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Call for Entrepreneurs!

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Thinking of starting a life science company? The Center for Biotechnology can provide access to a compelling, pre-screened pipeline of academic technologies, milestone based incentives, access to early-stage funding opportunities, and staff support to serve as your virtual start-up team.

The Long Island, NY region has a well demonstrated capacity for innovation, serving as home to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University, the Feinstein Institute at Northwell Health, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, among others. Sample technologies that have emerged from the region include Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), ReoPro®; Xiaflex®; Cavistat®; Oracea®, and 3D Virtual Colonoscopy.

More details on the BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence initiative can be found here. Women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to inquire. If you are interested in the initiative or would like to discuss further, please contact Diane Fabel at diane.fabel@stonybrook.edu or call 631.632.1582.

Funding Opportunity: BARDA DRIVe EZ-BAA

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As a BARDA DRIVe Accelerator, the Center for Biotechnology is pleased to announce that the simplified funding application process, called EZ BAA, is now open. Medical product developers, research teams, and companies offering disruptive solutions to health security threats are invited to submit abstracts beginning today using this simplified EZ BAA process.

Applications accepted through this streamlined process must offer transformative innovation, products and technologies to protect Americans from health security threats. This application process is a business friendly simple abstract.

In-scope priority areas include products and solutions to reduce illness and death from sepsis as part of DRIVe’s Solving Sepsis initiative; technologies and processes to identify infections and exposures to biological and other health threats, as outlined in the Early Notification to Act, Control, and Treat (ENACT) initiative; and tools and techniques to mitigate the damages and loss of life associated with catastrophic events.

Applying is simple:

  • Download the application form the DRIVe website.
  • Submit a technical abstract no longer than a 2,000 words
  • Include a cost proposal of an additional 2,000 words or less.
  • Proposed costs should not exceed $749,000.

What happens next:

  • Once submitted, DRIVe’s experts will review the application to ensure it is within scope and meets DRIVe criteria.
  • As the applicant, you’ll be notified of the review results within 30 days of your submission.

**The Center for Biotechnology is interested in working with potential applicants to help ensure the submission of a robust on-target proposal. If you are interested learning about how the Center for Biotechnology can help, please contact William Hanes: william.hanes@stonybrook.edu***

Learn more about the DRIVe EZ-BAA review criteria here.
Have questions? Looking more information? Contact DRIVeContracting@hhs.gov

Long Island Bioscience Hub Appoints Additional BioEntrepreneurs-In-Residence

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Seasoned Industry Veterans Join Long Island Bioscience Hub’s BioEntrepreneur-in Residence Initiative

The Long Island Bioscience Hub, a collaboration between Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the Feinstein Institute at Northwell Health, announced the appointment of Dr. Boris Shor and Mr. Peter Young as its newest BioEntrepreneurs-In-Residence (BEIRs). Dr. Shor and Mr. Young have extensive bioscience industry experience affording them unique perspectives in the role of Bio Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Each will work with the Center for Biotechnology to identify commercially promising academic technologies that have the potential to support company formation.

Dr. Shor has nearly 15 years of experience in leading oncology programs and external R&D partnerships at the large pharmas and biotech companies, with specific focus on preclinical development of small molecule kinase inhibitors and biologics. Previously at Pfizer, Dr. Shor led internal and external collaboration project teams to develop novel antibody-drug conjugates and supported BLA filing for Inotuzumab, which was approved for the treatment of leukemia in 2017. Prior to that, he was a project team leader at the Oncology Unit of Wyeth, managing the discovery of novel kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. He currently serves on the executive management team of early-stage biotech companies and is a founder of BioIDEA, a biotech pitch event in New York City. Dr. Shor received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and performed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Inflammation Research team at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D prior to joining Pfizer.

Mr. Young is an experienced life science industry consultant with over thirty-five years experience and currently serves as an executive-in-residence with Pappas Capital, where he leads the firm’s initiatives in translational research. He also serves on the Oversight Committee for the University of Miami Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research and the Long Island Bioscience Hub External Review Board. He is a past member of the BIO board and chairman of NCBIO, the North Carolina industry trade association. Mr. Young earned a BA in History and an MBA from Indiana University.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to add Boris and Peter to the Center for Biotechnology’s roster of BioEntrepreneurs-in-Residence. The ongoing expansion of the BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence program is critical for the continued development of the bioscience industry in the region” Diane Fabel, Director of Operations at the Center for Biotechnology said. “The attraction and retention of skilled bioscience management talent is an important component of ensuring companies can be launched and also grow here.”

