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Spun out from the labs of Columbia’s Dr. Yuan Yang and Dr. Xi Chen, FlexFuture focuses on designing and manufacturing high-energy-density flexible batteries. With advanced core technologies of flexible materials and electrode structures, the flexible cell simultaneously exhibits state-of-the-art volumetric energy density and bending stability up to tens of thousands of cycles. FlexFuture’s battery solutions will enable flexible displays and serve as a key structural element for future wearable electronics. Collaborating with multiple international electronics companies, FlexFuture will release a battery that is compatible with conventional designs and offers enhanced battery life and comfortability for next-generation flexible devices and wearable electronics. FlexFuture is seeking $5M for pilot production and to expand the team.

Endovascular Retrieval Device

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.

Lkit Therapeutics

George Washington University

A Novel Chemical Approach to Target p53 Mutation in Human Cancer. There is currently no treatment that specifically targets p53 mutation, the most common genetic abnormality associated with cancer. Loss of p53 tumor suppressor function provides cells with a proliferative advantage but renders them susceptible to metabolic stress. We have developed potent and selective inhibitors for PIP4K2A and PIP4K2B that regulate cell metabolism and are essential for the growth of p53-deficient tumor.

HL BioTherapeutics

HL BioTherapeutics aims to apply our unique immunotherapy platform that functions like a T cell receptor, to treat multiple types of solid and liquid cancers. The scientific founders, Catherine Bollard and Eric Yvon, have clinical and technical experience in designing and delivering novel immunotherapies to patients. The advantage of the HL BioTherapeutics platform is the extremely high specificity for tumors due to targeting of a specific MHC-displayed peptide from SSX2 protein. This targeting platform may be commercialized as an engineered T cell or NK cell, or as a therapeutic antibody. Our most advanced preclinical data uses T cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia.

BioBina

Carnegie Mellon University

Effective treatment of abdominal and thoracic cancers requires a more targeted and improved penetration of therapeutics in order to reduce off-target side effects and increase efficacy. BioBina has developed a treatment strategy which utilizes existing radiation therapy with an increased specificity and penetration of the therapeutic to the affected tissue. The technology has been developed for ovarian cancer and has the potential to be extended to a multitude of abdominal and thoracic cancers.

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.

WhiteBox

VDIs cannot protect sensitive data unless remote users can securely operate the VDI client on their computers. If users’ computers are compromised, hackers can screen capture and view confidential data on VDI servers, and sniffer users’ keystrokes (e.g., passwords), etc. Attackers gain same VDI data access as users despite perfect network and VDI server security. Most existing products are insecure, because they assume commodity OSes (e.g., Windows 10, Mac OS) and applications have no security flaws. Other products violate users’ experiences as they cannot run user-chosen applications locally to process insensitive data. In short, no usable secure VDI client exists to-date. We built *the only usable secure VDI client*. Our on-demand isolation technique protects users’ operations even when OS and users’ locally installed tools are compromised, and maintains users’ experience. Also, our solution eliminates IT admin labor to maintain VDI client security.

Pattern Therapeutics

Pattern Therapeutics is a developing a novel TLR (toll-like receptor) antagonist to treat NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) and potentially other indications. NASH is the most common liver disease in the United States, with an estimated prevalence of 4-6% and predicted prevalence growth of 15-50% in the next 15 years. A critical finding is that TLRs mediate the Sterile Inflammation (SI) response and exacerbates metabolic stress. The candidate antagonist - PT-7314 - is a novel compound with excellent Phase 1 safety data, and strong in vitro and in vivo efficacy in mouse models of NASH. Pattern Therapeutics is ready for Phase 2 trails and is looking for an entrepreneur to raise funds to file an IND, manufacture the drug for the clinic, and to lead the trial.

