Smarter antibiotics for a healthier tomorrow
Developing innovative treatments to fight multi-drug resistant bacteria and protect global health
antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global concern
Bacterial infections, caused by multi-drug-resistant pathogens, represent one of the greatest threats to human health. They are predicted to cause up to 10 million annual casualties by 2050 if no new antibiotics are developed.
combatting AMR is challenging
95% of the antibiotics approved since 1983 are part of existing classes with well established and widespread resistance mechanisms. Resistance against these drugs will develop quickly, exacerbating the problem of multi-drug-resistant pathogens. New antibiotics with unprecedented modes of action are desperately needed!
we develop a new generation of antibiotics
We develop antibiotics with new modes of actions which address unexploited targets and therefore aggravate the development of resistances. Our platform approach utilises enzyme activation as unprecedented feature, which is able to treat biofilms, a condition against which classical antibiotics fail. Our development pipeline addresses Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria independently, and our first-in-class compounds target multi-drug resistant pathogens such methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), as well as ESBL-producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales like Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae (CREB).
our research development
Prof. Dr. Stephan Sieber and his team at TU Munich are specialised on the discovery of novel antibiotics with unprecedented modes of action. Recently, the Sieber lab developed a new class of antibiotic compounds with potent activity against Gram-positive, multi-drug resistant bacteria (Le et al, Nat Chem 2020, 12, 145-158). The most active molecule shows no development of resistance and is even able to kill persister cells and biofilms, which are bacterial populations that cannot currently be treated with available antibiotics. Its novel multi-targeted mechanism of action is substantially different to all currently approved antibiotics. The compound’s efficacy has also been demonstrated in an animal model. Taken together, this molecule represents the starting point of a new generation of antibacterial compounds, whose further exploration and preclinical development is at the heart of smartbax’ research activities.
our mission
We aim for new, innovative solutions to fight multi-drug resistant bacteria. Due to the increasing prevalence of resistance against marketed antibiotics, we address a need which is growing dramatically. A lack in the innovation of antibiotics must not be considered only by itself but would be associated with high co-morbidity by untreatable infections affecting other clinical areas such as oncology, COVID-19 and surgery. For this reason, innovation in the field of antibacterial agents is essential for an overall functioning healthcare system. At the same time, developing a new drug takes many years, so preventing a resistance crisis tomorrow means taking action today.
Team
Dr. Robert Macsics
CEO & Co-Founder
Robert holds a PhD in the field of Biochemistry from the Technical University of Munich, an MSc in Pharmacology from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from the Collège des Ingénieurs. During his PhD, which was funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, he investigated the mechanism of action of a novel antibiotic against multi-drug resistant bacteria, which formed the basis for the foundation of smartbax. With his experience, he is now CEO at smartbax, responsible for both scientific and business development, fundraising, and investor relations.
Dr. Sylvia Varland
Senior Scientist
Sylvia Varland is a trained molecular biologist with a PhD from the University of Bergen, Norway, and postdoctoral research experience from the University of Toronto, Canada.
She joined smartbax in 2022, where she leads internal biological research projects. Sylvia has co-authored 15 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Eric Juskewitz
Senior Scientist
Eric holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University in Tromsø, where he was part of the antibiotic discovery pipeline DigiBiotics. He did his MSc at the University of Greifswald where he focused on mutations in bacterial isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. Following his drive to see science becoming a product, he further joined start-ups and the BioInnovation Institute summer school. Now, as a Senior Scientist at smartbax, he uses his experience to support the discovery and development of our compounds.
executive advisory board
Prof. Dr. Stephan Sieber
Scientific Advisor & Co-Founder
Prof. Stephan Sieber is the Chair of Organic Chemistry II at TU Munich since 2009 and member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. With a strong scientific focus on the discovery and characterization of numerous antibacterial agents, his revolutionary research led to 4 patent applications and prestigious support by inter alia the Emmy Noether Programme and the Merck Future Insight Prize. Prof. Sieber’s pioneering research led to the foundation of smartbax where he is Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor.
