SARS-CoV-2 LAMP Detection

Washington University in St. Louis

Rapid, reliable, and widespread testing is required to curtail the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Current gold standard diagnostic assays are hampered by supply shortages in critical reagents including nasal swabs, RNA extraction kits, personal protective equipment (PPE), instrumentation, and labor. This WUSTL team lead by Jeffrey Milbrandt and William Buchser overcome these challenges with the development of a rapid colorimetric assay using reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) optimized on human saliva samples without an RNA purification step. This optimized reaction has been prototyped and tested and can provide for an affordable point-of-care diagnostic of SARS-CoV-2.

AK Therapeutics

Washington University in St. Louis

Actinic keratosis (AK) is a pre-cancerous condition of dry, scaly, or crusty patches of skin cause by chronic exposure to the sun and UV rays. About 10% of AK cases lead to Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (CSCC), the second most common form of skin cancer in the US, within 2 years. At the moment, more than 58 million Americans have one or more AKs. Since it is difficult to distinguish between AKs that will and will not progress to CSCC, AKs are routinely treated aggressively to minimize the number of cases that progress to CSCC.

Gateway Biotechnology

Washington University in St. Louis

Gateway is an emerging privately held start - up addressing hearing loss and tinnitus. Incubated with BioGenerator in St. Louis, Gateway builds on research and clinical collaborations across several academic institutions including Washington University, Northeast Ohio Medical University and Harvard University. Its founders are scientific and clinical leaders in the field. Gateway has built a comprehensive research, discovery, and clinical development platform for new therapeutics to treat tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). The platform is highly leveraged by federal funding, cumulatively some $30m of research by the scientific founder, and $12m in translational funding, including a Phase II hearing loss clinical trial funded by the U.S. Army. The Company has raised no equity capital to date.

SARM1 Gene Therapy

Washington University in St. Louis

SARM1 Gene Therapy has developed a single use, viral gene therapy approach for neurodegenerative diseases. Dominant negative variants of SARM1 inhibit axon degeneration in various neurodegenerative diseases. Strong in vivo data shows blocking of the SARM1 pathway prevents axon degeneration in many types of insults.

AIFEN

Washington University in St. Louis

AIFEN is developing a two stent, fenestrated aorto-iliac endograft system for repairs in atherosclerotic occlusive diseases. AIFEN is founded by Prof. Mohamed Zayed, the co-founder and CMO of Caeli Vascular. Dr. Zayed is a rising star in fostering innovation at Washington University in St. Louis, with 8 new medtech inventions over the past 3 years. His disclosures have lead to four patent filings and one license to his startup, Caeli.

Triple Target Gene Therapy

Washington University in St. Louis

Triple Target Gene Therapy’s (TTGT's) molecular engineering of adenoviruses allows for the unique pairing of long term gene expression and targeted gene delivery to achieve gene therapy cures. The long term gene expression is achieved via proprietary technology that incorporates CRISPR/Cas. Additionally, the specific gene delivery targeting is accomplished via capsid modification techniques.

Cellulograft

Washington University in St. Louis

Cellulograft is developing an implantable device for cell replacement therapy that protects cells from immune attack. Cellulograft is founded by Prof. Mohamed Zayed, the co-founder and CMO of Caeli Vascular. Dr. Zayed is a rising star in fostering innovation at Washington University in St. Louis, with 8 new medtech inventions over the past 3 years. His disclosures have lead to four patent filings and one license to his startup, Caeli.

Venohood

Washington University in St. Louis

Venohood is a custom cuff attachment to the venous end of an arteriovenous graft that reduces graft failure by lowering rate of thrombosis at the venous anastomosis. Venohood is founded by Prof. Mohamed Zayed, the co-founder and CMO of Caeli Vascular. Dr. Zayed is a rising star in fostering innovation at Washington University in St. Louis, with 8 new medtech inventions over the past 3 years. His disclosures have lead to four patent filings and one license to his startup, Caeli.

Rotoscope

Washington University in St. Louis

In endoscopic surgery, the surgeon often has to remove the endoscope and clean the lens in order to fully visualize the surgical procedure. This wastes time and puts the patient at risk. The rotoscope is a self-cleaning endoscope which minimizes surgical time and risk to the patient.

Prostate DHI

Washington University in St. Louis

Non-invasive, accurate diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer through diffusion histology imaging. The technique has been validated with patient samples, demonstrates >95% agreement with pathologist-identified tumor stages, and can distinguish protest cancer from prostatitis or benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Adhesive-coated Sutures

Washington University in St. Louis

Coated sutures are designed for improved mechanical resilience to prevent failure of surgical repair. Unlike conventional sutures, which concentrate stress at the point of attachment, these sutures use an adhesive coating and soft adhesive zone to distribute stress along the length of the suture and reinstate load transfer across the tendon‐to‐bone repair.

Nous Imaging

Washington University in St. Louis

Patient motion is the biggest obstacle for collecting high quality brain MRIs faster. Sedation is often used in clinical settings to reduce head motion but is not appropriate for children, compromised adults, or research participants. Nous Imaging's first commercial product FIRMM is a medical imaging software suite that provides real-time motion monitoring during MRI scans. Visual feedback is provided to both the scan operator and patient. In addition, FIRMM is able to identify the ideal scan time for each person based on actual motion, which can further reduce total brain MRI scan time and associated costs.

SimpEL

Washington University in St. Louis

An implantable, bone-anchored sympathetic nerve stimulator that can be used for treatment of chronic pain, hypertension, asthma, hyperactive bladder, and many other conditions.

VaxNewMo

Washington University in St. Louis

VaxNewMo’s goal is to be the next bioconjugate vaccine platform company. It is seeking a business co-founder to help shape a clinical development, fundraising, and partnership strategy that can maximize its impact and value

Revolution Reservoir

Washington University in St. Louis

Revolution Reservoir is a self-powered, rotating catheter system to prevent shunt failure in patients with hydrocephalus. Revolution Reservoir is developed by Dr. Eric Leuthardt, one of the most prolific inventors at Washington University in St. Louis and the world with 628 Issued US patents and thousands of pending applications. He is the co-founder of 4 startup companies and is the director of the Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology (CINT), which is sponsored by Stryker Corporation.