Cementum Pharmaceuticals

University of Pennsylvania

Treating The Root Cause Of Periodontal Disease Through Cementum Regeneration. 50 million U.S. adults suffer from moderate to severe periodontal disease, a condition with no effective treatment beyond those with limited efficacy such as deep cleaning and local antibiotic therapy. We have identified a molecular target that regenerates cementum in both animal models and humans, and propose to treat the root cause of periodontisis with a first in class therapeutic.

Exotanium

Cornell University

Exotanium is a startup created by two professors and one graduated Ph.D. student from the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University. Exotanium is developing a new cloud-native application container platform that improves performance, security, and cost for both public and private clouds. The technology is based on cutting-edge research and is patent-protected. Exotanium recently won a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is actively raising more investments. The company is located in Ithaca, NY.

FindOA

Osteoporosis affects 50 million Americans and over 200M people worldwide. 50% of hip fracture sufferers lose ability to walk and 20% of suffers dye from it. Over 2M fractures and 300,000 hip fractures occur annually in the U.S. resulting in $20 billion and $12B in annual healthcare expenses, respectively. Currently, greater than 50% of the individuals with osteoporosis are not detected by bone density testing, the standard-of-care diagnostic test. This technology is a high-resolution MRI & CT analysis tool evaluating 3D bone structure and allowing for accurate assessment of (i) bone strength and health, (ii) osteoporosis development risk, and (iii) hip fracture risk. This imaging-based early diagnostic and prognostic for osteoporosis and hip fracture risk has data from over 1000 patients.

Bone-Rad Therapeutics

University of California, Irvine

Bone-Rad Therapeutics, Inc. is a Delaware corporation whose objective is to develop and market Spine-Rad (TM) Brachytherapy Bone Cement as an innovative, improved, and cost-effective treatment paradigm for the management of cancer tumors in the spine which affect over 230,000 patients per year in the U.S. and a similar number in the E.U. Four patents covering this technology have been issued and exclusively licensed to Bone-Rad Therapeutics. An additional patent is pending. Developed at The University of California Irvine, Spine-Rad Cement delivers internally-targeted radiation therapy directly to the tumor as it simultaneously treats existing or impending vertebral fractures, restoring strength to the bone. Administered in a single procedure, Spine-Rad Cement will eliminate the 10-20 hospital visits typically needed for external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) as well as the significant side effects of EBRT.

LCN2 Appetite Regulation

With over 2/3 of the US population being overweight, and serious and deadly effects associated with obesity, a treatment which prevents and cures obesity is essential. However, previously tested obesity drugs have been characterized by low tolerability and serious side effects. This treatment uses LCN2, a natural appetite-suppressing hormone to treat obesity without the side effects.

EnergXTherapeutics

University of Pittsburgh

Therapeutics for Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorders. EnergXTherapeutics is developing a platform of drug products that provides comprehensive treatment solutions that targets the biochemical defects induced by deficiency of enzymes/proteins that participates in the mitochondrial long chain fatty acid oxidation (FAO) pathway reactions. Broad IP claims are issued, with more pending, that puts this team in a strong position to utilize its products platform for treating several FAO diseases.

MIF COPD Agonists

University of Pennsylvania

Low levels of Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) are associated with COPD. These researchers have found an MIF agonist that when administered to mice, decrease the disease progression of COPD. As there is currently no treatment for COPD beyond treating the symptoms, this small molecule treatment shows great promise for changing the treatment outlook for the disease.

TSLP Therapeutics

Inflammatory diseases are often treated with immunomodulatory drugs which can result in severe side effects due to their systemic administration. This technology is a vitamin D analog which can be administered topically, therefore reducing systemic side effects. The drug works by triggering release of a regulatory cytokine from the skin and decreasing T cell activation which is involved in many inflammatory disorders.

AlvaHealth

Getting immediate medical attention is critical after a patient has experienced a stroke. However, stroke symptoms are often not identified by the patient or family members until it is too late to administer treatment. There is currently no wearable-linked mobile app which specifically detects a stroke incident. AlvaHealth is pairing wearable devices with machine learning to detect a stroke incident immediately based on the activity in both arms of the patient. Early detection of stroke can improve the outlook for patient recovery.

