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Aging is characterized by an accumulation of glucosepane, a molecule which accumulates in tissues, causing skin aging and body stiffness. Revel is developing enzymes which degrade the crosslinks in glucosepane, effectively restoring the elasticity in tissues and reversing the aging process.

PionEar Technologies

Harvard University

Ear infections are the number on cause of doctors visits worldwide, affecting 700 million people each year. Chronic ear infections are often treated with the insertion of a tympanostomy tube into the ear drum. While these help to drain fluid, they often come with complications which can result in follow up surgeries and hearing loss. The PionEar tympanostomy tube technology addresses the most common complications by changing the geometry and materials of the tube to enhance fluid transport and reduce the chances of biofilm formation.

A4 Peptide Antibiotics

University of Pittsburgh

A4 is a novel peptide-based antibiotic that effectively kills multi-drug resistant bacteria, with low propensity to elicit drug resistance. Unlike existing antibiotics or other antimicrobial peptides, the A4-AMP is derived from an antimicrobial protein found in human airways.

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.

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.

Revolution Reservoir

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.

Opti-Peutics

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness, affecting more than 8 million individuals in the United States alone. Although nutritional supplements are recommended for patients with intermediate risk or advanced AMD, there is still no effective therapy for the 90% of AMD patients with the “dry” or atrophic form. The team at Opti-Peutics used a high-throughput screen to identify novel compounds that protect RPE cells from oxidative damage.

Cellulograft

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.

Apeiros Bioscience

Our goal is to develop a new cancer drug that is an antibody drug conjugate (ADC). It targets the pi subunit of the Gamma Aminobutyric Acid Receptor (GABRP) that is aberrantly expressed in a broad range of solid tumors. The target was discovered by the Pusztai lab and a provisional patent application has been submitted. We will use the Blavatnik Fund to perform affinity maturation, generate humanized anti-GABRP antibody conjugated to emtansine and assess the anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo.

Hypnos Technologies

Hypnos is developing an in-ear, wearable EEG and ECG that is non-obstructive, discreet, and attractive to any user who wears earphones and would like to concurrently have real-time brain activity monitoring and feedback of measured variables to improve their cognitive performance and overall well-being. Audience choice winner for the Rothberg Catalyzer Prize at Yale.

Mucosinix Pharm

Mucosinix has a new class of antibiotics which have not been shown to trigger resistance in MRSA culture. This new antibiotic class shows promise as a treatment for multidrug resistant microbes.

ARUGA Technologies

University of Pittsburgh

Aruga is a seed stage medical device startup seeking to re-define the vascular graft market. Various forms of artery disease affect over 11 million Americans today, at a total cost to the healthcare system of over $8.2 billion. Aruga’s solution is inspired by biomimicry to solve the biggest challenge in vascular grafts- thrombosis- the same way nature does. Through the generation of dynamic topography Aruga has developed unique vascular reconstruction devices to address significant and unmet clinical needs.

Folate Supplements

Cornell University

Folic acid supplements are used for preventing severe birth defects by maintaining the DNA integrity in the developing embryo. This technology describes two downstream metabolites of folic acid, one of which is an effective replacement for folic acid as a prenatal supplement, more directly impacting nucleotide synthesis. The other is a oral therapy for cancer, which has demonstrated prevention of tumor development in mouse models.

Cementum Pharmaceuticals

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.

Prostate DHI

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.

qPathology

Harvard University

Lung cancer is common and often deadly. Accurate diagnosis is key to forming an optimal treatment plan, but pathologists often disagree on diagnosis after visual inspection of patient pathology images. Dr Yu and colleagues have developed a machine-learning technique that processes lung images and makes an accurate and automatic diagnosis.

MIF Oncology Agonists

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) plays a key role in inflammatory disease and cancer, being an important regulator of the innate immune response. MIF is an inflammatory cytokine; when bacterial antigens are present, it binds to CD74 on other immune cells to trigger an acute immune response. MIF regulates cell proliferation by binding to receptor CD74 in MAPK (ERK) and AKT signal pathways. It also inhibits apoptosis of cancer and inflamed cells by blocking p53, making it an attractive drug target for cancer therapies.

