IN THIS ISSUE:
CFB CLIENTS RAISE >$40M
CELMATIX ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP; APDNA AWARDED PATENT; CODAGENIX EXPANDS; HAIRPIN TOPS $1M AND MORE
CLINT RUBIN INDUCTED INTO LONG ISLAND TECHNOLOGY HALL OF FAME & NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS
| SUMMER 2016 |
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IN THIS ISSUE:CFB CLIENTS RAISE >$40M |
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CELMATIX ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP; APDNA AWARDED PATENT; CODAGENIX EXPANDS; HAIRPIN TOPS $1M AND MORE |
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CLINT RUBIN INDUCTED INTO LONG ISLAND TECHNOLOGY HALL OF FAME & NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS |
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR! LIFE SCIENCES SUMMIT NOVEMBER 2-3, 2016 NEW YORK CITY |
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LONG ISLAND BIOSCIENCE HUB WELCOMES FEINSTEIN INSTITUTE |
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The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the research arm of Northwell Health, has joined the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH). The addition of the Feinstein Institute fulfills one of the Hub’s goals of coordinating comprehensive technology commercialization efforts across all four major bioscience research institutions on Long Island. Read more here. |
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CFB CLIENTS RAISE +$40M |
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Center for Biotechnology (CFB) clients have recently announced major fund raising rounds. Rgenix, cancer therapeutics company developing first-in-class drugs targeting novel cancer pathways, announced a $33 million Series B financing led by Novo A/S and Sofinnova Partners, with participation from existing investors including Partnership Fund for New York City, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Conegliano Ventures LP. TheraSource LLC has received a $3 million three-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will support the development of human ghrelin as an innovative treatment to alleviate health damage caused by unintentional radiation exposure. Traverse Biosciences has received a $1.3M Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Award in partnership with the School of Dental Medicine at Stony Brook University. Traverse also announced recently that the company has secured $500,000 in convertible debt financing to support operations and advance product development efforts. The seed financing was led by Excell Partners, with matching funds from a number of individual accredited angel investors. Codagenix has announced that it has been awarded a $99,710 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to commence the development of an influenza vaccine for swine. Intensity Therapeutics has secured $10 million in new capital from a Series A preferred stock financing. Participants included Batterson Venture Capital, VCapital, FastForward Innovations, SalvaRx Group PLC, Declan Doogan M.D. and Jim Mellon as well as several other accredited investors and family offices. |
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CLIENT MILESTONES |
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iCell Gene Therapeutics has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation for its chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR) for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). The Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status, and associated development incentives, to drugs and biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Ortek Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a patent for new methods to use new compositions to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacteria and suppress body odor. U.S. Patent 9,370,476, was issued to The Research Foundation of State University of New York, an Ortek licensing partner, and is directed to topical application of a zinc and arginine-based composition. Ortek holds exclusive international licensing rights to this patent, which was developed at Stony Brook University. Ortek has a long-standing relationship with Israel Kleinberg DDS, PhD, DSc, who led the development of this new technology and is the Director of the Division of Translational Oral Biology at Stony Brook University |
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LIBH ANNOUCES NEXT FUNDED PROJECTS |
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The Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH), has announced the recipients of the second round of funded projects under the Hub’s technology development and commercialization initiative. Funding for ten projects totaling $600,000 was awarded to applicants from the Hub’s partner institutions. Partner institutions include Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Feinstein Institute at Northwell Health System. |
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APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (ARAD) AWARDS ANNOUNCED |
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The recipients of the CFB's 2016-2017 Applied Research & Development (ARAD) awards have been announced. Seven collaborations between Stony Brook University faculty and New York State corporate partners have been funded this year. The full list of projects can be found here. Designed to help bridge the gap between the early-stage technology discovery and development capabilities of the academic community and the later-stage commercial development interests of the bioscience industry, the ARAD program currently provides matching funds on a competitive basis to support collaborations between Stony Brook University faculty and New York State corporate partners in all areas of medical biotechnology. The primary interest is in supporting development of technologies that will help companies hit commercially relevant milestones, and that have the potential to positively impact the New York State economy. |
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"EVEN RESEARCH NEEDS A ROLODEX" |
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CFB Director and Stony Brook University Biomedical Engineering Chair Dr. Clinton Rubin recently spoke with Innovate Long Island about commercialization and entrepreneurship. A serial inventor, Dr. Rubin has been involved in three startup companies based on his technology which have all taught him different lessons about commercialization. As he notes in the article, “There’s a chasm between launching a technology and creating a company”. Read the full article here. |
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CLINT RUBIN INDUCTED INTO LONG ISLAND TECHNOLOGY HALL OF FAME & NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS |
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In two separate events, CFB Director Clinton Rubin was recently inducted into the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame (LITHF) and the Stony Brook Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. The objective of the LITHF is to recognize, honor and preserve the contributions, accomplishments, and dedication of historical figures or current leaders in science or technology who have had, or are having, an impact on Long Island. Dr. Rubin was honored alongside Dr. Bruce Stillman and Mr. Steve MacDonald at a held at the Garden City Hotel. In April when Stony Brook University launched its chapter of the National Academy of Inventors, Dr. Rubin along with 29 university faculty members were inducted into the chapter's Hall of Fame. More about the chapter and the inagrual class of inductees can be found here. |
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“NO MORE NEEDLES” NEWS 12 LI FEATURES IMMUNOMATRIX |
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News 12 Long Island recently highlighted Katarzyna Sawicka, Founder and President of ImmunoMatrix, a Stony Brook start-up and CFB client developing a technology that can deliver medication directly through the skin, no needles necessary. View the segment here. |
