Massive Bio, which matches patients with new cancer drugs in clinical trials, has so far received $23 million in investment from investors including IFC and the German Development Bank (DEG). Founder Selin Kurnaz aims to re-evaluate molecules abandoned by pharmaceutical companies before completing their development stage, in order to make new discoveries.
While explaining the importance of Massive Bio, which she founded, for both pharmaceutical companies and cancer patients, Selin Kurnaz says: “If your mother had cancer, the first person you would call is me, not Elon Musk. Cancer is the largest and fastest-growing market, which is why it’s the best market from an investment perspective.”
Before the unsettling effect of these words fades, she adds an even sharper remark: “In the future, one out of every three of us will have cancer. As investors, we want to act early in this field.”
Kurnaz, who founded U.S.-based Massive Bio in 2015 together with two partners (Çağatay Çulcuoğlu and Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla), connects cancer patients from all over the world with clinical trials of newly developed cancer drugs. The three co-founders aim to transform the company into a next-generation pharmaceutical company within five years.
By Erkan Kızılocak
Disclaimer: This is an English translation of an article originally published in Forbes Türkiye. The original Turkish article can be found here:
https://www.forbes.com.tr/dergi/selin-kurnaz-kanser-hastalariyla-deneme-surecindeki-ilaclari-bulusturuyor
