TECHNOLOGY FUND INVESTS IN RIBOXX GMBH
RiboxX GmbH, a spin-off from the Institute of Virology at Dresden University of Technology’s Faculty of Medicine, has received backing from the Saxon TGFS technology fund. CEO Dr. Jaques Rohayem plans to take on 15 members of staff by the end of the year and hone RiboxX’s patented technology for making RNA interference molecules. The start-up also sells lab kits enabling scientists to produce their own small quantities of RNAi for research purposes.
The promise of venture capital from TGFS opens up another chapter in the success story of Dr. Rohayem’s team of researchers. In 2007 they won the Go-Bio competition, followed a year later by winning the prize for the best business idea in the Saxon business plan competition futureSAX. Says Thomas Schäfer from innovation and investment company SIB, TGFS spokesman for the Dresden area: “By investing in RiboxX GmbH we are underlining the importance of spin-offs from scientific institutions. This is an area which still harbors enormous potential and we hope to encourage other researchers to get closer to industry.”