The Newsletter of the MTTC for the Massachusetts
entrepreneur & tech transfer community
November 14, 2016
|
|
Welcome
|
Dear MATTO Members and Friends,
On November 3rd, the MTTC held the Second MATTO New Ventures Showcase. The meeting included presentations from 19 early stage companies that have spun-out of universities and hospitals in the region. In aggregate these companies have already raised close to $20 million in various types of funding and are now looking for follow-on funding. If you were unable to attend the showcase, you can review the descriptions of the presenting companies on our website.
With the Mass Technology Leadership Council, the MTTC will be co-hosting the Future of Robotics Summit where you can find out about the latest research coming out of our world class research institutions and explore opportunities for commercialization, partnerships, go-to-market strategies and the impact robotics has on the future. We hope to see you there!
The MTTC Team - Abi, Julia, Michele and Barbara
|
|
|
|
MTTC Update
|
|
MATTO Seminar: Entrepreneurs and TTOs: how to create and maintain win-win partnerships
When: November 16, 2016 3:30pm-5:00 pm
Where
: KPMG LLP, 15th Floor, One Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02142
This seminar will address how TTOs can make themselves user-friendly for the start-up entrepreneur who wants to create a new spin-off company based on licensed technology. What terms should be in the option and the license? When do start-ups start paying for the IP protection? Should your institution be providing other resources to the start-up? And most importantly how do you maintain the relationship with the Newco as funding is raised, the technology is developed and the people managing the license change?
Speakers:
- Daniel Behr, CEO, SLIPS Technologies
- Paul Jaminet, CEO, Angiex Inc
Moderator
:
Robert Benson, Principal, South Shaker Associates
For more information and to register please click on
this link
MTTC & MassTLC: Future of Robotics
When: December 1, 2016 12:30pm-5:30pm
Where: Microsoft NERD, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA
Join MTTC and MassTLC for a look at the Future of Robotics. Attendees will learn firsthand about the latest research coming down the pipeline and opportunities for partnership and commercialization. Our research briefing will culminate with a panel discussion on growing New England's Robotics community through technology transfer opportunities, the State's Innovation Bridge, opportunities for startups as well as local manufacturing opportunities.
Research Presentations
will include: Next Generation Soft Wearable Robots, Surgical Robotics, Robotic Hands and Tactical Sensing, Transfer of Control in Semi-Autonomous Vehicles, Human-Supervised Humanoid Robots, TeleRobots and more!
You can learn from table top robotics research presentations during the breaks and hear from our Path to Commercialization and Partnering Opportunities Panel.
|
Funding Opportunities
|
|
NIDDK Exploratory Clinical Trials for Small Business (R44)
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to provide a vehicle for Small Business Concerns (SBCs) submitting Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications for investigator-initiated exploratory clinical trials to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The projects must focus on products related to the mission and goals of the NIDDK and may evaluate drugs, biologics, or devices, as well as surgical, behavioral or rehabilitation therapies.
Click Here to Apply
2016 Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation Prize
The Boehringer-Ingelheim (BI) Innovation Prize is a Golden Ticket for Lab Central (valued at $75000 USD) awarded to any therapeutics-based company founded and having its principle place of business in New England. BI invites all inventors, early-stage innovators, start-ups, spin-outs, pursuing life-science therapeutic platform technologies and therapeutics (any indication, any modality) to participate in this prize.
Requirements
- Companies cannot be capitalized over $2million;
- Companies must not have a major partnership with another large bio-pharmaceutical company;
- Companies must be focused on new target concepts or drug discovery in any therapeutic indication. N.B. Diagnostics, Instrument development, and Health-IT are excluded.
Applicants must provide a non-confidential deck of no more than 10 slides.
Submission deadline is November 25th, 2016.
BI will select and invite 15 candidates to present
posters on December 12th at Lab Central, 700 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
For more information on how and where to submit please visit the Event website
NEWIN is the regions Water-Innovation Association. In 2017 NEWIN is running a Virtual Incubator Program.
Do you have an idea for a water-technology? Are you working on cutting edge research with application in the water space? Application to NEWIN's Water Innovation - Virtual Incubator Program are open now through January 15th 2017. Postgraduate students and post-docs at the regions universities are invited to apply. Register your interest in NEWIN's Virtual Incubator - Research to Innovation training and mentorship program here.
|
Spin-off and Start-up News
|
UMass Medical receives $1.5M to research suicide prevention
A UMass Medical School professor is the recipient of nearly $1.5 million that will be used in conjunction with two other researchers to study ways to reduce short-term risk of suicide for those who have been evaluated and treated by the hospital.
The grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is part of the organization's annual research grants that totalled $4 million this year, according to AFSP. The UMass figure is the largest given out this year by the foundation and will be headed up in Worcester by Dr. Edwin D. Boudreaux, who is a professor of emergency medicine, psychiatry and the quantitative health sciences vice chair of research in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
Read more
Jeffrey Karp is at the forefront of a new generation of scientists using nature's blueprints to create breakthrough medical technologies
Jeffrey Karp is a professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an awardeerdee of the Spring 2008 MTTC Investigation Awards. Karp's current projects include surgical staples inspired by porcupine quills, which create smaller punctures in the skin and prevent bacteria from entering wounds, and a new kind of surgical glue inspired by the sticky secretions of marine worms, which is strong enough to bind moving tissue inside major organs, such as the heart. A human trial of the glue is planned for next year in the US. Karp hopes the glue will be available in all hospitals throughout the world - to reduce surgical times and complications of current procedures. Read more
Harvard opens new lab space named after Celtics co-owner
Harvard University opens a 15,000-square-foot life science lab in Allston named after Steve Pagliuca, and executive at Bain Capital and co-owner of the Boston Celtics.
The Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab will be the home to 20 startup ventures founded and run by Harvard faculty, alumni, students, and postdocs. The first 17 of those were revealed by the university a couple weeks ago, and they include drug and vaccine developers as well as DNA sequencing companies.
Read more
Paragonix Technologies, Inc., and Pacific West Medical Sales Announce Distribution Agreement
Paragonix Technologies, Inc., a graduate of the MTTC's Platform program, announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Pacific West Medical Sales to market Paragonix Technologies' SherpaPak™ Cardiac and Kidney Transport Systems, innovative static hypothermic preservation and transport devices for donor organs in leading transplant centers in greater Southern California. Read more
Monsanto licenses CRISPR technology for crop use
Monsanto has entered into a licensing deal with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to access CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology for agricultural use. The agreement excludes use of the technology for gene drives and the development of sterile seeds
. Read more
Harvard spinout snags $23M in funding for 3-D gene mapping
Harvard's Wyss Institute is spinning out a gene-mapping technology into a new company - and has received $23 million in funding to progress the work. ReadCoor is planning to market the FISSEQ - fluorescent in situ sequencing - technology, and eventually the device behind the technology, that allows scientists to make a 3D model of how the genes of all the cells in any given tissue sample function. Read more
InfoBionic, graduate of MTTC Platform Program, launches product
Seeing first-hand the complexities of traditional cardiac arrhythmia detection and monitoring processes, the InfoBionic team designed its transformative MoMe® Kardia platform to optimize the system's clinical and real-world utility for the users that need it most - physicians and their patients. The 3-in-1, Cloud-based remote patient monitoring platform delivers on-demand, actionable monitoring data and analytics for Holter, Event, and MCT directly to the physicians themselves.
Read more
FDA approved drug developed by UMass Medical School
In late October, the FDA approved Merck's ZINPLAVA™ (bezlotoxumab) to reduce recurrence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in adult patients receiving antibacterial drug treatment for CDI who are at high risk of CDI recurrence. Bezlotoxumab was developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School's MassBiologics Laboratory in conjunction with Medarex (now part of Bristol-Myers Squibb), and was licensed to Merck in 2009.
Read more
|
| Events of Interest |
NEWIEE's Fall Fête
When: November 15, 2016 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Where: Algonquin Club of Boston, 217 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116
Please join The New England Women In Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE) for Fall Fête! It will be a night of fun and a chance to meet the NEWIEE Board and Advisory Board. The Fall Fête is open to everyone (members, non-members, women, men, etc.). Admission includes drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and lively conversation at the Algonquin Club of Boston. Dress code is "professional festive."
For more information and to register please visit the
Event website
Innovations in Food Tech for Health
When: November 16, 2016 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Where: Perkins + Will, 225 Franklin Street Floor 11 , Boston, MA 02110
Technology is rapidly changing our global food system, but what is food tech innovation doing to improve our health?
Panel discussion will include consumer trends in the health/food tech sector, innovative products being developed to promote healthy lifestyles, success stories and opportunities related to startup development and industry focus, and creating environments that foster health and wellness. Attendees include current and aspiring entrepreneurs, students in food focused college programs, those aspiring to build products that create healthy lifestyles, and community members.
Included is a food tech showcase includingPoly and Kindrdfood and tasting of innovative health foods being produced right here in Boston including Micro Mama's, Keto+Co, Health-Ade, Perfectly Free and more!
For more information and to register please visit the
Event website
Xconomy: What's Hot in Boston Healthtech
When: November 17, 2016, 1:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Where: Broad Institute, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
Boston is arguably the world's most concentrated center of expertise in medicine, software and analytics, digital health, and biotechnology-making it the leader in healthcare more broadly. Now the region is forging a new era in which healthcare technology becomes deeply integrated into everything from hospitals and doctors' offices to the daily lives of consumers, whether at home or on the go.
