Discover a new adventure

Pomerex Therapeutics

Columbia University

Many disease-causing proteins are difficult to inhibit directly with biologics and small molecules. However, new advances allow for the control of the abundance of proteins using small molecules, providing a path to medicines that selectively control protein stability. Pomerex Therapeutics is building a platform for the systematic discovery of small molecules that control the stability of disease-modifying proteins. They have developed novel compounds that can cause the destruction of otherwise undruggable but crucial protein targets, including those driving the genesis and survival of aggressive cancers. They are seeking funds to expand their platform and develop their lead oncology programs.

IMIJ Technologies

Columbia University

IMIJ Technologies is a startup from the labs of Columbia’s Dr. Scott Small and Dr. Frank Provenzano that focuses on novel approaches to broad neurological and psychiatric screening and diagnostics that can be applied to existing and conventional neuroimaging - structural MRI. IMIJ has successfully developed and adapted technologies initially researched at Columbia to a variety of existing conventional neuroimaging to develop statistically rigorous candidate biomarkers, as well a fully interpretable report detailing the results. IMIJ uses the same images frequently obtained to diagnose brain diseases, images acquired tens of millions of times a year in the US alone. IMIJ's proprietary software requires no additional data or MRI equipment. IMIJ has raised $1.1M seed funding to date and is seeking $9M with the goal of securing approval for indication in order to refine the development and pilot with a major hospital system.

Optimer Biotech

Columbia University

Designer biopolymers have numerous biotech applications due to their superior specificity and efficacy. However, their large size and complexity hindered the development of effective engineering methods, leaving developers with suboptimal molecules. This is most prevalent in drug discovery and diagnostics: patients routinely develop strong adverse reactions to biologics (e.g., many SARS-CoV-2 IgG tests have weaker specificity and affinity, leading to dubious results). Optimer is changing the status quo through its hybrid computational and experimental biopolymer engineering platform capable of designing DNA, RNA, and proteins with superior properties - especially target activity and specificity - for a broad range of biotech solutions. Optimer is currently rigorously testing and aggressively pursuing patent protection for its methodology and won a pilot award from Columbia’s Translational Therapeutics (TRx) Lab-to-Market accelerator program.

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.

EsperImage

Washington University in St. Louis

Functional brain imaging is an important tool to assess brain health in conditions like stroke, cognitive function, visual function disorders, Parkinson’s, and ischemia. However, the MRI scanners are too bulky and expensive to bring the assessment where it is needed at the bedside or in ambulatory settings. EsperDyne's Wearable Optical Brain Imaging (WOBI) system addresses the cost and portability gap, bringing affordable functional brain imaging to the bedside and beyond. The market size for fNIRS Brain Imaging Systems is currently estimated at more than $135M with a CAGR of 10% as the systems gain additional research and clinical importance. The two known competing research systems lack the voxel density and portability of the WOBI system. The WOBI technology is protected by two issued and two pending US patents and has 3 prototype generations.

KD-1900 Diagnostics

Yale University

Kawasaki Disease is an illness that causes inflammation (swelling and redness) in blood vessels throughout the body that comprises three phases, the first of which is usually a lasting fever. The condition most often affects kids younger than 5-8 years years old. Catching Kawasaki disease early is key - children can be treated relatively easily if the disease is detected early, however becomes much more dangerous the longer it goes in diagnosed. The first sign of the disease, fever, is unspecific to Kawasaki disease, and by the time later symptoms manifest, much more aggressive intervention needs to be taken. Thus, a diagnostic that can identify Kawasaki Disease is critical to successfully treating the 5,000-20,000 cases that arise each year in the US, and more globally.

M^3

Stanford University

We treat faces as if they were feet, and that’s absurd. Unlike feet, faces are 3D, yet we still measure them using 2D objects such as paper cutouts in the massive $6b market to fit people with masks. This doesn’t cut it, and the data backs it up: 50% of Americans don’t wear the CPAP masks they’ve been prescribed because of these fit, comfort, and convenience issues. The only reason we’ve tolerated this is that until recently there has been no better way to get good 3d measurements of your face without lots of specialized tools. We solve this problem by making it as easy as taking a selfie to get precise 3D measurements of your face.

