"I was always playing with the idea of applying my scientific knowledge for a business pur­pose. I went through many books about business development, but Venture Cup provided first hand experience with the best experts in the country," says 2001 Venture Cup winner Zoran Gojkovic. Today, his project has turned into promising bio­tech venture ZGene.

Increasing the chances of recovery for patients with serious cancer diseases - this is what ZGene has been working on since they founded their company with the money they won in Venture Cup. ZGene is developing combina­tion products for the treatment of life-threatening cancers. The product - ZAS^TM is being developed for the treatment of brain can­cer, a deadly and aggressive disease for which no treatment exists today. The product will also be applied to treat other serious cancers such as breast, pancreas and liver cancers at a later stage. Not only has the product undergone great develop­ment, but also the company itself:

"Since 2001, ZGene has built a wide proprietary platform of pro-drug activating enzymes and has matured from a pure science-fo­cused venture into a business-fo­cused biotech with revenue-gener­ating deals, and a product portfolio that is approaching clinical trials in humans. Today, the company has patents in US and Europe, nine additional patent families in various stages of evaluation, several license deals, and a wide range of therapeutic products," Zoran explains.

Venture Cup a significant step

Zoran, who holds a PhD in molecular biology from KU, considers participating in and winning Venture Cup a significant step towards starting up ZGene. Venture Cup provided him with expert coaching on the business concept and the technology as well as a crucial network and investor base that led to obtaining sufficient financing for starting up. Today, ZGene employs eight people, half of whom hold PhDs and the company has received investments of over 50 mills. DKK.

"I can definitely say that this was the best coaching experience and a huge inspiration to bring our business plan fully to life," Zoran says.