UC Davis technologies enabled the foundation of 16 companies during the 2017-18 fiscal year, an all-time high for the University. This brings the total number of UC Davis startups made possible by university intellectual property during the past 10 years to 137. Many of these startups are targeting unmet needs in human health, with new tests, technology platforms and therapeutics for diagnosing, monitoring and treating a wide variety of conditions and diseases. Four of the new companies have innovations focused on cancer. Others are developing therapeutics aimed at treating obesity, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and optic neuropathy.

Below are 13 of the 16 startups that acquired foundational intellectual property rights from UC Davis during the 2017-18 fiscal year. The other three have elected to remain in “stealth mode” for competitive reasons and are not listed:

Three research teams at UC Davis have received STAIR-Plus™ Grants to help demonstrate proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility for their innovations. Now in its second year, the Venture Catalyst STAIR-Plus™ Grant program is intended to offer additional support to Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant recipients who have successfully achieved their projected commercialization milestones and are poised for commercial impact pending the completion of specific targeted activities.

All three teams are working on commercializing novel compounds that address needs in human health, including a platform for therapeutics for inflammatory diseases, a drug candidate that increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for advanced bladder cancer and compounds that may be effective at treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.... Read More

Featuring:

This talk will provide insights on developing therapeutics including strategies to advance the timeline to get to the clinic, out-license, or spin out a company. Dr. Templin will discuss what the NIH is looking for in funding submission for early discovery packages related to compounds and target engagement as well as what the FDA and other regulatory bodies are looking for in an IND submission for preclinical development.

WHEN:

Tuesday, September 25, 2018, 11:30AM - 1:00PM

WHERE:

Join us for Lunch @

Oak Park Research Building, UC Davis Health Campus

2700 Stockton Blvd, Seminar Room 1305

Sacramento, CA 95817

Click Here for More Information and to Register

TechAccel, a Kansas City–based technology and venture development company, announced its selection of a grant recipient under the UC Davis Venture Catalyst Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant program. Anne Britt, Ph.D., a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology, will receive $50,000 to perform a proof-of-concept of her technology, a novel method of rapid and efficient gene editing in a tomato plant. TechAccel was also represented on the STAIR Grant selection committee that reviewed applications from UC Davis researchers for this year’s award. The winning candidate receives funding for proof-of-concept research aimed at demonstrating commercial feasibility.... Read More

UC Davis and BASF announced a collaboration to unlock new benefits of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). The long-term objective of this strategic research partnership is to develop and validate second-generation HMO molecules as potent bioactive compounds that can influence the establishment and maintenance of the gut microbiome and provide benefits beyond the gastrointestinal tract, such as brain health, for infants, children and adults. The two-year partnership with UC Davis’ research team is part of BASF’s California Research Alliance (CARA), which brings together experts from major universities on the West Coast to collaborate on new materials and their applications, biosciences and related technologies.... Read More

A UC Davis associate professor, Josh Hihath, received $1.5 million in funding from SemiSynBio, a partnership between the Semiconductor Research Corp. and the National Science Foundation, to develop DNA-based memory that can be programmed and read electronically. The funding will be used to build a platform to record information with less energy and a longer lifespan than existing technologies..... Read More

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) announced this week that it has renewed UC Davis Health in Sacramento for another five years as one of just two locations on the West Coast for its NeuroNEXT Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials. As an initiative funded through the National Institutes of Health, NeuroNEXT was launched six years ago to make neuroscience clinical trials more efficient and to help increase the number of treatments available to patients. The program is designed to encourage collaborations between academic centers, disease foundations and industry.... Read More

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded UC Davis $2.5 million over four years for a national cow genomics project. The research effort aims to allow the cattle industry to use genetics more efficiently to predict the traits their herds possess. Despite cattle’s economic importance, scientists still have a long way to go to fully understand mechanisms that govern important genetic traits in the animals such as growth and disease resistance. The grant is one portion of a $6 million grant USDA awarded to create three functional genomics projects.... Read More

The UC Davis School of Medicine Dean’s Fellowship Awards offer a unique opportunity for promising junior-to-mid-career level faculty to further develop their careers as independent research investigators and academic leaders. This year's awardees are developing new methods, tools and outcomes as well as institutional infrastructure in the areas of entrepreneurship, informatics and precision medicine. The entrepreneurship fellow was Aijun Wang, associate professor of surgery and co-director of Surgical Bioengineering Laboratory. The informatics fellow was Brooks Kuhn, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine. The precision medicine fellows were Eleonora Grandi, associate professor of pharmacology and Luis Carvajal-Carmona, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine.... Read More

Comstock's magazine featured an interview with Niki Peterson with the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) discussing fostering regional entrepreneurship. IIE offers a wide range of programs to help entrepreneurs succeed ranging from workshops and business competitions to conferences and fellowship opportunities..... Read More

About Venture Catalyst 

 

UC Davis Venture Catalyst facilitates the translation of University research and technology by enabling the development of new ventures. Venture Catalyst engages with the Davis and Sacramento business, governmental and economic development community to highlight the development of technologies and ventures coming out of UC Davis that will drive tomorrow’s regional job creation. Working closely with these partners, Venture Catalyst is invigorating the technology-based entrepreneurial ecosystem of the entire region. 

The Venture Catalyst START™ Suite of programs and services provides the ABCs to equip UC Davis entrepreneurs with the tools they need to form and grow robust startups. The program gives founders the START they need to create a well-structured company and ensure the company is prepared for success. 

 

Contact Venture Catalyst 

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