Optimer Biotech

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.

Rotoscope

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.

LensGuide Imaging Technology (LEGIT)

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.

CRISPr VISION

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.

EteRNA

As part of a portfolio of COVID-19 inspired innovations aimed at advancing RNA vaccines and tools, Stanford researchers have developed a secured, invite-only version of their popular Eterna platform for designing mRNA vaccines. Eterna is an online application that integrates RNA folding algorithms, a video game interface, and associated computational methods to revolutionize vaccine design and RNA structure prediction. The new, secured version of the platform (called EteRNA Enterprise) is able to host selected participants to work in a confidential manner on problems such as designing improved mRNA vaccines that can be translated to clinical trials by industry partners and other collaborators. The data and designs generated by Eterna users may be used to develop improved mRNA vaccines immediately for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keren Therapeutics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Keren Therapeutics is focusing on pre‐clinical and early clinical development of recently discovered hormone osteocalcin as treatment for sarcopenia, cancer cachexia, and cognitive impairment due to aging. Osteocalcin is a biological construct that can be synthesized on commercial scale and delivered via depot administration. Development of osteocalcin benefited from more than $7 million in grant support. Columbia patented the composition of matter and its utility through 2034 and 2031, for muscular and cognitive impairment indications, respectively. KEREN intends to file an IND within 18 months from funding. Cost of development through completion of first-in-man studies is expected to be $8,200,000. Osteocalcin is addressing blockbuster market with unmet medical need in case of sarcopenia. We anticipate selling KEREN or executing a co‐development agreement with pharma within 6 years from funding. The Company’s value at that time could exceed $50 million, providing investors with 6x ROI.

Veramorph

Veramorph is developing a polymer-based pre-formed oral dosage technology as a more effective drug delivery vehicle for poorly soluble small molecule drugs. Our technology is capable of improving oral drug delivery performance of a much broader range of small molecule drugs the existing formulation methods. Our product, disintegrating polymer oral dosages (DPODs), can enable more effective drugs to be brought to clinical trials that will improve success rates and reduce the overall cost of successfully commercializing a drug product. Veramorph is developing an internal pipeline of reformulated products and is also seeking product development partnerships through licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies.

PARPi DB4 Oncology

University of California, Los Angeles

PARP inhibitors are promising targeted therapy for cancers with defective homologous recombination (HR) repair. However, as PARP inhibitor become widely used, there will be an increase in patients with PARP inhibitor resistance. To overcome this problem, we have developed DB4, a small molecule drug that inhibits HR repair. Combining DB4 and the PARP inhibitor olaparib inhibits the progression of resistant ovarian cancer and increases the survival time of tumor-bearing mice. Thus, we request the Blavatnik fund to continue developing DB4 for improving its potency and PK properties in vivo and conducting efficacy studies with patient-derived cancer xenograft models in mice.

Articulated Rigid Traction System

In orthopaedic surgery, procedures commonly include fixation of bone and soft tissues. Currently, surgical manipulation of these bones and soft tissues is accomplished by the application of manual force either directly on tissue or through devices that transmit forces to the tissue including pins, screws, bolts, straps, and clamps. These methods of performing orthopaedic surgery have several disadvantages: Manual force is limited by the strength and endurance of the surgeon and surgical assistants, manual manipulation has limited precision, reliance on manual manipulation exposes the surgeon and surgical assistants to increased radiation exposure when intra-operative fluoroscopy is used to confirm position during manipulation of bone. ARTS is developing the Robotic Surgical Assist Arm (RSAA), a motorized rigid traction system which standardizes and facilitates the correct placement of the bones. Focusing on long bone repair the initial market would be in the area of 100,000 cases annually in America.

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.

