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Vanqua Bio (Prof. Dimitri Krainc, Feinberg) announced that they dosed their first patient in their Phase 1 Clinical Trial of VQ-101, a glucocerebrosidease activator for GBA- Parkinson's Disease. Read More | | |
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Pearl Bio (former Prof. Michael Jewett, McCormick) has entered into an agreement with Merck aimed at discovering biologic therapies incorporating non-standard amino acids. This agreement grants Pearl the opportunity to receive payments amounting to a potential sum of $1B. Read More | | |
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Nanograf (Prof. Harold Kung, McCormick) won the Innovation of the Year Award at mHUB ’s Fourth Revolution Awards! The Innovation of the Year Award recognizes 'groundbreaking technology that has caused significant disruption within its industry.' Read More | | |
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Third Coast Dynamics (Dr. Bradley Allen, Feinberg and Prof. Michael Markl, McCormick) won 1st place out of 80 submissions at the 2024 MIT Sloan Healthcare Innovations Prize. The team was led by Tyler Jacobson (MD/MBA student) and Gabriela Martinez (MD student). Read More | |
CURRENT STARTUP FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY | | | |
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Amphix Bio (Prof. Samuel Stupp, McCormick) is raising $15M in Seed funding, to continue their clinical development. Their platform uses supramolecular peptide structures to create biomaterials that trigger regenerative signaling pathways and provide an extracellular scaffold to support biological repair. Their first indication is bone graft for spinal fusion, and second indication is spinal cord Injury. Their first program will be a drug-device combination product going through the IDE/PMA pathway. | | |
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Affix Medical is on the mission to improve percutaneous drain management for all patients with indwelling lines/tubes/catheters. Their flagship product is a drain fixation device that mitigate the need for suture fixation, expedites dressing changes, and decreases rates of tube-related complications. This device is tailored specifically to long-standing percutaneous drains placed by Interventional Radiologists and was developed in collaboration with interventional radiologists at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Affix is seeking to raise $500k in a pre-seed round to further these efforts. | | |
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Temprian Oncology (Prof. Caroline LePoole, Feinberg, Prof. Sonbinh Nguyen Weinberg) is raising $300k in Seed funding to demonstrate proof of concept in the treatment of melanoma in vivo. Temprian Oncology is developing lipid-based nanoparticle supercarriers to deliver active ingredients to metastatic melanoma tumors. This novel approach combines chemo- and immunotherapy into an off-the-shelf product suitable for delivery in remote geographic locations. | | |
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Inomagen Therapeutics (Prof. Rishi Arora, Feinberg) is raising a $5M Seed round to continue its development of a non-viral gene therapy to improve the treatment of atrial fibrillation. In conjunction with the company’s ongoing SBIR Fast Track grant award, the funds will be used to develop its novel transcatheter cardiac gene delivery system, optimize its proprietary plasmid vector, conduct therapeutic dose response studies, and continue building the team with a goal of filing an IND and initiating clinical study in 2026. | |
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INVESTORS: Contact the InQbation Lab for more information regarding these investment opportunities.
NU STARTUPS: To share your fundraising/milestone news, email inqbationlab@northwestern.edu.
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MEET OUR 2024 KELLOGG-Q ENTREPRENEURIAL RESIDENTS | |
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In its second year, the KQ Entrepreneurial Residency offers Kellogg students and Northwestern research scientists a unique opportunity to work together in an intentional way. Over 130 MBA students attended the information sessions to learn about 10 research projects. Eight Kellogg students were selected to partner with 7 research opportunities in sustainability, medical devices, diagnostics and therapeutics as independent studies this spring quarter. The Q welcomes Kellogg students Christopher Chang, Max Engle, Arpith Gattu, Brendan Hastings, Minji Kim, Samantha Lee, Jorge Solis, and Karl Wang.