RiboRupt Biotech

Yale University

We have applied a unique, robust, and comprehensive image-based assay developed in our laboratory to discover small molecule inhibitors of nucleolar function. Results from pilot screens on FDA-approved drugs reveal 83 unique hits that include known and putative antineoplastic agents.

LensGuide Imaging Technology (LEGIT)

Columbia University

LEGIT uses a new optical concept (a lensguide) developed at Columbia University to improve optical endoscopy. Their goal is the development of a whole microscopy probe (size ~ 0.1-1 mm) that can be inserted in the body, with minimal damage, for high resolution imaging (<1 µm resolution). The LEGIT endoscopic probe can be used for cancer diagnostics (e.g. skin and liver cancer) and in vivo biopsy imaging. The LEGIT lensguide is a higher quality and less expensive replacement for the GRIN lenses with significantly higher flexibility in design and manufacturing.

Asyst Therapeutics

Yale University

Our data shows via genetic and pharmacological studies that the Ire1alpha-XBP1 pathway is a novel genetic interactor of Pkd1 and can strongly modulate the progression of ADPKD in murine models by protecting Pkd1 kidney cyst cells from apoptosis without impacting their proliferation. Tilting the balance from low to high apoptosis levels (via inactivation of XBP1 on a Pkd1 KO background) given similar proliferation profiles may thus provide a viable therapeutic option in the context of cystic kidney disease. Given that the target pathway in this case is very well characterized and not needed for kidney development or homeostasis, our data offers a potentially exciting therapeutic option for slowing down ADPKD (and possibly ARPKD) by targeting Ire1alpha-XBP1. Furthermore, we have identified a potent agent that leads to a dramatic decrease in polycystic kidney disease progression in both early and adult mouse models. This agent represents a promising candidate for further pre-clinical/clinical development.

Pangolin Therapeutics

Yale University

Numerous clinical trials in amyloidosis have failed as a result of misdirected focus on amyloid states of disease-causing proteins. Pangolin Therapeutics’ (PTx) small-molecule platform, termed Pangomers™, was developed to address this deficiency. The Pangomer™ core structure enables selective targeting of pre-amyloid, toxic oligomers (PAOs). Here, we seek to address Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), an aggressive, orphan-indicated form of Parkinson's for which there are no approved therapeutics. Our pilot efforts have identified and validated a strategy for development of Pangomer™ analogues that neutralize PAOs from MSA. Additional funding will allow execution of this strategy delivering a lead molecule for pre-clinical advancement.

Free Dynamics

Washington University in St. Louis

The logistics of ensuring compliance of thermal profiles (e.g., keeping cold items cold) for each product is a difficult problem. Solutions exist for monitoring temperature at coarse scale (shipping container), but those that precisely track each unit (color-changing stickers), lack the ability to precisely convey information in a scalable manner. Free Dynamics designs electronic temperature sensors that operate without any external batteries for months. Unlike current solutions, our quantum-mechanically-driven sensors are miniature and cost-effective enough to be incorporated into every vial of essential drugs that require stringent storage conditions. As a result, we can assure last-mile compliance while expecting higher accuracy. In addition, we have also shown that our system can be used for authentication which will guard the tagged assets against tampering and counterfeiting.

NanoStem Biotech

Rutgers University

Dr. KiBum Lee of Rutgers University is developing a nanoscaffold material and system that would enable effective stem cell therapy and drug delivery. The innovation promises functional recovery in patients with central nervous system injuries--like spinal cord injuries--for which there are no effective treatments today. Features of the nanoscaffold include 3D biomimicry, stem cell/neuronal differentiation, ECM-protein binding affinity, efficient drug loading/sustained delivery, and MRI-based monitoring capability.

