Spotlighting Breakthroughs: A New Era of Food and Writing History in Organ Transplantation
Leaps by Bayer
Breaking through the impossible. Leaps by Bayer aims to conquer 10 huge challenges facing humanity.
April 2024
Discover the latest in life sciences with Leaps by Bayer. In this edition, we explore a new generation of food, spotlight the most recent breakthrough achieved by Leaps portfolio company eGenesis, and share an opinion piece by Bayer’s CEO Bill Anderson. Don’t miss the recent IPO of BoundlessBio and dive into a new scientific thriller written by Leaps’ own Kira Peikoff .
Perspectives from the Inside/
The Era of More Nutritious Produce--Thanks To Science--Is Just Getting Started
How does genetic engineering shape modern agriculture and the future of food? Juergen Eckhardt's newest Forbes op-ed discusses why bioengineered produce is not only a possibility but a necessity for our food system in an age where nutrition and sustainability take center stage. Read on to learn about consumer attitudes towards bioengineered food, the power of Golden Rice, and further food innovations that opened the gates to more nutritious produce.
Our Portfolio/
eGenesis: Surgeons Transplant Pig Kidney Into a Patient, a Medical Milestone
It has been on the front page of the New York Times, and covered by various other outlets:
We are thrilled to congratulate Leaps portfolio company eGenesis, Inc. and the clinical team at the Massachusetts General Hospital on their most recent achievement - The first-ever successful transplantation of a genetically engineered porcine kidney into a living human recipient. This marks a monumental achievement in medical history and has the potential to eliminate organ supply as a barrier to transplantation.
Our Portfolio/
Boundless Bio: Launches $100M IPO to Advance Cancer Therapy Candidates
Congratulations to the entire team of Leaps portfolio company Boundless Bio on their successful going public. The startup is taking a different angle on cancer therapy by leveraging a unique understanding of extrachromosomal DNA biology. Through their novel approach to precision oncology, the company aims to deliver transformative therapies to the up to 400,000 newly diagnosed patients in the US each year with previously intractable oncogene-amplified cancers.
Thought Leadership/
Bayer CEO: Corporate bureaucracy belongs in the 19th century. Here’s how we’re fighting it
In a recent op-ed, Bayer CEO Bill Anderson mentions Leaps while explaining how the company will fight bureaucracy and increase speed and agility in innovation through implementing its new working model ‘Dynamic Shared Ownership’. Learn how two Leaps portfolio companies are transforming conventional agriculture practices, and dive into Bayer’s new way of doing business below:
Top Reads/
Baby X
Ingo Kloeckner , our Head of Portfolio Strategy & Reporting, encourages you to read “Baby X” by Leaps’ own Kira Peikoff. This newly published science fiction thriller tells the journey of a celebrity pop singer, who hires a bio-security guard to protect himself from fans who are after his DNA. The novel transcends you into a near-future world where a small sample of anyone’s cells can be turned into sperm or eggs to make a baby - inspired by the real emerging technology called IVG.
Loved the Forbes article, my local book store has Kira's book on order, and I am curious about what all the kiteboarding imagery means!