Key points:
- Bridging the gap between scientific breakthroughs and real-world cancer care remains one of Europe’s biggest challenges
- Sustainable, microalgae-based biomanufacturing could become a serious alternative for producing antibodies and other biologics
- Moving cell therapy from highly personalised treatments to scalable, “off-the-shelf” solutions is key to reaching far more patients
- AI and generative chemistry open up RNA as a drug target that traditional discovery has struggled to reach
- Europe excels at world-class research, but scaling BioTech companies still faces friction in funding, infrastructure, and ecosystem support
- Practical lessons from founders on turning research into a company – and how Women TechEU creates impact well beyond the grant itself
In this Women TechEU Roundtable episode, three founders building DeepTech cancer companies in France sit down together for a candid conversation about science, scaling, and what it really takes to move a breakthrough from the lab to the patients who need it.
Muriel Bardor (Alga Biologics), Inna Menkova (Allogenica), and Emily Fang (InFocus Therapeutics) each tackle cancer from a different angle: sustainable microalgae-based manufacturing for antibodies, allogeneic “off-the-shelf” T-cell therapies, and AI-driven generative chemistry to design small molecules that directly target RNA.
Together, they represent a new generation of European innovators working across advanced therapies, regenerative medicine, and next-generation drug discovery.
Beyond the technology, this roundtable digs into the harder questions every founder faces. Where is the biggest gap between great science and real-world cancer care in Europe today? What happens when the science looks promising, but building a company around it proves far more difficult than expected?
The founders share their most difficult moments, what Europe’s ecosystem does particularly well, where it still slows companies down, and what they wish someone had told them before turning their research into a business.
Looking five to ten years ahead, the discussion explores which change could most transform outcomes for cancer patients and reflects on how the Women TechEU programme shaped their journeys as founders beyond the grant itself, from confidence and visibility to networks and access to the next stage of growth.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
The Women TechEU scheme is an EU-funded project supporting women leading deep tech startup companies from Europe. As part of the consortium team implementing the programme, our mission is to foster inclusive innovation by supporting women-led startups, including under-represented deep tech sectors and European regions. We believe that diversity drives innovation, and we are here to provide women in deep tech with more opportunities, resources, and support in order to build market-shaping companies at global level.
Between 2026-2028, the current project consortium will run a continuous open call with 4 cut-off dates. Following a rigorous evaluation process, 160 total beneficiaries will be selected. Each beneficiary will receive €75k grants (non-dilutive finance), as well as a tailored package of mentorship, training, expert guidance, matchmaking and networking opportunities, and support in bridging the gap to other EIC funding and support schemes.
The post The EU-Startups Podcast | How European BioTech is changing cancer care – Roundtable special appeared first on EU-Startups.
Source: EU-Startups