ProTech Sensors

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are carbon containing molecules that have low boiling points and high vapor pressures causing them to evaporate into gas phase at ambient conditions. A wide range of VOC analysis devices are used in various industries for occupational exposure monitoring, environmental monitoring, process control, detection of explosive compounds, and medical diagnosis. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) is the gold standard method for analysis of VOCs. However, these systems are bulky, expensive, and sophisticated laboratory instruments that require skilled professionals for operation. ProTech’s VOCSense is a sensor-based analysis technology that resembles the functionality of a gas chromatography mass spectrometry system. VOCSense can identify and quantify individual VOCs from normal air samples. ProTech is looking for a C-level leader and advisors to support them during development and fundraising.

OT Bio

George Washington University

OT Bio aims to apply our patented intranasal oxytocin therapy to treat sleep apnea and protect patients from associated heart disease. The scientific leaders have complementary bench and clinical expertise that has enabled both understanding of oxytocin's mechanisms in the brain and human studies showing improved respiratory and cardiac functions.

TargetSite Therapeutics

Yale University

Inflammatory diseases such as autoimmune uveitis, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis are thought to be driven by over expression of cytokines such as IL-17. Therapeutic approaches to repress expression of pro-inflammatory proteins are promising, but miRNAs which stabilize the targeted mRNA can inhibit this process. This technology uses oligonucleotides to block the target sites of the stabilizing miRNAs, thus leading to decreased stability of the target mRNA. Based on novel insights into the biology of a new class of microRNAs, TargetSite Therapeutics is harnessing the power of a differentiated oligonucleotide therapeutic platform in order to target pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in therapeutic areas of distinct need.

Acurasset

Princeton University

Viral infections causing hepatitis are major contributors to human morbidity and mortality. Currently, there are no approved directly acting antivirals that cure two of these viruses - hepatitis B (HBV) and E viruses (HEV) – that account for close to 300 million infections world-wide. Our goal is to develop novel small molecule therapeutics that can be readily deployed to combat efficiently these diseases. To achieve this, we capitalize on discoveries and technical advances from our lab that put us in a unique position for targeted high through-put screens. We have already identified a lead molecule that is effective against multiple HEV genotypes, and we have uncovered a minimal set of host factors that are essential for HBV persistence.

DeckTherapeutics

Columbia University

THDG3 represents a novel, patent protected omega-3 diglyceride emulsion developed by Dr. Deckelbaum’s laboratory at Columbia University. Acute injection of THDG3 emulsion following stroke leads to a marked reduction in brain tissue death (up to 90%, demonstrated in 6 rodent models), with associated preservation and recovery of both short and long term neurofunctional outcomes. Due to the high risk profile and short window of administration, less than 8% of stroke patients receive treatment with t-PA, the current standard of treatment for stroke. DeckTherapeutics is currently developing THDG3 emulsion as a drug candidate for standard emergency treatment for stroke, a global unmet need, with phase 2a trials planned in 2021.

Sulabha BioPharma

Yale University

We have developed a computational platform for de novo designing of dual inhibitors that can simultaneously engage their targets and (most importantly) augment protein-protein interactions. Employing this strategy and iterative modifications, we have designed and synthesized a mutant selective inhibitor for ALK2, depicting a proof-of-concept for this platform towards the treatment of FOP and DIPG.

Exolva Therapeutics

Yale University

Moving Therapeutic Proteins Into the Cytosol and Nucleus. Exolva is using CPMPs (cell-permeant miniature proteins) to deliver therapeutic enzymes and gene-editing tools to correct inborn genetic disease. CPMPs are small, folded proteins that contain a specific array of five Arg residues on an ⍺-helix backbone. CPMPs can reach cytosol and nucleus with efficiencies as high as 75%. CPMPs possess many advantages relative to previous, purported ‘cell-penetrating peptides’, including low toxicity, high and tunable stability, enzyme cargo retains enzymatic activity, among other features.

