OncoArendi Therapeutics as Platform-based Polish Biotech Company – A Case Study

OncoArendi Therapeutics SA (OAT) has been founded in 2012 as USstyle biotech operating in Poland. From the beginning, OAT has been focused on first-in-class or best-in-class programs involving interactions with novel targets with no clinical validation. The experienced group of founders thought that Poland offered an abundance of young talent and non-dilutive financing from European and national grants and subsidies, newly established research infrastructure and relatively little competition, as the biotech sector was still in its infancy. With strong proprietary IP, they thought, an experienced group of medicinal chemists could launch a competitive small molecule discovery business. Furthermore, the net cost of developing small molecules in Poland was several-fold lower than in the US or in western European countries. Based on these competitive factors, one could develop several programs in parallel with limited private investment, thus diversifying the high scientific and technological risk and increasing chances of long-term success. This case study shows how this strategy played out for OncoArendi over the last 7 years and how OncoArendi positions itself within the Polish biotech sector and on the increasingly competitive global biopharmaceutical scene.