Through keynote talks, live demos, interactive panels, and presentations from visionary startups, the event will highlight how technology is transforming healthcare for the post-election era, and beyond.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
UNH Innovation Catalyst Seminar Series: Trademark fundamentals and start-up businesses
Where: Training Room & Alpha Loft at the ECenter, 21 Madbury Road, Suite 101
When: November 17, 4:30pm - 6:30pm
Craig Morris from the USPTO will be joining UNH as a speaker at their monthly seminar He is the Managing Attorney for Trademark Educational Outreach, and here's a
web link further describing what he does.
Brandeis 2nd Annual Innovation Showcase
When: November 17, 2016 from 5:30 PM to 8:30
Where: Brandeis University, Shapiro Science Center, 415 South St., Waltham, MA 02453
This cocktail reception will feature startups, inventions, social entrepreneurship, and scientific discoveries born out of the labs and classrooms at Brandeis University.
Featuring poster presentations by recent Brandeis
SPARK and
SPROUT award recipients, the event will highlight projects ranging from a mobile application to assist individuals with autism, to alternative energy sources reducing fossil fuel dependency, to the development of diagnostic kits to test for mosquito and tick borne diseases.
Attendees will have the opportunity to join the entrepreneurial action and vote for the crowd favorite by "investing" in projects.
For more information and to register please visit the
Event website
HBSR: "Strategies and Considerations for ProtectingYour Medical Technology Start-Up's Innovations"
When: November 29 at 12:00 p.m.
Where: MassBio, 300 Technology Square, 8th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139
Come for lunch and learn how medical technology companies are reaping rewards by protecting their core technologies/products through strategic procurement and use of intellectual property (IP) rights.
This is an interactive panel discussion with Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds intellectual property attorneys Scott Pierce and Alexander Adam and guest speakers Andrew McGillicuddy, CEO of EndoCellutions, Inc., and David Feinberg of Feinberg Hanson LLP. EndoCellutions, Inc. is a start-up medical device company developing innovative solutions to enable regenerative medicine. Feinberg Hanson LLP is a Boston law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity, and licensing and strategic partnerships.
Future of Money: Cybersecurity in FinTech
When: November 29, 2016 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland, 420 Broadway, Cambridge
Securing the internet is now a worldwide priority - and financial institutions, who are among the most vulnerable to such attacks, are at the forefront of determining what steps must be taken to minimize this inevitable risk. But how can the FinTech industry design regulations without impeding innovation? Does the entrepreneurial mindset to "get to the market fast," undermine security issues? Is blockchain the next line of defense in the quest for cybersecurity?
A panel made up of Swiss and American FinTech and cybersecurity experts will discuss the underpinnings of these challenges in digital finance. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A session and networking reception.
For more information and to register please visit the
Event website
UMass Dartmouth Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Maritime Innovations Conference
When: November 30, 2016 8:30 AM -7:00 PM
Where: 151 Martine Street, Fall River, MA, 02723
Please join the Maritime Innovations Conference: Connecting, Training & Advancing conference. This event will bring together leading edge marine technology companies for a day of programming aimed at providing an overview of current trends in the industry, and a showcase of start up companies to discuss their new technologies.
8 companies will deliver a 5 minute "elevator" pitch to showcase and discuss their new technologies.
For more information and to register please visit the
Event website
JLABS & M2D2: Seal the Deal for your Medical Device: Alternative Funding Streams
When: December 1, 2016 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Where: M2D2, 110 Canal St., 4th FL. Lowell
The panel discussion with industry experts dive into some of the following questions:
- What alternate funding options are out there?
- How does angel money and SBIR money differ from traditional VC funding?
- What do you need to know before exploring these alternate streams?
- What is Johnson & Johnson Innovation doing in the medical device space?
Panelists:
- John Conley, Co-Founder, Gilliam Capital
- Ram May-Ron, Managing Partner, The FreeMind Group
- Christopher De Souza, Director, Broadview Ventures
- V. Kadir Kadhiresan, VP, Venture Investments, J & J Innovation
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
MIT Enterprise Forum: Can Smart Water Technologies Quench the Thirst of our Modern Cities?
When: December 1, 2016 05:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Where: MasCEC, 3rd Floor, Located in the Eastern Bank Building, 63 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
It is estimated that it will cost the US $384 billion to upgrade the US water infrastructure! And this number is likely to increase given the stressors from increasing population, climate change and water pollution. As a result, many cities are looking to new technologies to help them address the need for, and to efficiently produce fresh, clean water for its residents.
Cities face many pressing issues regarding their water infrastructure. The most critical water issues relate to improving the fundamental components of our urban water systems.
Join to learn:
- Why have these issues not been solved before?
- How can 3-D technologies, big data and IoT help cities optimize their energy and water use?
- What are the greatest challenges to making 'Smart Water-Smart Cities' a reality?