Evergreen Therapeutics

University of Pennsylvania

Neurodegenerative diseases are a large group of progressive and eventually fatal diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). These diseases – including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), and Huntington’s disease – are taking an increasingly heavy toll on individuals and the society as the human population ages, yet they remain incurable. Evergreen seeks to develop novel therapies for several neurodegenerative diseases based on AAV-mediated gene transduction.

Spectrin Bio

George Washington University

With the increase in obesity throughout the world, liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related cancers are also increasing. Treatments are urgently needed to prevent the progression from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to NASH and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via steatosis and fibrosis. Spectrin Bio aims to apply our siRNA therapy to treat obesity-associated nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver cancer Our drug target is β-Spectrin (SPTBN1), a key player in both steatosis and fibrosis. Preclinical findings in mice (in vivo) and human 3D culture NASH model system have shown success in reducing body fat and lowering blood triacyl glycerol leves. Critically, siRNA therapies are already approved for diseases of the liver, blazing a trail for navigating regulatory approval.

Stretchable Electronics

University of California, Santa Barbara

Conventional electronic devices based on flexible or rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs) cannot conform to curved surfaces or stretch to accommodate new requirements of disruptive technologies. Additionally, existing methods for the production of stretchable electronics are unable to produce devices with high integration densities achievable with conventional methods. These methods also rely on processes that cannot be implemented at scale. This technology overcomes these limitations and enables practical applications of stretchable electronic devices for health monitoring, wearable computing, medical devices, and beyond.

AI-MI SPECT

Yale University

Artificial Intelligent Medical Imaging: Safer, Faster, Cheaper Medical Imaging Enabled by AI and Deep Learning. The clinical challenges in radiology frequently highlighted are the large radiation doses, long imaging times, expensive hybrid imaging equipment, and expensive room shielding. AI-MI combined with SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) aims to provide equivalent diagnostic accuracy without CT, at lower doses, at lower cost, and faster - allowing for higher throughput through radiology.

3rd Arm Inc

Stanford University

Articulated Wearables to enhance human productivity. 3rd Arm is prototyping a wearable, articulated robotic device that can be attached to a person at the hip or other location to augment human task productivity. This mechanical "third arm" has many uses such as assisting abled users (e.g. holding additional tools to enhance work), helping disabled users (e.g. providing support and lifting objects), and as a haptic interface for interaction with robotics systems and AR/VR experiences. 3rd Arm is incorporating the latest robotic technology with a newly designed 4-state brake mechanism in joints for advanced operations.

Stork AI

Cornell University

Stork.ai is leveraging its strong foundations in reproductive medicine, big data, and artificial intelligence to create next-generation fertility products that ultimately help people have babies. It is commercializing a decision assessment tool comprised of patent-pending, AI-based software (“STORK”) that reliably assesses embryo (blastocyst) quality. STORK was developed using a proprietary, multi-focal embryo image dataset from Weill Cornell’s Center for Reproductive Medicine. STORK can also predict genetic defects such as aneuploidy, which involves an abnormal number of chromosomes in the embryo.

AbSeek Bio

Vanderbilt University

The human immune system participates in complex interactions with virtually all other systems in the body. In particular, the B-cell component of the adaptive immune response plays a role in various disease settings, including infectious disease, cancer, autoimmunity, cardiovascular, hematologic, neurologic diseases, and others. In addition, antibodies (a product of B cells) are effectively used in diagnostics, therapy, and prevention. To address these significant challenges with current technologies for B cell characterization and antibody discovery, we recently developed a novel technology that, for a given sample, enables the mapping of antibody sequence to antigen specificity from a single high-throughput experiment for a large number of antigens and B cells at a time.

ProteoWise

Yale University

ProteoWise was founded by a seasoned team of scientists from the Strittmatter Laboratory at Yale University which has a history of commercialization of innovations emerging from the lab. ProteoWise aims to unlock the protein world. Its technology will disrupt the protein analysis industry by enabling researchers to move beyond the current Western Blot standard and into easy, high-throughput bench-top proteomics.