Exolva Therapeutics

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.

Molecular Decisions

Molecular Decisions provides boutique CRO services to pharmaceutical companies, helping them do faster and more confident drug development and clinical trials. The company analyzes clinical or analytical samples using nano-immunoassays that precisely measure specific protein isoform drug targets, enabling sound, immediate decisions related to drug efficacy.

BlueVCSEL

University of Pennsylvania

The Blue Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (BlueVCSEL) is a breakthrough for projection, display technology, & lighting. Overcoming previous obstacles to commercialization, the team has utilized patented techniques to create the world's first stacking-fault-free semi-polar GaN-on-sapphire materials to make Blue VCSELs a commercial reality.

ExoDiagnostics

Transplanted tissues release donor organ-specific exosomes into the bloodstream which can be detected. The tracking of these exosomes allows the monitoring physician to detect early signs of transplant rejection, allowing early treatment and rejection prevention.

IMAD

Immuno-Modulators of Alzheimer’s Disease (I.M.A.D.) was founded by Dr. Elizabeth Bradshaw and Dr. Wassim Elyaman from Columbia University’s Department of Neurology. The team is pioneering genetically-driven strategies to treat Alzheimer’s disease by directly targeting susceptibility genes in the CNS innate immune cells, called microglia. Their lead program is a preclinical non-antibody biologic which has been shown to target the CD33 genetic susceptibility signaling pathway in human microglia and clear β-amyloid from the brain of treated mice.

Oath Endovascular

University of North Carolina

Our technology combines novelty in bioabsorbable stent technology and regenerative medicine. Our team has unrivaled experience in both technologies and have taken the project funded by the European commission to an advanced stage in development. Our initial therapeutic target will be peripheral vascular disease where there is no comparative technology in use or development. Beyond this, there is potential widespread application of the device and concept to the heart, brain, liver and cancer treatments where the combined technology can provide a unique state of the art therapeutic system.

SOVE

SOVE is making a new approach for orthodontics. Traditional braces have never been comfortable or attractive, therefore there has been a large movement in the market towards invisible braces. However, many current 'invisible' alternatives suffer from a range of compromises that can make them under-perform. SOVE is developing the 2Insight, a two-stage orthodontic system that eliminate the problems associated with esthetic orthodontic appliances.

Powernet

Stanford researchers have developed an architecture and control scheme for the coordination of distributed energy resources (DER), such as solar and storage, to minimize operation cost, enhance network reliability, and provide DER aggregation. The availability of electric load and generation data in electric grids varies both spatially and temporally due to: the random nature of loads and renewable generation; distributed locations of the loads and DER; and communication delays. Stanford researchers have found that control schemes that utilize local information (within the firmware of the storage unit, or in a home automation appliance) and delayed information to a global controller (e.g., collected from smart meter readings) perform near the ideal, but unimplementable, theoretical limit of performance.

Nous Imaging

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.

KayoThera

Princeton University

Kayothera is leveraging cutting-edge discoveries to develop therapeutics for cancer patients who currently receive terminal diagnoses. Our two pipeline candidates target solid tumors to 1) inhibit tumor survival mechanisms in advanced or chemoresistant disease, 2) deplete immunosuppressive Regulatory T cells to restore anti-tumor immunity. With these first-in-class small molecule therapeutics, we aim to give hope to patients with intractable cancers.

Yoma Biosciences

DNA damage can be detrimental to cells as it can lead to mutagenesis, genotoxicity and tumorigenesis. One of the most frequent forms of DNA damage is 8-oxoguanine (8-OG), which is repaired by OGG1. Bioactive inhibitors of OGG1 and the GO pathway can be useful tools to investigate the connections of this enzyme activity to disease. Yoma Biosciences has developed potent, selective, small-molecule inhibitors of OGG1 and other enzyme targets in the GO pathway. These inhibitors provide useful tools to study the biological roles of OGG1 and also have therapeutic potential for cancer and inflammation. With multiple enzyme targets in the pathway (OGG-1, MTH1, MutYH, …) - currently un-drugged, Yoma has multiple chances for 1st in class candidate discovery.

