Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Benjamin Winkeljann, CEO: We are developing inhalable RNA therapeutics based on a proprietary technology platform. This allows us to deliver RNA quickly and safely to the lungs – as a dry powder. In this way, we can treat severe respiratory diseases such as COPD or asthma in a targeted and efficient manner.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Benjamin Winkeljann: As of today, there are no inhalable RNA therapeutics on the market. Several are in clinical development, but all are formulated as liquids, not dry powders. This presents various technological challenges: maintaining the integrity of RNA formulations during nebulization, efficiently overcoming biological barriers such as lung mucus, and logistical aspects like cold chains and the storage of liquid RNA therapeutics. Patient compliance also plays a role: nebulizing liquid formulations often takes 20–30 minutes, whereas administering a dry powder with a handy, pocket-sized device takes less than a minute.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Benjamin Winkeljann: I joined LMU as a postdoc just as a doctoral student's project had been completed. Scientifically, it was "finished," but practically speaking, it was far too good to simply gather dust. A classic case of "right place, right time." I suggested transforming the whole thing into a commercial product. My supervisor and the driving force behind the research, Olivia Merkel, granted me the necessary freedom. I recruited a motivated team – and that's how Rnhale came about.
Systematic funding gaps in the early stages
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Benjamin Winkeljann: It took a long time until we got together with our business model were certain. Originally, we wanted to focus solely on the technology. However, we hadn't considered that neither pharmaceutical companies nor investors would invest in a technology that isn't sufficiently validated – and we're talking about clinical validation here. Therefore, we decided to initially use our platform to develop our own drug candidate, i.e., in the traditional way. BiotechThe platform will then be gradually expanded based on this validation.
The second major hurdle is the systematic funding gap in the early stages of entrepreneurship. Germany has good pre-seed programs, but once you've founded a company, things look bleak, especially for biotechs, because they typically don't generate revenue. This effectively eliminates all the classic SME funding instruments. I find this very unfortunate, because while universities initially offer a nice, protected environment to let a project mature, things suddenly move much faster and more efficiently as an independent company. While there is a lot of bureaucracy in Germany, at least it's not a gigantic administrative apparatus. In the meantime, we've financed ourselves through contract manufacturing and analytics and are fortunate enough to have secured an EIC Transition Grant.
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Benjamin Winkeljann: In one year we completed a new round of financing, which enabled us to enter the first clinical phase.
In five years, our Phase 3 clinical trial will likely be underway, and it will be foreseeable that our technology will soon benefit a large number of patients.
More courage to engage in international comparison
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Benjamin Winkeljann: Munich has a very large and active community, with many companies in the life sciences sector. This creates visibility far beyond the city limits and ultimately benefits everyone. The talent pool is excellent thanks to the two universities. With a little more available capital, I'd have absolutely nothing more to wish for.
A brief thought on Munich as a startup hub: We are good enough and shouldn't always try to compete nationwide. Our benchmark should be the international startup hotspots. This narrative is sometimes still somewhat lacking here, in my opinion.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Benjamin Winkeljann: Shooting Star, even though it wasn't 100 percent planned, we managed the marketing and visibility quite well.
