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(CONNECT) CDR-Life has announced a new candidate for its M-gager antibody technology platform. According to a press release, the drug in question is CDR209, a novel T-cell engager for the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis. T-cell engagers are a class of engineered bispecific monoclonal antibodies that are currently being studied as anticancer agents. If the new candidate proves effective, it would be “an important step toward expanding our M-gager platform to autoimmune diseases,” CEO Dr. Christian Leisner is quoted as saying. The new drug candidate thus complements the oncology portfolio of the biotech company, which is a member of the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich. Its anti-cancer candidate, CDR404, is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Axial spondyloarthritis is better known in German-speaking countries as Morbus Bechterew. This chronic inflammatory disease primarily affects the spine and the sacroiliac joints. It is typically accompanied by back pain, limited range of motion, and possible stiffness in these joints. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 2.7 million adults are affected. It is true that treatment options have improved in recent years. However, according to the statement, many patients are still unable to adequately manage their condition.

On its M-gager platform, CDR-Life has now developed CDR209, a candidate that targets TRBV9-positive T cells. These specific T cells appear to play an important role in the immune response in many patients. In preclinical studies, CDR-Life has reprogrammed healthy T cells to selectively eliminate these TRBV9 T cells without attacking other cells.

“The selective removal of these cells while preserving the rest of the immune system opens up the possibility of interrupting the disease process at a more fundamental level,” said Denis Poddubnyy, professor of internal medicine and director of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. "In the long term, the goal is to determine whether such an immunological reorientation can lead to sustained disease control or even to remission without the need for treatment."

Founded in 2017, CDR-Life AG is headquartered in Horgen and is a member of the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich. ce/mm

(CONNECT) The Arena by ASB GlassFloor is part of the new Movecity multisport arena at Moosbachstrasse 13 in Affoltern am Albis. Until now, digital sports flooring has been used primarily in professional venues and at major sporting events, such as at FC Bayern Basketball’s BMW Park in Munich. According to a press release, the LED glass floor from ASB Systembau Horst Babinsky GmbH, based in Traunreut, Bavaria, is now available for booking by the general public for the first time.

The ASB GlassFloor is controlled via a software platform and can be programmed for a variety of uses. For example, field markings for various sports, as well as animations, graphics, logos, and live data, can be displayed directly on the 28-by-15-meter surface. A tracking system also enables interactive games in which participants control what happens on the floor through their movements.

The arena can be booked by individuals, groups, clubs, schools, and businesses. In addition to recreational sports, events, workshops, and corporate functions are also possible. It is operated at Movecity as a shop-in-shop by Zurich-based Athlete World GmbH in collaboration with Zug-based ASB Arena & Event Services AG (AES), a subsidiary of ASB.

movecity ag held its official opening weekend in early September. Spanning just under 13,000 square meters, the facility brings together ten sports and activity areas. These include a trampoline park, a zipline, courts for padel and pickleball, a freestyle park for skateboarding, BMX, mountain biking, and scooters, as well as activities for freerunning and rock climbing. ce/as

(CONNECT) At the awards gala on September 9, 2026, the Gold Award for the Top 100 Swiss Startups 2026 went to Corintis, just as it did last year. Founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) by Remco van Erp and Sam Harrison, this engineering startup is developing microfluidic cooling technology for high-performance chips used in data centers.

More than 100 jury members awarded the Silver Award to DeepJudge from Zurich. The core product of the legal tech company founded in 2022 by CEO and co-founder Paulina Grnarova, which emerged from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, is a proprietary artificial intelligence system. It can highlight a law firm's expertise, which is based, among other things, on documents, strategies, and precedents.

PAVE Space (Villeneuve, VD) received the Bronze Top 100 Award. Founded in 2023 at EPFL, the spin-off of the student-led and co-founded Gruyère Space Program is developing the Kickstage spacecraft. It can transport satellites from low Earth orbit to their final destination in a matter of hours rather than months.

In addition to the main prizes, special awards were also presented in six categories. The top newcomer is Dexterous Endoscopes (Epalinges, Vaud), the only company in the top 100 founded in 2026. The largest round of financing, totaling $225 million, went to Kandou Bus (Saint-Sulpice, VD).

In 2026, Memo Therapeutics (Schlieren, ZH) recorded the largest exit, with an estimated value of over 700 million. The highest-ranked biotech startup is Aukera Therapeutics (Saint-Sulpice). The best cleantech startup is Voltiris (Epalinges). And Flexion Robotics (Zurich) was named the best startup in robotics.

“The founders featured in this year’s Top 100 are tackling some of the most important challenges facing our world,” says Stefan Steiner, program director of the event—also known as the “Oscars of Swiss Startups”—in a press release. "Their ambition, combined with Switzerland's unique strengths in research, engineering, and entrepreneurship, is helping to build the next generation of global market leaders."

The competition is organised by the "Handelszeitung" and Venturelab. Over the course of its 16-year history, 677 high-tech startups have been honored. Together, they raised 18.8 billion francs in venture capital and created 27,288 jobs. 111 of the companies successfully exited, 11 became unicorns, and another 11 are now publicly traded. ce/mm