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They have been partnered with projects out of Trienens Institute of Sustainability & Energy (Profs. Tobin Marks/Yosi Kratish; Profs. Bin Chen/Ted Sargent and Samuel Pennell/Prof. David Dunand), Querrey Simpson Institute of Bioelectronics (Matthew Flavin/Prof. John Rogers), Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (Prof. Matty Major), and Institute of Nanotechnology (Prof. Nathan Gianneschi/Dr. Kurt Lu).
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2024 N.XT FUND
We’d like to congratulate Northwestern startup MFNS Tech on being selected as a 2024 N.XT Awardee!
MFNS Tech (Prof. Vinayak Dravid, McCormick) has developed an oleophilic, hydrophobic, and multi-functional (OHM) nanostructure coating for economic, efficient, and eco-friendly removal of oil and other contaminants from water. MFNS Tech will be leveraging N.XT funding to scale up their operations and optimize the form factor and design of their OHM products.
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The Q SUMMER ENTREPRENEURIAL FELLOWS PROGRAM provides summer entrepreneurial fellowship to Northwestern graduate students in PhD, MD or MBA programs. Students are expected to identify a summer project that has Northwestern intellectual property but has not yet been licensed. The student will be tasked with identifying business milestones and resources needed. The program will provide a weekly $800 stipend per full-time commitment. Interested candidates should email inqbationlab@northwestern.edu. | |
COMMERCIALIZING INNOVATIONS IN INDUSTRY SERIES | |
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Last week, the Q hosted the first seminar in our Commercializing Innovation in Industry Series, in collaboration with Northwestern Corporate Engagement and Feinberg Corporate Relations. This first seminar featured Abbott's Divisional VP, Marc Taub, who shared invaluable insights into Abbott's journey, focusing on the development of FreeStyle Libre, the most successful medical device in history. Attendees learned how Abbott transformed challenges into opportunities, culminating in a $5 billion product.
Looking ahead, do not miss our UPCOMING seminars:
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Tuesday, April 16 at 12pm, Gavin Cloherty, Head of Infectious Disease Research & Abbott's Pandemic Defense Coalition, will delve into Abbott's innovative approach to pandemic defense, including BinaxNOW and beyond.
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Tuesday, April 23 at 12pm, Caroline Mendes and Rodney Huang will discuss navigating the regulatory environment in the medical device and diagnostic space.
These seminars offer the Northwestern community exclusive access to industry expertise. REGISTER IN ADVANCE.
See links to individual events below.
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LURIE CANCER CENTER-Q TRANSLATIONAL SEMINAR | |
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The InQbation Lab and Lurie Cancer Center co-hosted a translational seminar with WARF Therapeutics. Jonathan Young, Head of WARF Therapeutics, led attendees through an examination of the company's innovative approach to translating scientific breakthroughs from UW-Madison into therapeutic solutions. He detailed the latest preclinical development candidate, a Carbonic Anhydrase 9 (CA9) radiopharmaceutical targeting clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). This talk offered a unique perspective in what an academic biotech looks like. Jon will be visiting Northwestern on May 21-22 to meet with Northwestern faculty to explore a possible Northwestern-WARF Therapeutics collaboration Stay tuned!
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Q SCIENTIST ENTREPRENEUR SERIES | YES AND! SCIENCE COMMUNICATION | |
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Guest Improv Guru, Heather Barnes, led a select group of scientists who are involved in various Q programming and Northwestern startups in a highly interactive workshop, where they explored communication strategies such as establishing executive presence, commanding the space, knowing your audience, distilling and tailoring your message, responding in the moment, presentation development, storytelling, the power of questions, and increasing audience engagement. Thank you for an engaging and fun day together!
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Q EXECUTIVES-IN-RESIDENCE - MEDICAL DEVICE | |
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The Q EIR program embeds seasoned executives in the Northwestern community through one-on-one faculty and startup meetings and seminars. This month, The Q hosted two medical device EIRs, Atif Yardimci (AbbVie) and Andy Dunham (Hemanext), collectively meeting 8 faculty and 11 startups. They brought their device and diagnostic expertise, offering connections, resources and insight into product development and commercialization.