Spirair

Spirair is addressing the unmet need for a minimally-invasive, office-based treatment for NSD. While there is high demand among ENT physicians for office-based procedures (e.g. Acclarent, Arrinex, Spirox, etc), NSD is one of the few common pathologies that does not have any office-based innovations. Spirair is filling this gap in the marketplace with a needle-based delivery device that correction NSD with local anesthetic in under 15 minutes. The estimated US/European TAM is $2.3B. Spirair will be regulated under a 510(k) pathway, and FDA clearance can be achieved by 2023 with minimal clinical data (30 patients, 6 months of follow-up).

InteGRAID

Rethinking Adoptive Cell Therapy with Novel Bioprocessing Solutions. InteGRAID’s platform is designed to overcome key cell therapy limitations. This is the first device to recapitulate key T cell signals in an ex vivo lymph node structure for T cell activation. InteGRAID provides paracrine delivery of IL-2, avoiding the issue of T cell exhaustion. And InteGRAID's single-use devices reduce Capex/Opex over the entire product life cycle, reducing risk for cross-contamination and labor costs.

AquaROS

Researchers at Stanford have developed a new water-based disinfectant with the potential to destroy a wide variety of pathogens and significantly improve healthcare settings. AquaROS, a novel and broad-spectrum disinfectant, is based on the formation of micron-sized water droplets that cause the spontaneous generation of highly reactive oxidant species (ROS). Access to safe and effective disinfecting solutions like AquaROS is more critical than ever – in the U.S. approximately the same number of people die from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) as from AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined. Inexpensively produced by atomizing water, the new disinfectant has been shown to outperform other commercial methods at inactivating Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli. Based on these and other promising results, the researchers anticipate AquaROS can kill bacteria, fungi, mycobacteria and bacterial spores on critical surfaces such as medical instruments.

MyophonX

Cornell University

Solutions for silent speech production lack innovation, cultural acceptability, and often involve invasive surgery. MyophonX is cutting-edge wearable technology for silent communication, with applications to stroke and laryngectomy patients as well as voice searching.

Bioada

Rutgers University

The scientific community is continuously trying to improve their understanding of genetic mechanisms in biological systems and finding biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. With growing accessibility, still, only the minority of investigators in the life and medical sciences has the means to analyze and leverage this enormous treasure of data. Bioada is an integrated, easy to use and interactive genomics data analysis platform for the broader community of life scientists.

Tissue Oracle

University of California, Santa Barbara

The Tissue Oracle addresses an unmet need to identify which regions of excised breast tissue should undergo histopathological assessment to diagnose breast disease. Our envisioned product deploys optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging and artificial intelligence image analysis to achieve the microscopic-level resolution, large field of view, and fast throughput necessary for integration into clinical workflow. The value proposition is that our image-guided sample selection can reduce the number of tissue blocks submitted for histopathology, and the associated cost and workload, by 30-50%. The target customers are pathologists and administrators seeking greater efficiency for a key step in breast cancer care.

Andluca Technologies

Princeton University

Andluca Technologies designs transparent, thin-film power sources that convert ultraviolet light into useful energy at the point of use. These flexible power sources can conform to any shape and disappear into their environment to enable discreet, wireless operation of smart glass. Beyond buildings, our technologies are unlocking new functionalities in the automobile, aviation, military, eyewear, health and IoT sectors. Andluca Technologies was established in 2017 following over 12 years of research on light-responsive films by Professor Lynn Loo and her team at the Organic and Polymer Electronics Laboratory at Princeton University.

bioProtonics

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.

