Long Island Bioscience Hub Announces Funded Projects

Accelerating Biomedical Discoveries for Commercialization

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – December 7, 2015 – The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, on behalf of the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH), announced today the recipients of the first technology development grants awarded by the Hub. Thirteen awards totaling $900,000 were granted to applicants from Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The LIBH technology development grants are a multi-tiered funding initiative aimed at collectively contributing to a pipeline of commercially promising biomedical technology in the region. The three funding initiatives include Feasibility, Proof of Concept and Commercialization awards.

Feasibility awards are designed to rapidly test the feasibility of new ideas in a “fail-fast-or-proceed” format, or to add value to existing intellectual property leading to new market applications of an existing technology.  Proof of Concept Awards provide targeted, milestone driven support for proof of concept research, development, testing, and analysis of existing intellectual property. The final tier, Commercialization Awards, provide targeted, milestone-driven support for a subset of projects with existing intellectual property where additional investment will clearly advance the technology to a major value inflection point for commercialization.

The grants awarded this cycle will support technologies developed across multiple disciplines including pharmacology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, and microbiology. Among the award recipients were two post-doctoral researchers. Of the thirteen grants awarded, eight were Feasibility awards and five were Proof of Concept Awards. The recipients of this round of awards are:

Feasibility awards

  • Targeting Pathogenic Viral Infections with First-In-Class Viral Budding Inhibitors – Dr. Carol Carter
  • Development of Small Molecule Inhibitors for PLD6 as Therapeutics for Triple Negative Breast Cancer – Dr. Michael Frohman
  • Novel miR-129 Based Therapeutics for Colon Cancer – Dr. Jingfang Ju
  • Fast Hybrid Approach For Determination of Structure of Therapeutic Protein Complexes – Dr. Dima Kosakov
  • Enhancement of Protein Yields Using Mechanical Signals: Augmenting Biotech Production to Reduce Drug Costs – Dr. Gabriel Pagnotti
  • Non-invasive Acoustic Radiation Force Therapy for OA Induced Pain and Cartilage Regeneration – Dr. Yixian Qin
  • LDL as Biomarker for Childhood Tuberculosis (TB) – Dr. Xinxin Yang

Proof of Concept awards

  • A New Standard of Care for Implant Bed Preparation Utilizing an Innovative Drill Bit Technology – Dr. Marcous Abboud
  • Orthovoltage X-Ray Minibeams: Brain Tumor Therapy with Tissue-sparing Incident Beams – Dr. Avraham Dilmanian
  • NEW‐HARP: A Highly Sensitive Avalanche Selenium Detector for Time‐of‐Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) – Dr. Amirhossein Goldan
  • Azasteroids for Combination Anti-TB Therapy – Dr. Nicole Sampson
  • A Novel Glioblastoma Drug – Oncolytic Virus PV1-Mono-Cre – Dr. Eckard Wimmer

​“We are excited to see such a robust and diverse portfolio of early stage technologies supported through the LIBH and NIH-REACH consortium,” said Clinton T. Rubin, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Director, Center for Biotechnology. “We are hopeful that this investment by the federal and state government, as well as SBU, CSHL and BNL, will foster and accelerate the translation of these technologies from the bench to the bed side, and help attract further investment from the industrial and financial sectors.”

The main goal of the LIBH is to foster the development of therapeutics, preventatives, diagnostics, devices and research tools emerging from LIBH partner institutions that address diseases within the NIH’s mission.

QB Sonic Wins SBA InnovateHER Competition

Stony Brook-based technology startup, QB Sonic, is the local winner of the federal Small Business Administration’s InnovateHER competition, a national contest for companies seeking to improve the lives of women and families. The company will advance to the semifinal round. Read more about the company and the competition here.

Commercialization Workshop for Life Sciences

Are you interested in learning about the skills needed to commercialize an innovation? Do you have an innovation that you are looking to bring out of the lab? Are you looking for funding to aide commercialization efforts? Attend the LIBH Commercialization Workshop.

The Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH) is hosting a Life Science focused Mini-Boot Camp- a one day rapid fire workshop that will provide practical tools used in commercialization as well as strategies to enhance applications for LIBH grant funding.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

8:30a-3:00pLong Island High Technology Incubator

25 Health Sciences Drive, Stony Brook, NY 11794

Who Should Attend: Faculty, Physicians, Fellows, Post Docs, Grad Students

Topics Include: Intellectual Property, Business Models, Market Needs & Size, Competitive Landscape, Regulatory Pathways

This is a free event but interested participants are asked to RSVP via email to Tiffany Tsui, PhD: tiffany.tsui@stonybrook.edu

 

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.

 

 

Long Island Bioscience Hub is seeking experienced BioEntrepreneurs-in Residence

The Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH) is seeking experienced BioEntrepreneurs-in Residence (BEIRs) to launch new bioscience ventures in the Long Island, New York region. Company formation will be based upon commercially promising biomedical technologies emerging from Stony Brook University (SBU), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

To help facilitate this process, the LIBH will provide:

  • modest retainer/milestone payments to BEIRs for a predetermined period of time
  • access to technology development funding on a competitive basis
  • senior staff support to assist with commercialization strategies
  • office space
  • access to experienced industry advisors
  • introductions to investors and professional services

BEIRs will also have access to the resources of the LIBH including: faculty expertise, core research and engineering facilities, libraries, business incubators, the 245-acre Research Park, and a suite of end-to-end economic development programs. BEIRs will be responsible for evaluation of biomedical technologies available for license from LIBH partner institutions. BEIRs will ultimately select specific technologies to form the basis of a company, and will be required to develop detailed commercialization strategies, business plans and investor presentations. BEIRs will negotiate and execute option and/or license agreements with LIBH partner institutions as may be appropriate, secure capital from both public and private sources, and exit the BEIR program to lead the Long Island- based company as CEO. BEIRs will also provide guidance to entrepreneurial faculty members and participate in technology reviews and other meetings as deemed appropriate.

The most compelling BEIR candidate(s) will possess domain expertise and technical proficiency in the life sciences or engineering, as well as business acumen and industry experience, particularly in early stage technology commercialization, new venture creation, and fundraising. Advanced degree in life sciences, engineering, business and/or law are preferred. Terms of engagement dependent upon individual circumstances. BEIRs will report to the Center for Biotechnology Advisory Board.

Interested parties should contact to Eleanor Allen, with a statement of interest and resume. Inquiries will be considered on a rolling basis until appropriate candidates are identified.

The LIBH, was established by the Center for Biotechnology (CFB), a New York State Center for Advanced Technology, in collaboration with Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and with additional support provided by the National Institutes of Health REACH initiative (Research Evaluation And Commercialization Hub), Research Foundation for SUNY, and Empire State Development. The LIBH will foster the development of therapeutics, preventatives, diagnostics, devices and research tools emerging from LIBH partner institutions that address diseases within the NIH’s mission.