NanopathDx

Dartmouth College

Nanopath has developed a platform for rapid, point-of-care biomarker purification and characterization from a patient sample. Our technology was originally developed at Dartmouth College as part of our PhD research, and is using advances in bioengineering and nanotechnology to reduce noise and improve signal in diagnostic systems. This allows for an integrated system that takes a complex patient sample, isolates key biomarkers, and analyses them without the need for lengthy clinical workflows. We believe that this new diagnostic paradigm has applications to a range of disease indications including bloodstream infections, cancer liquid biopsy, urinary tract infections, respiratory infections, and wound infections.

Photon Therapeutics

Stanford University

Arterial disease is one of the most common causes of death and disability, afflicting more than 15 million Americans. Although therapeutic advances and surgical techniques have decreased mortality, many survivors eventually succumb to death due to ischemia, which is the death of tissue and cells due to the lack of oxygen. Photon Therapeutics uses photosynthetic therapy to reverse nutrient and oxygen imbalance in ischemic tissue, starting with ischemic wound care. Photon Tx consists of a very strong clinical and scientific advisory team with proof-of-concept data and is looking for a CEO/business advisor to develop a biological platform company.

Secure Dynamics

Washington University in St. Louis

For low-resource internet-of-things (IoTs) like wearables, health-monitors, tags and sensors, existing authentication techniques (e.g., encryption, strong hash functions, pseudorandom number generators) might be impractical for securing access to critical data. This is because these devices have limited computational bandwidth; limited energy; and require real-time authentication. Static identifiers like bar-codes, product IDs, embedded physical unclonable functions (PUFs) or stored private keys are vulnerable to theft, counterfeiting, replay attacks or tampering. In this gap, Secure Dynamics is delivering enterprise-grade security solutions for energy-constrained Internet-of-things using zero-power timers. This solution uses zero-power timers to generate dynamic tokens that are secure against any power side-channel attacks, eaves-dropping and tampering. The hardware-software solution also supports mutual authentication, where the IoT device could also query and verify the trust of its reader.

BCAM (Breast Cancer Attractor Metagenes)

Columbia University

Approximately 250,000 invasive breast cancer cases were diagnosed in 2019. Currently, the most commonly used definitive way to diagnose breast cancer is through a biopsy. Dr. Anastassiou's team has recently discovered attractor metagene markers as strong prognostic features for breast cancer survival and derived the BCAM (Breast Cancer Attractor Metagenes) prognostic model. This biomarker allows for a single universal prognostic assay applicable to all breast cancer subtypes and stages.

HerShield

University of Pittsburgh

Genital herpes affects more than 500 million globally and it is incurable. In the US alone, 1 million people are diagnosed every year with herpes. Herpes causes painful viral outbreaks, significant psychological stress, and social stigma. Even though women are more prone to genital herpes, the available prevention option, condoms, is controlled by the male partner. The solution is a new female-controlled product called HerShield, a vaginally applied, soft and flexible pharmaceutical film that has proven safety in two phase I clinical trials, and provides sufficient quantities of drug for protection from herpes. HerShield is designed to be discrete, exceptionally portable, low cost, biodegradable, and easily self-administered without the need for an applicator.

VitalCore

University of Pennsylvania

VitalCore is a Medical Devices Integration (MDI) solution that provides an integrated platform for showing the status, error messages, and patient info stored across all devices in various hospitals. VitalCore provides a visualized form of status data for easier comprehension and viewership by using tables, bar graphs, line charts, pie charts, and donut charts that enable the users to grasp the trend of the data and generate insights efficiently to improve patient care and reduce costs. Compared to similar device connectivity monitoring providers, VitalCore is focused on medical devices and has an active pilot that provides both an HL7 viewer and mobile application for healthcare professionals on the go. VitalCore is looking to expand their leadership team as they prepare to fundraise.

piRNAgen

Yale University

A Novel Platform to Develop piRNA-Based Therapeutics for Cancer Treatment. PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) is a novel pathway for nucleic acid based targeted therapy. piRNAs consist of small non-coding RNAs that interact with PIWI proteins. The PIWI/piRNA pathway protects the genome from destabilizing transposon activity by using piRNA to guide PIWI proteins to transposable genome sites, leading to gene specific methylation in somatic cells. piRNAs offer potential advantages because the longer piRNA seed sequences results in higher target specificity, higher tissue specificity, higher efficacy, and lower toxicity over siRNA and miRNA techniques. Short-term focus is currently on treating liver cancer because of the relative ease of drug delivery and lack of effective treatments.

