Dr. Frank Hensel

Principal / Authorized signatory

Dr Frank Hensel holds a PH.D. in biology and has a longstanding experience as Entrepreneur in a Start-Up developing human monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment. Since being part of HTGF in 2015 Frank built a solid portfolio of start-ups with a focus on drug development companies. Out of this portfolio 7 companies already entered the clinical stage and one company, Amal therapeutics, was successfully exited to Boehringer Ingelheim with a deal volume of up to 425Mio. €

Portfolio

Exit

Posts & mentions

Press

25. March 2024

Successful exit for HTGF: Novo Nordisk to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals

Novo Nordisk will acquire Cardior for up to 1.025 billion Euros in upfront and potential milestone payments. Cardior is a leader in the discovery and development of therapies that target RNA as a means to prevent, repair and reverse diseases of the heart. High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), one of Europe’s leading seed investors, participated in the first financing round in 2017. Bonn, Germany, 25 March 2024 – Novo Nordisk and Cardior Pharmaceuticals today announced that N

Press

14. March 2024

Tubulis Closes Upsized €128 Million Series B2 to Accelerate Clinical Development of Solid Tumor-Focused ADC Pipeline

Financing round co-led by EQT Life Sciences and Nextech Invest [1], with participation from current and new leading global biotechnology investors Proceeds will support clinical evaluation of lead solid tumor ADC candidates, TUB-030 and TUB-040, further technology development and expansion into the US MUNICH, GERMANY, March 14, 2024 – Tubulis today announced the successful completion of an upsized and oversubscribed €128 million ($138.8 million) Series B2 financing. The round

Blog

15. August 2023

Investments in drug development: “We need to get to the source of the deals”

Dr. Frank Hensel is Principal at High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), where he is primarily responsible for start-ups from the field of drug development. Before joining HTGF, he was a successful entrepreneur himself and is now able to share his practical experience with start-ups. We sat down for a chat with him about the challenges of the sector, how HTGF is on the lookout for new innovations and why partnerships are especially important in this field. Frank, your investments are focused

Press

15. May 2023

Dualyx raises €40 million to progress Treg therapies for autoimmune diseases into the clinic

Use of proceeds will enable the development of the Company’s lead autoimmune program DT-001, targeting TNFR2, as well as its pipeline of Treg candidates Financing co-led by Fountain Healthcare Partners, Forbion and Andera Partners with support from existing investors Bernard Coulie appointed as Independent Chairman with immediate effect May 15, 2023, Ghent, Belgium – Dualyx NV, a Ghent based biotech developing next generation immune modulators, today announces that it has

Press

13. April 2023

Alentis Therapeutics closes $105 million Series C funding to advance transformational medicines for Claudin-1

Proceeds will fund: Clinical programs ALE.F02 and ALE.C04 – two first-in-class anti-Claudin-1 (CLDN1) antibodies for organ fibrosis and CLDN1 positive tumors The platform to engineer CLDN1 antibody drug conjugates (ADC) and bispecific antibodies Basel, Switzerland – 13 April 2023, Alentis Therapeutics (“Alentis”), the Claudin-1 (CLDN1) company, is a clinical-stage biotech company developing breakthrough treatments for organ fibrosis and CLDN1 positive tumors. Today, A

Events

Event

16. July 2024

Life Science Pitch Day 2024

HTGF, the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB), leaps by BAYER, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Medice are proud to present Life Science Pitch Day 2024 on 16 July in Munich. This year’s Pitch Day promises #lifesciences, #drugdevelopment and #drugdelivery startups the unique opportunity to present their innovative business ideas to renowned venture capitalists and investors in a beautiful ambiance. Early-stage start-ups can apply until 16 June 2024. Dr. Laura Pedroza, Investment