Author: Christina Wessels (Page 1 of 10)

Biolocity Selects 5 Promising Technologies for Funding

The Biolocity program has selected five promising and patient-focused technologies for its new cohort of Biolocity Launch, a year-long collaboration that helps faculty members commercialize their innovations.

The program includes mentoring from business advisors, project management support, and funding to accelerate technology development and reach commercial milestones. Housed in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Biolocity is open to all faculty at Emory University and Georgia Tech.

“We are fortunate that, despite the pandemic, there is a rich pipeline of promising patient-impacting technologies being developed at Emory University and Georgia Tech,” said Courtney Law, managing director of Biolocity. “This year’s applicant pool was competitive, and the projects selected to be a part of this cohort have a strong potential for commercialization. These innovators are passionate about improving human health, and we are excited to work with them to advance their technologies toward the market.”

Biolocity selects projects through an annual, multi-stage application process that provides university innovators with the opportunity to receive pitch coaching, market assessments, and competitive analysis to cultivate commercial success. Faculty members work with entrepreneur advisors to de-risk their technology through each application stage with the final cohort determined by an oversight committee of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, clinicians, biomedical engineers, and university technology transfer experts.

Since 2015, the program has awarded more than $8.7 million across 58 projects, generating over 10 times that much follow-on investment.

This year’s cohort includes:

  • Agrithera: A therapeutic strategy to overcome the pharmacological drawbacks of cannabidiol (CBD) for epilepsy treatment by creating precursor molecules that metabolize to CBD in the body. Principal Investigators: Dennis Liotta, Ph.D., and Stephen Traynelis, Ph.D. (Emory University).
  • NiPro: A customized nipple prosthesis with a subcutaneous anchoring system to help patients with body image issues after breast reconstruction. Principal Investigator: Nick Boulis, M.D. (Emory University).
  • Sanicka: A clinical decision support tool to aid treatment selection and optimization for leukemia patients. Principal Investigators: Ana Quiroga, Ph.D., and Sakis Mantalaris, Ph.D., (Georgia Tech); Nicki Panoskaltsis, M.D., Ph.D. (Emory University).
  • Sleep Monitoring Biopatch: A soft, wearable biosensor patch and accompanying software to enable at-home sleep testing. Principal Investigators: Hong Yeo, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech) and Paul Zolty, M.D. (Piedmont Hospital).
  • Urearetics: A novel mechanism to treat uremic pericarditis and pericardial effusions in chronic kidney disease patients by inhibiting urea transport. Principal Investigators: Jeff Sands, M.D.; Janet Klein, Ph.D.; and Xiaonan Wang, M.D. (Emory University).

This is the first year that project funding for Biolocity has been expanded through a gift to the Emory School of Medicine from John and Rosemary Brown. They established an innovation-to-market fund to take a multi-pronged approach to advancing new technologies, including support for Biolocity.

“We are grateful for the generosity of the Brown Innovation Fund, which has allowed us to expand our commercialization support of technologies at Georgia Tech and Emory University. The Brown family’s vision to build partnerships across campuses allows us to continue our goal to support human health innovation at both institutions,” Law said.

Learn more about Biolocity and our portfolio at biolocity.org.

 

$1.6M Raise for NephroDI Therapeutics

Biolocity graduate company, NephroDI Therapeutics, recently raised $1.6M to advance the development of a treatment for Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus (NDI), a pediatric kidney disease.  The team is collaborating with Xontogeny, a Boston based life sciences accelerator, to support their creation of therapies to treat children suffering from NDI.  Learn more about their collaboration here.

The NephroDI Team, Dr. Jeff Sands and Dr. Janet Klein, received support from the Biolocity program in 2018 and we are thrilled for their continued success and technology development.

“The Biolocity team provided invaluable assistance that moved our project from an NIH focus to a commercial venture. They recognized the value of our technology and how to promote it to industry. We would not have succeeded without their expertise.”

– Jeff M. Sands, MD, Renal Division Director, Emory University

$11M Awarded for Study of Heteroresistance

Congratulations to David Weiss, PhD, co-PI of the Heteroresistance AST team, currently participating in the Biolocity Launch program. David Weiss, is the director of Emory’s Antibiotic Resistance Center and his team received a five-year $11 million grant from NIAID to continue their work in studying heteroresistance to treat bacterial infections.

Read More Here

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