VaxNewMo

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

Vittix Therapeutics

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a highly lethal, orphan lung disease with limited treatment options. Vittix Therapeutics, led by Dr. Naftali Kaminski, Chief of the Pulmonary Section at Yale University, has identified thyroid hormone small molecule mimetics as a novel therapeutic approach, targeting mitochondrial function in lung epithelial cells and to date, has produced compelling in vivo proofs of concept. Received a Blavatnik Award in May 2019.

UFLO Catalytic Converter

Dr. Joze Bevk is developing an auxiliary catalytic converter comprised of nanostructured composite filaments that reaches the light-off temperature near-instantaneously, greatly reducing engine toxic emissions (primarily CO, hydrocarbons HC and NOx). A simpler version of inexpensive “drop-in” device can be also installed in vehicles already in use, significantly improving the performance of the original exhaust system. Development of this technology began at Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, and has continued at Harvard University.

Synapse Enhancer

Ohio State University

There is a growing aging population and there is no cure or treatment for Alzheimer's. The only current drugs are palliative. The Synapse Enhancer enhances the integrity of the synapse which improves cognitive function and can delay/halt neurodegeneration. It could be utilized for a many diseases such as, Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, Epilepsy, Depression, Neuropathic Pain Disorders, and Addiction.

Triple Target Gene Therapy

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.

RiboRupt Biotech

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.

PETcoil

PETcoil enables healthcare providers to offer PET/MRI scans with better imaging quality for a fraction of the cost compared to existing solutions. Commercial integrated PET/MRI scanners cost ~$6M + ~$2M for required room renovations, an unaffordable cost for many institutions. PETcoil's patented portable PET insert can be placed into any existing MRI scanner, enabling it to perform simultaneous PET/MRI at 1/8th of the cost compared to integrated systems. A proof-of-concept radiofrequency (RF)-penetrable PET insert has been developed and successfully tested, supported by grants from the NIH, Stanford Bio-X & Biodesign programs, and the Coulter Foundation.

MyT Therapeutics

Aging can lead to immunodeficiencies in patients with abnormal thymus function. As a consequence, the body is not able to produce enough new (“naïve”) T cells for the immune system to recognize pathogens and cancer cells or the body is suffering from autoimmune response. Cancer immunotherapy drugs generated $41 Billion globally in 2014, at 50% market share of the overall oncology drugs market . The invention details a new method for producing large quantities of diverse, functional, naïve autologous T cells for infusion into patients. The in vivo generated T cells arise from bone marrow stem cells taken from the patient and become genetically compatible immune cells that are tolerant of the patient and any selected transplant donor.

Sharper Sense

Sharper Sense is developing a wearable neural interface that enhances users’ perceptual ability. Accuracy of perception of details in sensory stimuli heavily impacts performance. Unfortunately, degraded perceptual ability can arise from a variety of causes including fatigue, old-age, and injury. Our technology is based on research published in Nature Neuroscience that elucidated neural circuitry which improved perceptual ability within seconds of activation. We are now developing a wearable device that rapidly enhances perception by using transcutaneous nerve stimulation to activate this circuity.

Ocular Drug Delivery

Ohio State University

Many diseases are managed or treated by invasive IVs or frequent injections. We are all familiar with the difficult routines of chemotherapy to treat cancer and insulin injections to manage diabetes. This is particularly true for diseases that impact the eye. All of us will experience some form of age-related vision loss, with some of the leading causes with no cure shown here, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. Loss of vision greatly reduces quality of life, and impacts daily activities we take for granted including reading and driving. Most of these diseases require chronic local treatment to prevent permanent blindness, and the only option may include frequent intraocular injections.

