In February 2022, Demcon investment invested in the company In Ovo domiciled in Leiden, the Netherlands. This biotech startup improves animal welfare through means of its egg selection machine, ELLA, jointly developed by Demcon. This machine, on the basis of a protein puncture determines whether the egg will produce a hen or a rooster. Every year, 6.5 billion male chicks are culled in the poultry industry as soon as they hatch, because they cannot lay eggs. Social resistance to this practice is increasing in various countries. In Ovo has developed a gender screening system that identifies the gender of the chick while it is still in the egg. We arranged for the automation of the complete egg sampling process. This prevents unnecessary animal suffering and saves on costs, which contributes to sustainable and affordable nutrition.

One of the companies in Demcon investment’s portfolio is the Dutch MedTech company LiGalli. Together with Demcon teams in Delft and Best, LiGalli is rapidly developing the new innovative LiGalli MedRing. This is a unique vaginal ring that delivers medication in liquid form against incontinence in a controlled way. A smartphone is used to control the MedRing. The LiGalli MedRing makes it possible to more effectively deliver medication through the vaginal canal and improves diagnostics. This makes it possible to more specifically treat incontinence, as a result of which women no longer need to experience any limitations in their social activities. There are more than 100 rings under development, all of which are first generation. The first application is focused on countering incontinence. The partners are now working on new versions of the MedRing for the delivery of other medications, and on better diagnostics and opportunities for mass production.
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In December 2022, Demcon investment together with a large number of Dutch investors invested in the Bioneedle Drug Delivery startup in Leiden. Bioneedle Drug Delivery has put a new production line into operation for the production of bio-needles for an injection system that makes vaccination simpler, faster and safer. These bio-needles shoot a dry vaccine painlessly under the skin, where it subsequently rapidly dissolves. This eliminates the need for cooling vaccines, which makes it possible to distribute vaccines throughout the world faster and more economically. The line has been built at Demcon in Enschede. Demcon acts as a development and production partner for the innovative Bioneedle technology. 
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