Founder’s Spotlight: Arne Scheu from Valink Therapeutics:

By Dovilė Jakutytė

The future of drug discovery is here.

Valink Therapeutics is redefining how we target diseases with their LiliumX(™) platform.

How? It can generate hundreds of complex next‐generation antibody therapeutics in a single day, finding treatments others can’t find.

By uncovering and tapping into previously unknown synergies in target biology, Valink Therapeutics is unlocking new therapies for cancer and other hard-to-treat diseases.

Our 4 biggest takeaways with Arne Scheu, CEO of Valink Therapeutics:

1. What’s the current challenge?
Traditional drug discovery is hitting walls with complex diseases like aggressive cancers. Development timelines are painfully slow and costly: "Many diseases that are resistant to conventional treatment are not benefitting from modern treatment options because of a lack of suitable targets.", says Arne Scheu. Targeting more than one target enables to precisely tap into unique target synergies, including in antibody-drug conjugates (ADC).

2. Valink Therapeutics Innovation
Valink Therapeutics platform combines bi-specific and multi-specific approaches, multivalency and antibody-drug conjugation (Valency / Link). Think of it as molecular "LEGO" - building blocks that can come together to build a unique therapeutic with multiple properties to define targeting and effect. The robotic platform can screen thousands of candidates in just one week: "Our platform enables rapid screening and iteration of complex bi-specific antibody-drug conjugates - molecules that others can’t test at scale.", explains Arne Scheu.

3. The Technological Edge To It All
An automated, high-throughput screening system generates 100s of unique target combinations per program. This drastically reduces costs and development time: "In our colorectal cancer program, we had screened over 1,500 bi-specific ADCs covering 300 unique target pairings and quickly identified multiple promising candidates - The initial screen only took 3 weeks." says Arne Scheu.

4. Why should you care?
This sophisticated technology means:
- More precise treatments with fewer side effects
- Increased focus on cancers with limited treatment options
- Potential to redefine precision medicine
- Accelerates the path from lab to patient
"Our goal is to drive the discovery of complex antibody-based therapies to improve patient outcomes on a global scale”, Arne concludes.