Recolony Insights

Recolony is a spin-off company from the University of Zurich that started as a research project in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Zurich. The investigation of the effect of certain commensal bacteria on the anti-cancer immune response led to impressive results and to the decision to translate these findings to a clinical application. With this mission, Recolony became part of the Wyss Zurich Translational Center, a joint accelerator of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

Our incentive is to provide high-quality therapy to cancer patients, with the aim to maximize treatment efficacy and at the same time the quality of life of the people suffering from this life-changing disease. For that purpose, we invest our efforts in high-class research to produce new, innovative therapies that ultimately bring the desired benefits to the patients.

Join the Team

The Leadership Team

The core colony

Ana Montalban-Arques, PhD

CEO & Co-Founder

Ana initiated the project in September 2020, when she received the Entrepreneur Fellowship from the University of Zurich. The results during her post-doc since 2018 were the trigger to develop this novel translational project from bench-to-bedside. Later on, in June 2021, she received support from BRIDGE, a joint funding programme by the SNF and InnoSuisse. With the aim of bringing a bacteria-based therapy for colorectal cancer patients, Recolony was born. Ana obtained her PhD in Medicine by the Medical University of Graz in 2016 and her Master´s in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Murcia in 2012. Ana has been focused in the study of host-microbial interactions in the gut since 2011, a topic she feels passionate about. Ana loves spending her free time outdoors. When in Switzerland, the mountains are the choice, for either hiking or skiing. When she is in Spain, her home country, she enjoys being by the sea snorkeling or kayaking. Besides that, Ana releases the stress by dancing and singing with her favourite music.

Philipp Busenhart, PhD

CBO & Co-Founder

Philipp joined the Recolony project in April 2021. At the beginning, he was involved in scientific activities, including the isolation of proprietary bacterial strains. Philipp always had a profound interest in innovative technologies and in becoming an entrepreneur. Now, in his role as CBO, he is responsible for the patent portfolio, market analysis, and the overall business and strategy development of Recolony. After his Master’s at the University of Zurich, Philipp gained further research experience in an internship at the oncology department of the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, where he tested the efficacy of novel small-molecule compounds as cancer treatments. Following this insight into the big pharma world, he went back to academic research and performed his PhD studies in cancer biology at the University of Zurich. Philipp has a great passion for sports, including skiing, biking or tennis. He loves to spend time in the mountains in every season and enjoys making use of his great cooking skills whenever possible

Eglė Katkevičiūtė, PhD

CSO & Co-Founder

Egle joined the Recolony project in September 2021 and has been responsible since then for the setup and execution of in vivo experiments. As a co-founder and CSO of Recolony, Egle is coordinating all research activities to complete the preclinical phase towards the First-in-Human clinical trial. Egle obtained her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Zurich. In addition, Egle has an integrated Master's degree in Biochemistry from University of Glasgow with the industrial placement performed at MedImmune, Cambridge. This combined academic and industrial research background provides a round-up knowledge perfect for her current position in the start-up. In her free time, Egle enjoys dancing salsa, finding balance in Bikram yoga, ‘torturing’ in the muscle pump and having interesting discussions about current affairs during the coffee breaks. Travelling is also part of Egle’s passion, having moved around most of her adult life. Last but not least, Egle always enjoys a great book on her commute to work!