Home Biosciences

# Home Biosciences: A Biotech Venture Builder

Home Biosciences is not primarily a technology company, but rather a biotech venture builder—a novel operating model designed to create and scale transformative medicines more efficiently than traditional biotech startups.[1] The distinction is important: while it leverages technology and data science, its core mission centers on identifying, building, and advancing therapeutic companies addressing unmet medical needs.

High-Level Overview

Home Biosciences operated as Continental Europe's first venture builder fully dedicated to biotechnology, functioning as an asset-centric platform that combined funding, operational expertise, and drug development infrastructure under one roof.[1] Rather than developing a single product, it co-founded and incubated multiple biotech ventures, each pursuing distinct therapeutic areas.

The company's mission was to maximize capital efficiency and accelerate time-to-value by eliminating the need for early-stage ventures to build expensive corporate infrastructure independently.[2] Its investment philosophy centered on identifying groundbreaking scientific projects with academic partners, assembling dedicated execution teams, and providing rigorous operational oversight to de-risk development pathways.[1]

However, Home Biosciences ended day-to-day operations in January 2025 and transitioned to a non-operating mode focused on building value for its co-founded companies going forward.[1]

Origin Story

Home Biosciences was co-founded in late 2019 by Magali Richard and David Schilansky, two biotech industry veterans with complementary expertise spanning drug development, operational execution, and funding.[2] The founding was backed by prominent biotech investors Redmile Group and Sofinnova Partners, who recognized the need for a novel model to jumpstart innovation in the European biotech ecosystem.[1]

Over five years, the venture builder successfully created three companies from scratch:[1]

• One Biosciences SAS (co-founded with Dr. Céline Vallot and Institut Curie)—focused on AI-driven single-cell analysis for precision medicine in cancer treatment
• Sequantrix GmbH (co-founded with Rafael Kramann, MD, PhD, and Rebekka K. Schneider, MD, PhD)
• Apikal Therapeutics SAS (co-founded with Guillaume Canaud of Necker Hospital and Laurent Micouin of CNRS)

Core Differentiators

Home Biosciences' operating model distinguished it through several key features:

• Asset-centric structure: Rather than managing a traditional fund, it directly co-founded and built companies, maintaining operational control and alignment across all stakeholders.[1]
• Integrated execution teams: Dedicated, empowered project teams combined scientists, clinicians, and computational experts with oversight ensuring on-time delivery.[1]
• Capital efficiency: By consolidating infrastructure, funding, and expertise, ventures avoided duplicative overhead costs typical of independent startups.[2]
• Academic partnerships: Deep collaboration with research institutions (Institut Curie, Necker Hospital, CNRS) embedded cutting-edge science directly into company operations.[1]
• Rigorous processes: Structured discovery and development pathways balanced speed with scientific rigor and stakeholder alignment.[1]

Role in the Broader Biotech Ecosystem

Home Biosciences addressed a critical gap in the European biotech landscape: the capital inefficiency and infrastructure burden facing early-stage therapeutic companies.[2] While the U.S. venture-backed biotech model had matured, Europe lacked comparable mechanisms to rapidly translate academic breakthroughs into clinical-stage companies.

The venture builder model itself represents a trend toward operational integration in biotech—recognizing that scientific excellence alone is insufficient without disciplined execution, funding stability, and strategic guidance. By concentrating these elements, Home Biosciences demonstrated that European biotech could compete with U.S. models while maintaining deep academic roots.

The company's transition to non-operating status in 2025 reflects both the success of its model (ventures were sufficiently mature to operate independently) and the broader maturation of the European biotech ecosystem, which now supports standalone company formation more readily than in 2019.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Home Biosciences' legacy lies not in a single product or service, but in proving a replicable template for European biotech creation. Its three co-founded companies—particularly One Biosciences, now operating as an independent techbio firm with AI-driven capabilities—represent the tangible outcomes of this model.

The venture builder's shift to non-operating mode suggests confidence in its portfolio companies' ability to execute independently while maintaining Home Biosciences' strategic involvement in value creation. The success or failure of these ventures will ultimately validate whether the venture builder model can compete with traditional biotech funding and development approaches in delivering transformative medicines to patients.