- How can we as entrepreneurs and as a part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem help cities with these complex and sometimes impenetrable issues?
For more information and to register please visit
the Event website
NAVSEA and NAVAIR Matchmaking Workshop
When: December 6, 2016 7:30AM-3:30PM
Where: SBANE Headquarters, 1601 Trapelo Road, North Atrium, 1st Floor, Waltham
SBANE is hosting a Navy SBIR Workshop to inform New England companies about the just released SBIR solicitation. In support of this event, the U.S. Navy is sending the representatives from the NAVSEA, Naval Sea Systems Command, SBIR Program Offices, and NAVAIR, Naval Air Systems Command.
The day's agenda will cover:
- A review of each of the NAVSEA and NAVAIR SBIR / STTR topics in the just released Broad Agency Agreement
- 1-on-1 matchmaking conversations with a NAVSEA SBIR representative
The topics will be released on November 30, 2016.
For more information and to register please visit
the Event website
Acceleration2016, the Nutter Early Stage Life Sciences Conference
When: December 6, 2016 3:00-7:00 pm
Where: Nutter, Louis D. Brandeis Conference Center, 5th Floor, 155 Seaport Blvd, Boston,
Acceleration connects investors, entrepreneurs and industry executives in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health IT who are focused on growth. Join key thought leaders to examine the best paths to success in an active yet volatile market.
Keynote Speaker: Bernat Olle, CEO, Vedanta Biosciences
Speakers include:
- Kevin Bitterman, Partner, Polaris Ventures
- Steven Fox, Vice President, Zaffre Investments
- Michael Greeley, General Partner, Flare Capital Partners
- Luba Greenwood, Global M&A and Business Development, Roche Diagnostics
- Travis Wilson, Investment Partner, Gurnet Point Capital
Program followed by cocktails and networking
To register, use the password: ACCEL2016
For more information and to register please visit
the Event website
2016 MassBio CRO/CMO Symposium
When: December 8, 2016, 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Where: Boston Marriott Cambridge, 50 Broadway, Cambridge, MA
The MassBio CRO/CMO Symposium draws industry leaders to discuss and evaluate the best practices that have evolved in outsourcing and strategic partnerships in pre-clinical, clinical and manufacturing. Now in its 5th year, the MassBio CRO/CMO Symposium draws more than 300 attendees to discuss and evaluate the best practices that have evolved in shortening time to market. Through a series of panel discussions and breakout roundtables, the Symposium will evaluate the strategies that have evolved in outsourcing and strategic partnerships in pre-clinical, clinical and manufacturing. The program will include keynotes, panel discussions, breakout/roundtable discussions and a well-trafficked Exhibit Hall, significant networking time (breaks and a closing reception) and, new this year, pre-conference workshops on finding a strategic partner and selling to pharma.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Genetic Rx Conference
When: December 8, 2016, 7am - 6:00 pm
Where: Harvard Medical School - Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
This conference features off-the-record discussion panels with key industry leaders, researchers, and investors focused on the emergence of new genetic medicines as well as the treatment of patients with rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases.
Co-hosts and speakers include Christian Meyer, uniQure, Paul Bolno, President & CEO of WAVE Life Sciences; Belen Carillo-Rivas, Global Clinical Submission Lead at Pfizer; Oliver Fetzer, CEO of Synthetic Genomics; Terence Flotte, Dean of UMass Medical School; JC Gutierrez-Ramos, CEO of Synlogic Therapeutics; Kathy High, President & CSO of Spark Therapeutics; Edward Kaye, CEO of Sarepta; Sven Kili, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy R&D at GlaxoSmithKline; Sandy Macrae, President & CEO of Sangamo BioSciences, Harald Petry, CSO of uniQure; Paula Soteropoulos, CEO of Akcea Therapeutics, Arthur Tzianabos, CEO of Homology Medicines, and many others.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
The Capital Network: Venture Fast Track: Fundraising Bootcamp for Early Stage Entrepreneurs
When: December 12, 9:00am - 3:30 pm
Where: Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210
The Capital Network's annual Fast Track Boot Camp for Early Stage Entrepreneurs, is an intensive, interactive full-day seminar designed to provide entrepreneurs and innovators an in-depth understanding of what it takes to raise early stage capital.
You will spend the day learning from and interacting with New England's leading investors, entrepreneurs, and early-stage experts through workshops, panels and discussions. You will leave the Venture Fast Track with concrete materials and knowledge that will help you move your company forward through the various stages of the fundraising process, and with a new network of mentors and peers from which to draw.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
|
|
|
|
MTTC is based at UMass and facilitates technology transfer from all research institutions, public and private, in the Commonwealth. The Center is financially supported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and MTDC. www.mttc.org MATTO is the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices www.masstechtransfer.org
|
|
|