Marco Janezic
Entrepreneurial Advisor & Co-Founder
Marco Janezic is an entrepreneur and investor with activities in a variety of sectors, with focus on Life Science and Biotech. He is Founding Partner of Blue Ribbon Partners, a company builder for life science companies, and Managing Director of the life science factory, the incubation initiative of Sartorius AG: With his 20+ years of experience in company building and business development he has been supporting the smartbax founding team since 2017. He holds an M.A. in Theoretical Physics and Philosophy from the University of Oxford.
scientific advisory board
Prof. Dr. Peter Hammann
Scientific Advisor
Prof. Peter Hammann, a chemist and biochemist by training, is a consultant in the field of antibiotic and natural product R&D. He has 30+ years’ pharmaceutical industry experience in several leading positions in Germany, India and in the USA. Based on his strong interest to ensure knowledge transfer between academia and industry he serves at several scientific advisory boards at both sides and lectures at universities. Currently he is Honorary Professor at the University of Giessen (JLU) and at the Saarland University.
Prof. Dr. Rolf Müller
Scientific Advisor
Prof. Rolf Müller is Full Professor for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Saarland University and Managing Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS). He is not only a leading expert in microbial natural products, but also a successful entrepreneur as co-founder of PharmBioTec GmbH and MyBiotech GmbH. He has been performing cutting-edge academic research for 25+ years in Germany and the US and is an elected member of both acatech and Leopoldina. In 2021, Prof. Müller was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.
Our Partners
News
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Munich, Germany, May 23, 2023 – smartbax, a biotech company developing next-generation antibiotics against multi-drug resistant bacteria, today announced the close of its seed financing round of €1.2 million from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), bringing smartbax’s total capital raised to €1.9 million. The funds will be used to advance smartbax’s small molecule antibiotics through preclinical studies, expand the company’s scientific team to further develop its innovative research platforms and identify novel solutions against multi-drug resistant pathogens. In contrast to classical anti-bacterial approaches, smartbax's product candidates act via a unique, double-targeted mechanism of action. This not only inhibits essential processes in the energy metabolism of multi-resistant bacteria, but also creates a stimulation of the bacteria's protein secretion, which leads to a self-digest of the cells.
“The growing number of multi-drug resistant infections, which are accountable for 1.3 million annual worldwide deaths, highlights the need for completely new approaches in treating resistant infections. We are convinced that our differentiating approach can overcome the limitations of currently available antibiotics and that we can thus develop effective therapeutics against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria,” said Dr. Robert Macsics, CEO and Co-founder of smartbax.
smartbax was founded in 2021 by Dr. Robert Macsics, Marco Janezic, and Prof. Dr. Stephan Sieber and was supported by BIVF with a first pre-seed financing of €700,000. The company’s scientific foundation is based on revolutionary research derived by Prof. Dr. Sieber’s research group from the Technical University of Munich. The research was awarded the VIP+ validation prize by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the m4 award by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.
“The novel mechanisms of action being developed by smartbax could open new pathways in the treatment of severe bacterial infections. Moreover, the approach has the promise to overcome existing resistance mechanisms and makes a rapid spread of new resistances unlikely. I am glad that we can support smartbax’s scientifically strong team on their journey to address a challenge of utmost societal relevance,” said Dr. Angelika Vlachou, partner at HTGF.
“The development of novel antibiotics is an important contribution to fight multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. smartbax’s founding team takes a highly innovative approach with the potential for broad applicability in numerous indications. We are delighted to accompany smartbax in their future research activities and to thereby support the development of new and urgently needed therapeutic strategies concerning bacterial infections,” added Dr. Sebastian Kreuz, investment manager at BIVF.
About smartbax
smartbax is developing a new generation of antibiotics to address the increasing spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Their team of experts works on innovative solutions focusing on substances that simultaneously address several targets, thus hindering resistance development in bacteria. Moreover, the company specializes in the tailored activation of enzymatic pathways, as this approach is particularly promising in the context of difficult-to-treat biofilms. Knowing that preventing a resistance crisis tomorrow means taking action today, smartbax was founded in 2021 in Munich with the aim of making innovative research applicable in creating novel antibiotics that add true value for patients worldwide.