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NU BIOTECH CLUB - Q CONVERSATION WITH EIR ANDY DUNHAM | |
Q Executive-in-Resident Andy Dunham (CEO of Hemanext, and previous VP of Baxter Healthcare managing a global R&D organization across functions including biology, chemistry, and engineering) spent one hour with a room of graduate students and post-docs from the NU Biotech Club. Andy shared his career journey as he transitioned from his doctoral life to a healthcare executive and now as a CEO and offered valuable insight into mentorship, finding the right companies, and networking in a useful and practical way. Thank you, Andy for sharing your wisdom with the next generation of scientists! | |
CAMPUS VISIT WITH GIGASCALE CAPITAL | |
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We welcomed Gigascale Capital's Evaline Tsai (Principal) and Philipp Hoffman (Visiting Research Scout) to campus on April 9. They met with 8 Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy faculty and participated in a Fireside Chat hosted by The Garage. Our own Prof. Jeffrey Richards did a spectacular job in moderating. Thank you, Gigascale, for sharing your insight and advice on climatetech commercialization and fundraising strategies in the space.
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Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition | How Abbott leverages its innovation platform-- BinaxNOW and beyond
Learn how the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (APDC) serves as a platform for innovation in fields such as biomarker discovery, translational and public health/implementation research and how it offers a unique capacity for early development and rapid deployment of scalable, quality diagnostics targeting newly identified pathogens of pandemic potential. REGISTER HERE
Co-Sponsored by The Q, NU Corporate Engagement and Feinberg Corporate Relations
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Navigating the Medical Device and Diagnostic Regulatory Environment | A Perspective from Abbott Leaders
Explore the landscape of global regulatory frameworks and strategic considerations pivotal in bringing a new medical device or in vitro diagnostic product to market. Caroline Mendes and Rodney Huang will discuss how to identify the applicable regulatory requirements for a new IVD or medical device, considerations in Pre-Submissions to the FDA, and additional Regulatory requirements that are critical to know early in the product development process. REGISTER HERE
Co-Sponsored by The Q, NU Corporate Engagement and Feinberg Corporate Relations
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Q Scientist Entrepreneur Series | Yes And! Negotiations
In this workshop, Heather Barnes will help participants to identify opportunities to negotiate and explore how to approach negotiations strategically and with confidence. Based on the Harvard Business Review Project, the focus of this workshop is to establish common ground and reach agreements. Skills such as developing your case, the ask, asking for more, understanding the other side, establishing your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), negotiating salaries, expanding options, and the Yes And philosophy will be highlighted. BY INVITE ONLY
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Creating A Technology Company, From Idea To Impact:
Dogs And Cats Living Together
Tom Wagner of Berkshire Grey will share his journey in building commercial impact with a technology. Wagner will share his entrepreneurial journey and offer candid thoughts and take-aways in how to build a team, work with VCs, build customers, establish a work-life balance, and embracing uncertainty and ambiguity. On a semi-technical front, Wagner will also cover include sparse data, search heuristics, bounded rationality, and the path from sensor inputs to information-based decision making. REGISTER HERE
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Seizing Commercial Opportunities in the Climate Space
Kathryn Meng of RA Capital Planetary Health has evaluated thousands of investment opportunities in climatetech and cleantech toward commercializing cost-effective solutions to reduce emissions, increase resource availability, and restore environmental quality. She will share her insights on opportunities that exist for university-based startups through examples highlighting key attributes for success along with common missteps to avoid. Kathryn will discuss how academicians can reduce translational risk by contemplating the right market-driven problem statement and embracing the cross-functional teamwork required to commercialize innovative technologies. Open to TRIENENS faculty, post-docs and doctoral students ONLY.
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OTHER NEWS & OPPORTUNITIES | | |
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT NORTHWESTERN NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE to the Entrepreneurship at Northwestern Newsletter. This newsletter is a monthly roundup of university-wide news featuring the launches, raises, and milestones of our students, faculty, and alumni! This snapshot celebrates the wide-ranging impact of the Northwestern community and enables us to stay in touch with our Wildcat entrepreneurs.
Please share your own milestones through the newsletter.
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