Stefan Burkhardt

Download: Testimonial from Dr. med. Christoph Ganss