UV Laser Sleeve

Columbia University

Skin-penetrating catheters and lines, essential to medical management, carry downside risk of superinfection by migration of skin flora. The company is currently working on applying this technology to left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Of the 2,700 LVADs implanted in 2015, there were 702 infections. There have been efforts to advance the standard of care and use bonded antibacterials, but these interventions have failed to date. The ultraviolet sterilizer transmits a narrow‐band ultraviolet light to a weave of optical fibers surrounding the driveline. Leakage of ultraviolet light will kill microorganisms attempting to migrate down the driveline, thus preventing infection and minimizing cost and toxicity associated with conventional approaches, including long‐term antibiotics and prosthetic device replacement.

bioProtonics

University of California, Santa Barbara

Many diseases can only be diagnosed properly by looking at sections of the tissue post-mortem or from invasive biopsies. Imaging of subtle textural aspects of tissue is not possible due to low resolution in magnetic resonance (MR) images. bioProtonics has developed a method to measure tissue texture using MR data without the need for rendered images. In many diagnostic workflows, the bioProtonics technique could replace biopsies. Such applications include neurodegenerative disease, liver disease, osteoporosis, cancer, lung disease, prostate disease.

Phlaxis

University of Chicago

Between 2007 and 2017, there has been a 377% increase in the treatment of diagnosed anaphylactic reactions to food. The current standard of care is not enough to stem the tide of patients suffering the healthcare costs of food allergies. Phlaxis is an innovative immune tolerance company focused on providing a new approach to treating food allergies. Phalxis' allergen tolerance platform features proteins, or antigens, that are engineered to deliver precise, targeted allergy therapy, without the side effects of broad immunosuppression. Phalxis’ allergen-specific platform can be translated to virtually any food allergy, including the Big 8 of milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, and soy.

Episteme Prognostics

Dartmouth College

Cancer patients, after the first diagnosis often ask, “how bad is my tumor and what should I do if it is bad?” In about half of all cancer patients, the first line of chemotherapy fails, disease recurs, and patients die. Episteme has succeeded in targeting a specific epigenetic signature of pancreatic cancer patients, which could potentially be reverted by epigenetic drugs making the tumors amenable to chemotherapy. Episteme invented a novel microarray-based platform technology called “ATAC-Array”. This proprietary technology avoids the time and cost of next-generation ATAC library sequencing – the only microarray that reads chromatin accessibility. No other test provides such a comprehensive, cost-effective and clinically useful epigenetic summary. Episteme offers a personalized theragnostic test utilizing ATAC-array, histopathology and immunohistochemistry, to predict chemotherapy response and stratifying cancer patients to epigenetic (reprograming) therapy for better outcome and better quality of life.

AVNovum

University of Chicago

Fungal infections can be painful and deadly, and immunocompromised patients (e.g., HIV/AIDS, cancer) have high infection risk. There are no safe and specific treatments to prevent infections in these high-risk patients and infection is largely due to 'good' microbes turning 'bad'. AVnovum is developing novel peptides for preventing fungal infections in these immunocompromised patients. AVnovum is actively seeking development partners and seed funding to pursue pre-clinical testing and IND-enabling studies.

Cycladex

Northwestern University

Gold mining has been a historically low innovation industry. The industry standard is to use a cyanide process to isolate gold, which is expensive and potentially dangerous. Cycladex has created a method to isolate gold in an inexpensive, environmentally-friendly way.

