Swiss biotech FimmCyte has announced a strategic research collaboration and option-to-license agreement with Gedeon Richter, the Hungarian pharmaceutical company with €2.2 billion in 2024 sales and a major presence in women’s health. The partnership will accelerate the development of FimmCyte’s endometriosis lead asset FMC2 – a first-in-class, non-hormonal antibody designed to be disease-modifying rather than just managing symptoms.
Under the deal, FimmCyte and Gedeon Richter will conduct joint R&D to move FMC2 toward first-in-human clinical studies. Gedeon Richter holds an exclusive option on global rights, which it can exercise before the first clinical trial begins.
Endometriosis affects roughly 190 million women worldwide, yet treatment options remain limited to hormonal therapies and surgery – neither of which address the underlying disease. FimmCyte is approaching the condition as a chronic fibro-inflammatory disease and applying immunotherapy principles to target its root cause. FMC2 is built on FimmCyte’s proprietary antibody platform and, if successful, could be among the first disease-modifying treatments for endometriosis.
The company was founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, led by CEO Dr. Mohaned Shilaih, CSO Dr. Valentina Vongrad, and Prof. Brigitte Leeners. FimmCyte has been backed by Bio Innovation Institute (BII), Innosuisse, BaseLaunch, Venture Kick, and others.
Gedeon Richter brings significant commercialization infrastructure in women’s health – an area that remains notoriously difficult for early-stage biotechs to navigate alone. The company operates Central Europe’s largest pharmaceutical R&D hub and has an established global footprint. For FimmCyte, this partnership provides both development capabilities and a clear commercial pathway that would be hard to build independently at this stage.
“Gedeon Richter’s leadership in women’s health brings exceptional development capabilities and global reach,” said FimmCyte CEO Dr. Mohaned Shilaih. “Together, we aim to advance a first-in-class, non-hormonal approach that is designed to go beyond symptom management.”
Johanna Roostalu, Director for Human Health at BII, called the collaboration “a significant positive milestone within the women’s health innovation ecosystem more broadly, where new therapeutic solutions have sadly been few and far between due to long-standing knowledge gaps and a challenging funding climate.”