“I am thrilled to join the Center for Biotechnology as a BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence” Dr. Shor stated, “and I have already begun the work of assessing technologies and building a company. I appreciate the resources the Center for Biotechnology offers through their many programs not only to me, but to emerging companies throughout New York.”

“Having worked with the Center for Biotechnology as an advisor for several years, I am pleased to formally join the Center as BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence” Peter Young stated. “There is an incredible amount of activity related to bioscience development currently taking place right now in the region, and the Center’s many entrepreneurial programs provide a great springboard for significant industry expansion – I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

In their roles as BEIRs, Dr. Shor and Mr. Young will work to identify a technology or technologies from within partner institutions that will create the foundation for licensing and company formation. They will have the support of the Center for Biotechnology business and technology development staff, as well as the support of external industry advisors to develop successful commercialization strategies. Ultimately, the goal is to help the company position itself prepare for SBIR/STTR grant opportunities, and Angel and VC investment.

Dr. Shor and Mr. Young join the eight BEIRs already working with the Center for Biotechnology who collectively have launched ten new companies in the last five years.

Client News: First In-Human Clinical Trial Targeting CD4 Protein for Aggressive T-cell Leukemia and Lymphoma to be Launched

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Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics and University of Louisville collaborate to offer a new CAR T immunotherapy to treat patients.

Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics, and the University of Louisville, have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for an Investigational New Drug (IND) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory T-cell leukemia and lymphoma. The approach is the first to use chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR). Together, Stony Brook University, the University of Louisville, and iCell Gene Therapeutics expect the first in-human Phase I clinical trial to begin accruing patients before the end of 2018.

“We are excited to partner with the University of Louisville and iCell Gene Therapeutics to offer this innovative first-in-human CAR T cell immunotherapy clinical trial for patients who are suffering from these extremely difficult to treat T cell lymphomas and leukemias,” said Huda Salman, MD, Principal Investigator for the IND and an oncologist at Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “CD4CAR T cells may prove to be a promising and novel therapy in this setting.”

“The development of this trial using CD4 as a target is the first of what we expect to be many CAR T-based clinical trials available to our patients over time,” said Yusuf Hannun, MD, Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “The pending trial is an example of the type of bench-to-bedside research that is building up at Stony Brook due to the growing expertise and collaborative research environment we are creating and new opportunities that will emerge upon the opening of our Medical and Research Translation (MART) Building.”

William Tse, MD, FACP, Chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, is the Co-PI of the CD4CAR clinical trial at University of Louisville site.

Center for Biotechnology Tapped for New Healthcare Security Innovation Program

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Stony Brook University Happenings recently profiled the Center for Biotechnology’s designation as on of eight national accelerators under the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe).  Excerpt below, read the full article here.

Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. It’s dangerous and often deadly. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 250,000 people die from sepsis each year, and it is a leading cause of hospitalization in the U.S.

What if a simple test could identify the onset of sepsis as soon as it occurs? Better yet, what if wearable technology was available to alert doctors about sepsis in a patient before they ever show symptoms?

This may be possible in the future thanks to Stony Brook University’s participation in the federal government’s new BARDA-DRIVe initiative.

Stony Brook, NY; Stony Brook University: Center for Biotechnology’s (CFB) Director of Operations Diane Fabel talks with Alyssa Tuthill, Instructional Support Associate/Biomedical Engineering Labs Manager while Graduate Research Assistant Vaughn Greene works with samples.

The initiative, launched by the Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe), will be overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

BARDA has selected Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology as one of eight national accelerators across the country to assist in scouting faculty innovators and businesses that are developing health security technology that meets the program’s goals. The initiative plans to focus first on sepsis and the early detection and diagnosis of infections that threaten national health. More goals will be identified over time. 

“National health security is essential for optimum public health, enabling our society to thrive,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. President Stanley is a biomedical researcher who specializes in emerging infectious diseases. He also chairs the Innovation Committee for the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council.

“With a proven record of research, discovery, innovation and product-development in the biomedical sciences, Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology is poised to become an important contributor to the BARDA-DRIVe initiative,” he said. “I am certain that the Center will advance and accelerate research discovery, and strategically collaborate with biotech companies to find solutions to better manage sepsis and emerging national health issues.”