AXLerating AD Therapies

Yale University

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive, degenerative disease that is the most common cause of dementia. Brain cell connections and the cells themselves to degenerate and die, eventually destroying memory and other important mental functions. No cure exists, but medications and management strategies may temporarily improve symptoms. An estimated 5.7 million Americans are living with AD in 2018, projected to be 13.8 million by 2050.

ACIS

Yale University

The Accurate Cell Injection System (ACIS), a new technology for high throughput cell injections. In the world of IVF and cell injection in general, visual input is unreliable. ACIS can provide reliable and real-time confirmation of cell penetration & viability independent of visualization by detecting cell membrane electrical resistance. ACIS is easily integrated into any cell injection system.

Endovascular Retrieval Device

Yale University

Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters are implantable devices that prevent clots from embolizing from the legs to the lungs. Even though the FDA recommends retrieval of the filter when the risk of VTE or bleeding has resolved, IVC filter removal is technically challenging and sometimes impossible because of tilt and scarring. The team has developed and patented a device that can safely retrieve filters in any configuration.

CRISPr VISION

Stanford University

Optic neuropathies are a group of optic nerve diseases characterized by the progressive death of RGCs and optic nerve degeneration. Optic neuropathy is the most common clinical cause of irreversible blindness. There is no effective neuroprotective treatment to prevent RGC/optic nerve degeneration. Genes involved in RGC signaling have been found to play roles in RGC/optic nerve degeneration and thus serve as potential gene therapy targets. However, before effective gene therapies can be developed a method to specifically target the RGCs is needed.

Prometheon

Yale University

Hernia repair often utilizes hernia meshes, either synthetic or biological, both of which have major disadvantages. Prometheon is developing an alterative biological hernia mesh composed of genetically engineered extracellular matrix-based biomaterials. These biomaterials have increased integration and wound repair as compared with traditional biomaterials, and stand to improve the recovery of hernia repair patients and reduce the need to follow up surgeries due to complications.

LuminOva

Harvard University

LuminOva is developing a diagnostic to substantially improve the success rate of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Infertility affects 15% of couples, yet IVF remains miserable and expensive. LuminOva has developed a diagnostic to reduce one of the biggest bottlenecks in IVF today - failure at transfer - by non-invasively and quantitatively measuring mitochondrial NADH and FAD levels to determine candidate embryo health pre-IVF.

ClostraBio

University of Chicago

ClostraBio is a preclinical-stage pharmaceutical company creating new medicines to treat diseases resulting from intestinal barrier dysfunction, especially those caused by shifts to the microbiome. ClostraBio's first indications are in the treatment and prevention of food allergy, initially peanut allergy, and ClostraBio recently began a program in colitis. ClostraBio has licensed a proprietary drug delivery platform, developed by the ClostraBio co-founders, from the University of Chicago and are using this platform for oral delivery of small molecules and metabolites derived from the microbiome to the GI tract. ClostraBio's founding scientific team are key opinion leaders and world's experts in food allergy, the microbiome, immunology and immuno-engineering, drug delivery, and polymer chemistry. ClostraBio is seeking a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer.

PrevPanc

Stanford University

PrevPanc is developing an improved prophylactic against pancreatitis caused by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), by targeting two key inflammatory pathways. Post-ERCP pancreatitis can be life-threatening, excruciatingly painful, and costly. PrevPanc is developing a more effective and practical treatment to prevent pancreatitis, with significant improvements beyond current options of indomethacin, stenting, and IV hydration. PrevPanc's therapy is a combination of a calcineurin inhibitor combined with indomethacin to target two distinct inflammatory pathways, achieving higher effectiveness than the current standard of care with minimal change in post-procedure care.

GreenNanomed

Yale University

A Natural Nanoparticle Platform for Drug Delivery to the Brain. Drug delivery to the brain is major challenge because of the existence of the blood brain barrier (BBB). Here we present a novel natural nanoparticle platform that can overcome the BBB and enable efficient drug delivery to the brain. We demonstrate a lead product that is readily translated into clinical applications for effective stroke treatment.