Nerve Repair Technologies

University of Pittsburgh

Long gap peripheral nerve injuries (i.e., gaps >3cm) remain a clinical challenge. When there is a long gap nerve injury, the standard of care is transplanting a nerve from one place in the body to the area where the defect is, a technique known as autografting. The use of an autograft requires a second surgical site resulting in longer operating times, and typically a sensory nerve is used to replace a motor/sensory nerve, which leaves an area of the body with permanent numbness. There are a handful of nerve guides on the market available to regenerate nerve gaps less than 1 inch. However, there are no synthetic guides available having an FDA-approved indication for use in nerve gaps greater than one inch. Our patented technology utilizes a biodegradable tube containing a controlled drug delivery system supplying the cues necessary to promote the growth of nerves over large gaps, thus fulfilling this clinical unmet need.

DeckTherapeutics

University of California, Davis

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.

UV-C N95 Sterilization

University of Chicago

Currently there are several solutions under consideration for disinfecting N95 respirators for re-use, with UV-C as the preferred solution because of ease of deployment and widespread applicability. Problematically, present UV-C disinfection solutions are limited by shadowing, which prevents exposure of the masks to the required effective dose of UV irradiation. The inventors utilized UV-C light field modeling and extensive test measurements to develop a proprietary arrangement of lamps for disinfecting. The configuration eliminates shadowing, allowing for full irradiation and disinfecting of the contaminated N95 respirator surface in the shortest amount of time.

Cognivive

Cognivive develops FDA-registered, personalized, evidence-based, prescription digital therapeutics used by patients at home to treat neuromotor and neurocognitive impairments resulting from stroke.

NeuroProbe

Neuro-ICUs are faced with frequent shortcomings in maintaining brain care. Access requires one large or multiple smaller access points and devices require multiple external interface devices & monitors that frequently face challenges in the synchronization, analysis, and interpretation of data. The NeuroProbe System is a portable multimodal implant (EEG, temperature, oxygen, pressure, blood flow) that offers equal or better sensitivity via a single point of access along with synchronized sensor data via a single output connection. NeuroProbe has completed FDA pre-submission and developed prototype NeuroProbe and NeuroMonitor devices, with a system prototype demonstration ongoing in Summer 2019.

MedGyde

University of California, Santa Barbara

MedGyde develops ligand and antibody directed products which bind to antigens specific to various cancer subtypes. MedGyde’s pipeline includes antibodies and single-chain variable fragments which have demonstrated cytotoxic properties. The products have therapeutic as well as diagnostic applications (theranostic). MedGyde has also developed a radio-sensitization technology that targets and sensitizes cancer cells. The lead therapeutic antibody to inducible neoantigen, TIP1, binds specifically to cancer. It has been conjugated to both radiopharmaceuticals and chemotherapy which markedly improved cancer cures in pre-clinical cancer models. The planned clinical trial will be in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. MedGyde has been awarded several NIH small business grants to further develop antibodies and nanoparticle drug delivery systems. Venture capital is needed for GMP manufacturing and IND enabling safety testing.

Tendo Technologies

Princeton University

Tendo Technologies, founded in 2017, is a spin-off from the Marcus Hultmark research lab at Princeton developing a novel flow sensing/measurement technology. This unique technology achieves extreme sensitivity (for both gases and liquids) through the nanoscale conductive ribbons that will deflect when placed in flow. The nanoribbons are manufactured with standard semiconductor-based techniques, resulting in high scalability and low unit cost for the sensing chip. As a highly versatile technology (flow measurement is ubiquitous), Tendo envisions that their tech can be applied in many industries for various applications, when equipped with appropriate "wrappers" around it. For example, the Tendo chip plus communication package would be appropriate for IoT applications such as real time air measurement in HVAC ducts; alternatively, more sophisticated housing with control would bring benefits for flow metering and control during industry manufacturing processes.

Vine Robot Technologies

Soft robotics shows promise for creating robots which are better able to navigate narrow and variable environments. The vine robot is able to extend its length many thousands of percent its body length with an internal pressurized vessel, which can be manipulated to change the direction of the robot tip. In testing, the vine robot is able to navigate through small passages and can even autonomously navigate towards light source with the addition of a camera.

Adhesive-coated Sutures

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.

AIFEN