Following in the footsteps of gaming, e-commerce and financial technology startups, a Turkish initiative engaged in deep technology and biotechnology is writing a new success story.

RS Research, a clinical-stage biotechnology startup that is developing drug candidates for cancer patients, is proceeding on its way with the goal of developing drugs that can reduce side effects and increase the effect of chemotherapy.

Founded by Sena Nomak and Rana Sanyal in 2015, the next-generation therapeutics company is working on novel nanomedicines based on innovative drug delivery platforms for therapies to treat patients fighting cancer.

RS Research, which has become a great example for similar initiatives thanks to its academic background, has completed a $12 million (TL 196.74 million) Series A investment round led by GEN Ilaç, a prominent Turkish pharmaceutical company. The investment tour was also joined by OneLife Ventures and Eczacıbaşı Momentum.

RS Research has discovered a novel drug delivery platform with which five different development programs are currently ongoing in various preclinical and clinical stages for therapies to treat patients with lung, breast, prostate, pancreas and ovarian cancers.

This novel platform provided a higher efficacy with a better safety profile in preclinical studies and the leading drug candidate developed using this groundbreaking technology is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Having aimed to go global from the very beginning, RS Research in 2020 set up a company in Switzerland named PDC Therapeutics.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million fatalities each year. An aggressive form of chemical drug therapy, chemotherapy is the most used method for an effective treatment against cancer. However, the side effects of chemotherapy are one of the most important obstacles to effective treatment.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death of all cancers in Turkey and the world, with nearly 2 million deaths in 2020.

According to the research published by GlobalData, the NSCLC market is estimated to reach $16.9 billion as of 2025. Despite the continuous research and innovative treatment alternatives, there is still a significant unmet medical need for more effective therapies for patients with cancer.

Investors from Turkey

RS Research co-founder Nomak suggested that the ever-growing interest in biotechnology companies during the coronavirus pandemic, which has been ongoing for nearly two years, has changed the dynamics in Turkey.

Nomak emphasized that they are proud to have completed the Series A investment round with Turkish investors while opening up to the world with the company and cooperation they have established in Switzerland.

On top of that, she said the fact that they have received $12 million from investors from Turkey despite the high volatility in the exchange rates is giving hope to other startups and investors.

Global steps

RS Research received its first investment from the technology commercialization-focused venture capital fund, ACT, in 2017.

"This investment and a grant of about 2 million euros helped us meet our funding needs since our establishment to date. Today we have five drug candidates in our portfolio, and the clinical trial of one of them for NSCLC patients is underway in two centers in Turkey," Nomak said.

Developing a drug is an area that requires a lot of time and high costs is an example of a high-risk-high-return equation, she noted.

"In the first place, we aim to launch two more new Phase 1 trials with our drug candidates in our portfolio and to move our drug candidate, which is currently undergoing a Phase 1 clinical trial, to Phase 2," she said.

Nomak highlighted that they will also continue to progress toward becoming a global player with their subsidiary PDC Therapeutics in Switzerland.

"The $12 million investment we have received under the leadership of GEN Ilaç, with the participation of OneLife Ventures (Istanbul Portfolio) and Eczacıbaşı Momentum, will finance these activities. On the other hand, this investment we have received is far beyond a financing transferred to two young entrepreneurs with dreams. It would be wrong to underestimate this union, seeing it only as a financial resource."

Great effort and accumulation of knowledge

The path of deep technology and biotechnology startups is long and challenging, Nomak said.

"Today, we are proud to have landed an investment agreement with Turkish investors in line with world trends. With the drugs in our portfolio, we create solutions for the types of cancer that are most in need of new treatments," she noted.

"In 2020, unfortunately, 6 million more new patients around the world were diagnosed with the types of cancer targeted by our drug candidates. However, it is not possible to deliver a medicine to patients on your own. That is why we are building an ecosystem that removes obstacles before researchers with what we have learned and the experiences of our stakeholders," Nomak explained.

This, she said, is from where co-founder Sanyal’s motivation to come to Turkey and apply what he learned after his doctorate and industry experience at Amgen in California is coming from.

"When we examined the promising results of the studies, we found that we could deliver the drug candidates we developed to the clinic with a startup model by establishing RS Research. Thanks to the cooperation we have established in our early stage studies, we are taking strength from the infrastructure of the Boğaziçi University Center for Life Sciences and Technologies," Nomak said.

"We have completed our GMP infrastructure where we can produce our own medicines in Teknopark Istanbul in cooperation with ISEK (Istanbul Health Industry Cluster). One of our primary goals is to show that this can be done in Turkey. You can imagine the risks of biotechnology companies and the complexity of valuation mathematics."

Top 10 promising tech startups in 2021

The Turkish startup ecosystem is leaving behind a year filled in with promising startups, which are candidates for becoming Turkey’s new unicorns, a term used for private companies valued at over $1 billion.

Startup monitor startups.watch has selected top ten startups of 2021, considering the investment figures in seed, Series A and advanced stages.

Turkish on-demand rapid delivery pioneer Getir topped the list, having received nearly $1 billion in investment, followed by Dream Games with $205 million and Tiko with $65 million.

RS Research came in 10th with $12 million. The company is expected to be a great source of inspiration for all academician-born startups in the field of biotechnology and deep technology.

Startups that received highest investments in 2021

Getir – $978 million

Dream Games – $205 million

Tiko – $65 million

Colendi – $30 million

Libra Softworks – $30 million

Intenseye – $25 million

Picus Security – $24 million

Akinon – $20 million

Servislet – $12 million

RS Research – $12 million

Source: startups.watch