Long Island Bioscience Hub Selects Bioentrepreneurs-In-Residence

Biotechnology Strategist Brian McCarthy and Pharma Executive Gian Luca Araldi
selected to launch new bioscience companies

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – November 23, 2015 – The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University announced today the appointment of Brian McCarthy, PhD and Gian Luca Araldi, PhD, as BioEntrepreneurs-In-Residence (B-EIR) for the Long Island Bioscience Hub.  The Long Island Bioscience Hub is a National Institutes of Health-designated Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub, and represents a partnership between Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, to commercialize technology emerging from their institutions.

Drs. McCarthy and Araldi have broad bioscience industry experience and comprehensive knowledge of commercializing academic technologies. In their roles as BEIR they will identify technologies that have the potential to support company formation in the region.  Each brings unique skills and perspectives to technology assessment and bioscience-startups.

Dr. McCarthy is a senior biotechnology strategist with operational, start-up, development, and financial expertise. He currently serves as a business advisor to Gismo Therapeutics Inc. and VP of Business and Clinical Development at Viatar CTC Solutions Inc. Prior to his Wall Street and entrepreneurial career, Dr. McCarthy was a faculty member at Cornell University Medical College and the National Naval Medical Center. Dr. McCarthy received his PhD in Neurobiology from Stony Brook University.

Dr. Araldi is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology executive with more than 25 years of experience ranging from basic research through clinical development at major pharmaceutical companies including Glaxo, Forest Laboratories and Merck-Serono.  Dr. Araldi has been involved in the development of key medicines such as Teflaro®, Dutogliptin®, Gavestinel®, Sanfetrinem® and Sanfetrinem® Cilexetil and is the inventor of 113 granted patents. Dr. Araldi received doctorate degrees in Organic Chemistry and Pharmacy from the University of Parma (Italy) and recently received his M.B.A. in Finance from Long Island University Post.

“The Long Island Bioscience Hub is excited to announce the appointments of Drs. McCarthy and Araldi as BioEntrepreneurs-in-Residence” Diane Fabel, Director of Operations for the Center for Biotechnology stated. “They join a talented roster of five existing BioEntrepreneurs in Residence at the Center for Biotechnology who are well on their way to commercializing technologies and building their companies.”

As B-EIRs Drs. McCarthy and Araldi are tasked with identifying technology or technologies from within the partner institutions that will create the foundation for licensing and company formation.  They will have the support of the LIBH business and technology development staff, as well as the support of external industry advisors to develop successful commercialization strategies. The LIBH can also provide access to a competitive pool of technology development funding to help move their technologies down a commercial pathway.  Ultimately, the goal is to help the company position itself prepare for SBIR/STTR grant opportunities, and Angel and VC investment.

Traverse Biosciences Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent

Traverse Biosciences has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted U.S. Patent No. 9,187,406 entitled, “Curcumin Analogues as Zinc Chelators and Their Uses,” which the company has exclusively licensed from the Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF/SUNY). The issued patent includes claims that cover the composition of matter of the company’s proprietary library of chemically-modified curcumins, including its lead drug candidate, TRB-N0224.
Read more on the Traverse Biosciences website.

 

Center for Biotechnology Redesignated by New York State: ‘Unique Time of Change and Growth’

Independently documented economic impact: $1.2 Billion

Jobs created: 1,125

New corporate revenues: $812 Million

Supported additional funding: $238 Million

Center for Biotechnology documented economic impact over recent fifteen-year period

Perhaps it is numbers like these which best illustrate the success CFB has had on the biotechnology industry and economy.

And perhaps they contributed to the redesignation of the CFB as a Center for Advanced Technology for ten years by the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) as a Center for Advanced Technology (CAT).

The New York State redesignation recognizes the impact of the CFB over 30 years driving innovation toward commercial goals and resulting in accelerated product development cycles “from bench to boardroom to bedside.” It recognizes the key role played by the CFB in facilitating a regional bioscience innovation ecosystem, collaborating with Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The redesignation by New York State validates all of the work we have done over the last 10-year period to create the foundation for exponential growth. We would not have secured the National Institutes of Health REACH award without it, says Clint Rubin, Director of the Center for Biotechnology.”The REACH designation represents an $8.1M investment in technology development, commercialization, and new company formation. Visionary’s like New York State Senator Kenneth La Valle deserve the credit. They recognized thirty years ago that universities represented a largely untapped pool of innovation and economic potential.

Strikingly, it validates and provides the foundation for the new Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH), a CFB-led initiative to formally bring these institutions together to foster technology development, commercialization, and new company formation. The LIBH is a bold step made possible by a partnership with the National Institute of Health REACH initiative (Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub). The NIH award places the CFB in the national spotlight along with other elite institutions. (Read more on the NIH REACH award here)

“This redesignation occurs in an interesting and changing environment, where varying elements in the regional, state, and national biotech ecosystem are aligning. There is a confluence of events and issues that are creating a unique opportunity to build the biotech economy in the region and across the State.” Commented Diane Fabel, Director of Operations, CFB. “We have learned a lot about the process of moving academic innovation into the commercial sector over time. And there have been such tremendous scientific advances recently that represent new commercial opportunities and life saving technologies. There is still much to learn and do, and it is an incredibly exciting time to be doing it.

 

 

New Mathematical Model May Improve Drug Discovery – Study Co-Authored by CFB’s Dr. Eleanor Allen

A new mathematical model that uses drug-target kinetics to predict how drugs work in vivo may provide a foundation to improve drug discovery, which is frequently hampered by the inability to predict effective doses of drugs. The discovery by Peter Tonge, a Professor of Chemistry and Radiology, and Director of Infectious Disease Research at the Institute for Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery (ICB & DD) at Stony Brook University, is co-authored by the Center for Biotechnology’s Dr. Eleanor Allen, along with collaborators at Stony Brook University and AstraZeneca. Read the full study published advanced online in Nature Chemical Biology. Read more about the team from the Stony Brook Newsroom.