For more information visit our website: https://www.smartbax.de/
About High-Tech Gründerfonds
The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) funds technology start-ups with growth potential and accompanied more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the start of its fourth fund, HTGF has about EUR 1.4 billion under management. The team consisting of experienced investment managers and start-up experts supports young companies with knowhow, entrepreneurial expertise, and passion. HTGF’s focus are high-tech incorporations in the areas digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business fields. To date, external investors invested more than EUR 4.5 billion over more than 2,000 follow-up financing rounds into the HTGF portfolio. Moreover, the fund successfully sold its shares on more than 160 companies.
The fund investors of this public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital, the Fraunhofer Society, as well as more than 40 companies from various fields.
https://www.htgf.de/de/
About Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
Created in 2010, the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund GmbH (BIVF) invests in groundbreaking therapeutics-focused biotechnology companies to drive innovation in biomedical research. BIVF is searching for significant enhancements in patient care through pioneering science and its clinical translation by building long-term relationships with scientists and entrepreneurs. BIVF’s focus is to target unprecedented therapeutic concepts addressing high medical needs in immuno-oncology, regenerative medicine, AMR infections and digital health. These may include novel platform technologies to address so far undruggable targets or new biological entities.
BIVF takes an active role with its portfolio companies – delivering significant added value through its own extensive drug discovery, scientific and managerial expertise. BIVF has a volume of EUR 300 million, is represented with offices in Europe (Germany), USA (Boston and San Francisco) and China (Beijing and Hong Kong) and currently supervises a portfolio of 40 companies.
For more information, please visit: www.boehringer-ingelheim-venture.com
Contact smartbax
Eric Juskewitz
Senior Scientist
eric.juskewitz@smartbax.de
Media relations for smartbax
Eva Mulder or Veronika Máté
Trophic Communications
+31 652331579 or +49 16090816161
smartbax@trophic.eu
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Munich, Germany, Oct. 22, 2025 - smartbax, a biotech company developing next-generation antibiotics against multi-drug resistant bacteria, today announced the successful first closing of its €4.7 M Pre-Series A financing round. The round was led by new investors Anobis Asset and Bayern Kapital, with participation from UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators as well as existing investors HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). A second closing of the round remains open to investors.
smartbax will use the funds to progress its proprietary pipeline of small-molecule antibiotics designed to overcome bacterial resistance with innovative approaches and novel mechanisms of action. The lead candidate is an inhibitor that blocks a previously unexplored step in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), key structural components of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria. This new inhibitor has already demonstrated in vivo proof of concept, including activity against multi-drug resistant strains, shows potential as an orally available drug, and will now be advanced through preclinical development.
In parallel, smartbax is advancing its platform of small-molecule activators of bacterial hydrolases. Rather than inhibiting bacterial functions like traditional antibiotics, these compounds stimulate hydrolase activity, causing bacteria to digest themselves from within. This innovative mode of action has not been exploited in commercial antibiotics to date and offers a promising strategy to overcome established resistance mechanisms. smartbax has identified two activator classes, effective against different targets in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, both of which display encouraging drug-like properties, are able to eliminate biofilms and show no development of resistance. The company will further develop these candidates toward lead selection and in vivo proof of concept using the current funds.
“Small-molecule antibiotics remain one of the most effective tools in combating the rapidly growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. smartbax is currently the only German biotech dedicated exclusively to developing these crucial tools, and we are proud to advance complementary approaches with both a classical inhibitor against a novel target and enzyme activators with a truly novel mode of action in the antibiotic realm,” said Dr. Robert Macsics, CEO of smartbax. “Our programs focus on WHO priority pathogens and aim to provide new treatment options for critically ill patients who currently have limited alternatives. We are delighted to have assembled such a strong consortium of investors who share our commitment to addressing this urgent public health threat.”
Martin Falk, managing director at Anobis Asset, said: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent medical challenges of our time, and there is a clear need for new therapeutic approaches. In Germany alone, nearly 10,000 people die each year as a direct consequence of infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria; many more are hospitalized and often face lengthy recovery times. We are proud to support a team focused on developing solutions that could help patients and protect public health worldwide.”
Monika Steger, Managing Partner at Bayern Kapital, commented: “Rising bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses an enormous burden on global healthcare. smartbax is tackling this problem with two novel drug approaches that are already showing great potential at their current stage. At the same time, the market for new antibiotics is opening up a highly attractive growth area with great economic opportunities. Our investment in smartbax is therefore a promising investment in the local biotech ecosystem and the resilience of our healthcare system.”