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2016 INNOVATION BOOT CAMP |
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The Innovation Boot Camp, an annual event co-organized by the CFB and Stony Brook University’s Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP), took place over the course of two weeks in March, and featured eight technologies emerging from the region’s top research institutions. The event rallies community talent and resources to investigate and transform commercially promising technologies into pre-seed stage companies. Dr. Carol Carter, a molecular Genetics and Microbiology Professor at Stony Brook University, participated in the boot camp this year and noted to Innovate Long Island, “It’s given me an education of a type I’ve not gotten before, in all of my training. As an academician, you don’t usually get this kind of perspective on what you do.” Read additional articles on the event here and here. |
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LIBH RESEARCHER FEATURED IN GEN (GENETIC ENGINEERING NEWS) |
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Dr. Jinfang Ju, Associate Professor of Pathology and Co-Director of Translational Research at Stony Brook University School of Medicine is investigating ways to use microRNAs as modulators to overcome chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer. His research, supported in part by a LIBH feasibility grant, was recently featured in an article in GEN - Genetic Engineering News. (registration required to access article) |
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“BIOSPECIFICS SURGES ON INTERNATIONAL BREAKOUT” |
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Lybrook based BioSpecifics Technologies Corp has reported an “important year of commercial growth” in 2015 according to the company’s President Thomas Wegman. The company’s flagship product, Xiafelx, entered the international market this past year for its Peyronie’s disease indication. The underlying technology, licensed from Stony Brook University, was supported early on by the CFB in a collaboration with BioSpecifics and SBU faculty members Marie Badalemente and Lawrence Hurst. Read more about the company and its other current R&D pursuits in this article. |
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APPLIED DNA SCIENCES GRANTED |
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Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. has announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted US Patent No. 9,266,370, entitled, "DNA Marking of Previously Undistinguished Items for Traceability" to APDN on February 23, 2016. The company was also featured in a recent issue of Scientific American in an article that spotlights the ability of the Company’s SigNature DNA as an Anti-Counterfeiting Solution for the Pharmaceutical Industry. Read the full Scientific American article here. |
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CODAGENIX EXPANDS INTO NEW |
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Codagenix recently received $2.25 million through New York’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) awards which they will primarily use to expand the company’s research and development efforts into a new facility in the Broad Hollow Bioscience Park located on the campus of Farmingdale State College. |
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S.A.L.T. DEVICE WINS DIGITAL HEALTH MARKETPLACE PILOT FUNDING |
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Weill Cornell graduate student and entrepreneur, Fon Powell, is one of the winners of the latest round of pilot funding from Digital Health Marketplace (formerly Pilot Health Teach NYC). A client of the CFB, Ms. Powell and her company Sodium Analyte Level Test LLC (S.A.L.T.), have developed a portable, smart phone-based home urinary analysis test that will allow users to conveniently self-monitor sodium intake, while providing physicians and researchers a mechanism to gather data on salt levels. She will collaborate with the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) to further develop the device. Read more here. |
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CELMATIX ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH 23andMe; CO-FOUNDER NAMED TO FORTUNE’S ENTREPRENEUR LIST |
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Celmatix announced a collaboration with 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, with the goal of improving infertility outcomes. This collaboration will accelerate the launch of Celmatix’s tests, which will aim to provide physicians with a comprehensive genetic lens on infertility. This will also enable the development of early screening tests which will help OBGYNs identify women who are at risk for premature decline of their ovarian function, which has both infertility and broader health implications. Piraye Yurttas Beim, co-founder and CEO of Celmatix was named to “The Fortune Entrepreneurs List”. Read the feature on Dr. Beim on Fortune.com. |
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HAIRPIN TECHNOLOGIES TOPS $1M |
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Hairpin Technologies, the exclusive licensing agent for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s shRNA portfolio, has surpassed $1 million in licensing revenue on the lab’s patented “short hairpin RNA” technology. The company, which negotiates licensing agreements with manufacturers, distributors and end-users, is headed by CFB BEIR’s Josephs Scaduto and Michael Bielski as well as John DiMatteo and Paul Sheiffele. |
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CHEMBIO DIAGNOSTICS AWARDED $550K “CATALYST GRANT” TO DEVELOP A RAPID TEST FOR THE ZIKA VIRUS |
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Chembio Diagnostics has been awarded a $550,000 “catalyst grant” to develop a rapid test for the Zika virus and similar maladies. The grant comes from Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, who has a long history of supporting Chembio’s research efforts, most recently surrounding the Ebola outbreak. Read the full story on Innovate Long Island. |
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SUNY'S BIG IDEA BLOG FEATURES LONG ISLAND BIOSCIENCE HUB |
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The State University of New York’s Blog, Big Ideas, recently published a post highlighting the Long Island Bioscience Hub and how it is working with federal support to transform biomedical research into next-generation medical solutions. |
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EMERGING COMPANY PIPELINE |
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InfraSonic Monitoring, Staten Island, NY - developing a new platform called CoreTrac, to provide users cardiac performance while doing their activities outside of clinical setting. iCell GeneTherapeutics, Stony Brook, NY – developing novel CAR immunotherapies for hematological cancer treatment. Vela Therapeutics, Stony Brook, NY - developing selective Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for the treatment of neurological rare diseases such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Rett Syndrome, and Fragile X syndrome. |
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LIFE SCIENCES SUMMIT™ 2016 |
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The Life Sciences Summit is an early-stage investor and business development conference that provides emerging companies and academic innovators with exposure to potential investors and strategic partners with the goal of advancing new innovations into clinical development. This year's conference will be held November 2-3, 2016 at 10 on the Park at the Time Warner Center in New York City. Visit the conference website to learn more about participatin in this year's event.
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