CxAx80 Therapeutics

New biomarker for novel CD8 T cell subset that drives systemic sclerosis immunopathology, including monoclonal antibodies anti-human C10orf128 and new targets for small molecule inhibitor therapy. Monoclonal antibodies recognized 5-10% of circulating T cells. Humanized version of them are likely therapeutic agent for systemic sclerosis after humanization. Also so likely have a monoclonal antibody specific for mouse homolog of C10orf128 to enable an animal preclinical model for T cell depletion studies. There is no effective treatment for systemic sclerosis; 50,000 individuals have Ssc; fatal disease. Potential applications include pulmonary fibrosis, asthma with scarring among others.

Intronistat Therapeutics

Pathogenic fungi are a major public health threat, causing failure of implanted organs and devices, neonatal mortality and much more. Unfortunately, it is difficult to develop specific drugs against these infections because fungal cells are a lot like those in people: we are both eukaryotes that share a similar set of enzymes and pathways. To address this problem, the Pyle lab has specifically targeted the unique RNA metabolism of fungal cells, giving rise to a new generation of nontoxic drugs that are ready for development and implementation. This has received a Blavatnik Award in May 2019.

Selective Stents

Currently available drug-eluting stents release drugs such as sirolimus or everolimus, which stop smooth muscle growth to prevent in-stent restenosis. However, they also block endothelial cell growth and create risk of thrombosis and mandate long-term antiplatelet medication. Nevertheless, yearly, 10% of these stents fail due to late thrombosis or stenosis. We discovered a drug combination (Fas ligand and nitric oxide) which inhibits smooth muscle growth more potently than sirolimus or everolimus but does not affect endothelial growth. This project will lead to the development of a next generation DES with a unique biologically selective effect on smooth muscle and endothelium.

OptoVibronex

Rutgers University

The current standard for distinguishing between benign and cancerous skin legions require an invasive skin biopsy followed by a waiting period for lab results for diagnosis. OptoVibronix is eliminating the need for invasive skin biopses to diagnose a skin legion as cancerous or benign. The technology scans the skin legion and results in a diagnosis in just 15 minutes. By avoiding skin biospy, it improves the patient experience and efficiency of diagnosis and reduces healthcare costs.

Allyx Therapeutics

Loss of brain synapses is highly correlated with symptom progression in Alzheimer’s dementia, but there is currently no treatment to slow or halt synapse loss. Allyx’s prion protein antagonists rescue synapses and memory function by interrupting the deleterious signaling triggered by amyloid without removing plaque itself and are effective at reversing deficits after they develop.

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.

WNT Scientific

People with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ OA) experience pain and limited jaw function. Approximately 10 million Americans are affected by TMJ OA, and current treatments are invasive and have high failure rates. Furthermore, palliative treatments aimed at increasing short-term function don't prevent disease or promote regeneration of tissue. StemGEL, WNT Scientifics' solution to this problem, uses fibrocartilage stem cells to regenerate cartilage. They have a paper in Nature Communications (along with several other publications) detailing the successful results. The market size of TMJ OA patients that can be treated by StemGEL is approximately 2.6 million.

GlimmerX

GlimmerX has developed a fast, robust point-of-care diagnostic development platform based on glycoconjugate immunochemistry for common infectious diseases, such as leptospirosis, sepsis, UTI and meningitis that is better than current technologies. To establish proof of principle for our platform, we focus on glycans in leptospirosis, which has a large unmet US and global diagnostics need for veterinary and human disease. In a pilot project, Blavatnik funds would be used for PCT fees, and CRO costs for GLP antigen production, monoclonal antibody production and animal experiments to validate our approach, and they would leverage CT Innovations matching funds and SBIR funding.

Synaural

Northwestern University

The Synaural platform uses engineered acoustic probes to elicit specific neural activity within the brain. A robust, easy to use, non-invasive headset records the neural activity and patented algorithms extract unique metrics that provide objective insight to the subject’s neural health and can be used to guide treatment in a meaningful, measured way. To date, the metrics have demonstrated enough specificity to be correlated with various conditions e.g. concussion, learning disabilities (e.g. Autism, reading, dyslexia), and hearing.

IPF-ML Diagnostics