Inga vom Holtz, Director Investments at UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, added: “smartbax has grown from academic research into a biotech company with a clear focus on antibiotic innovation. We are pleased to join this financing round and to support a team that is advancing both classical inhibitors and entirely new antibacterial mechanisms with enzyme activators, and we are proud that such innovation has its origins at the Technical University Munich.”
About smartbax
smartbax is developing a new generation of antibiotics to address the increasing spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria. Their team of experts is advancing a complementary pipeline of small molecules against novel bacterial targets and with innovative modes of action to prevent resistance. Their lead program is a new inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, the company specializes in the tailored activation of enzymatic pathways that trigger bacterial self-digestion, as this approach is particularly promising in the context of difficult-to-treat biofilms. Two activators are in development, targeting both Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria individually.
Knowing that preventing a resistance crisis tomorrow means taking action today, smartbax was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the Technical University Munich (TUM) with the aim of making innovative research applicable in creating novel antibiotics that add true value for patients worldwide.
Media contact:
Dr. Regina Lutz, Katja Arnold
MC Services AG
smartbax@mc-services.euAbout Anobis Asset
As a Freiburg-based single family office with a background in the pharmaceutical industry, Anobis Asset is actively exploring investment opportunities across the healthcare and life sciences landscape, with a focus on innovation-driven ventures and long-term partnerships.
About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital is the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria and, with 700 million euros under management, investments of up to 25 million euros per company, over 110 active portfolio companies and 30 years of experience in the VC business, is one of the most active, financially strongest and most experienced investors in the DACH region. Bayern Kapital invests in a consortium with private investors in Bavarian high-tech and deep-tech start-ups and scale-ups with innovative business models from all sectors, from the seed and scale-up phase through to exit.
Since its foundation in 1995, Bayern Kapital has invested over 500 million euros of its own equity capital in more than 320 start-ups and scale-ups from sectors such as life sciences, software & IT, materials & new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology. This has created over 12,000 permanent jobs in sustainable companies in Bavaria.
Examples of numerous pioneering success stories that Bayern Kapital has supported from an early stage include Casavi, Catalym, commercetools, egym, EOS, Fazua, Immunic, Isar Aerospace, IQM, Parcellab, Proglove, Qbilon, Riskmethods, SimScale, Sirion, tado, Tubulis, Marvel Fusion, Proxima Fusion, plancq, Akhetonics and many more. bayernkapital.de
About UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators
UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators is the pre-seed fund of UnternehmerTUM, Europe's foremost center for innovation and business creation. It invests early - often as the first institutional investor - in deep tech founders building category-defining companies. The fund specializes in hard tech and the code that powers it, backing scalable B2B technologies with billion-euro potential and helping founders move breakthrough science from lab to market. UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators offers founder-friendly convertible loans and is committed to follow-on investments, ensuring its companies have the resources to scale their ambitions.
About HTGF - High-Tech Gründerfonds
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.
Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices.
For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.
About Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), established in 2010, is dedicated to investing in groundbreaking biotechnology companies that are at the forefront of therapeutic and digital innovations, aiming to advance biomedical research. With a commitment to revolutionizing the standard of care, the BIVF fosters long-term partnerships with scientists and entrepreneurs. The BIVF’s focus is on nurturing disease-modifying therapeutic concepts and facilitating their clinical application. The BIVF prioritizes the translation of first-in-class concepts that address significant medical needs in fields such as oncology, immunology, regenerative medicine, neurodegeneration, infectious diseases, and digital health technologies. These innovative concepts often encompass novel platform technologies designed to tackle targets and diseases that were previously considered untreatable.
With a fund volume of EUR 350 million, the BIVF operates as an evergreen fund, continually reinvesting to fuel its mission. The partners of the BIVF gain from the fund's deep expertise in drug discovery & development, translational science, and management, along with access to a network of experts within the Boehringer Ingelheim organization. Currently, the BIVF supports a diverse portfolio of over 40 companies, leveraging its extensive experience to drive progress in healthcare.
For additional information, please visit boehringer-ingelheim-venture.com/