WESTCHESTER COUNTY LIFE SCIENCES UPDATE

Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator

Pitch Day 2023: May 11

Get your tickets today!

The Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator Pitch Day 2023 returns in-person to the Florence Gould Theater in New York City on May 11. This annual event features pitches and presentations from 23 ventures from both the WCBA and the ABCT life sciences accelerator programs. This year's event will also feature a panel of distinguished alums who will share their work changing care within biosciences.

Click below to register!

ContraFect Announces First Patient Dosed in Study on Patients with Chronic Prosthetic Joint Infections of the Knee

Yonkers’ ContraFect Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of direct lytic agents (DLAs), including lysins and amurin peptides, as new medical modalities for the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections, announced the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 1b/2 of exebacase in the setting of an arthroscopic debridement, antibiotics, irrigation, and retention (DAIR) procedure in patients with chronic prosthetic joint infections (PJI) of the knee due to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) or Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CoNS).

Alnylam - Regeneron Partnered Alzheimer's Candidate's Initial Data Sounds Promising, Analyst Says

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc and its partner, Greenburgh's Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, announced preliminary data from their Phase I study of their experimental drug dubbed ALN-APP.

ALN-APP is an investigational RNAi therapeutic targeting amyloid precursor protein (APP, a brain protein) in development for Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Patients treated with single-dose ALN-APP experienced dose-dependent, rapid and sustained reduction in cerebrospinal fluid of both soluble APPα (sAPPα) and APPβ (sAPPβ), biomarkers of target engagement, with a maximum reduction of 84% and 90%, respectively.

Further exploration of single-doses of ALN-APP is ongoing in Part A of the Phase 1 study (Canada, Netherlands, U.K., and U.S.) to evaluate longer-term safety and duration of action and to identify the multi-dose regimen for Part B

Alnylam and Regeneron are already moving into the second half of the Phase I study in Canada. 

Chiefy Raises $4.2 Million in Seed Funding

Chiefy, the pioneering cloud platform that helps surgical teams seamlessly embed quality and communication best practices and alum of the Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator, announced this week that it has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to accelerate and expand product development and customer acquisition. The new investment was led by LionBird, with participation from Nina Capital and Emerge Ventures.

Cognition Therapeutics Appoints John Doyle to the Role of Chief Financial Officer

Cognition Therapeutics, Inc. announced the appointment of John Doyle to the role of chief financial officer. Mr. Doyle has substantial experience leading and managing financial operations at development- and commercial-stage public life sciences companies through financings, mergers, acquisitions and licensing agreements.

Mr. Doyle was most recently chief financial officer of 4D Pharma plc, and previously was SVP and chief financial officer of Chiasma Inc. During his tenure at Chiasma Inc, the company began reporting commercial sales and ultimately completed a merger with Amryt Pharma. Earlier, he served in finance departments at Verastem Oncology, SimpliVity Corp., PAREXEL, Inc. and Hologic Inc. Mr. Doyle earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Massachusetts.

The Ruth Taylor Scholarship Awards

Westchester County graduate students pursuing careers in social work or public health are invited to apply for scholarship assistance through the Ruth Taylor Scholarship Fund. 

The fund was established in tribute to Ruth Taylor upon her retirement as the county’s Commissioner of Public Welfare and in recognition of her nearly four decades of outstanding service. The annual awards are sponsored by United Way of Westchester and Putnam, the Westchester County Government, and the Urban League of Westchester County. Applicants must be residents of Westchester County and enrolled in graduate studies in Social Work or Public Health on a full-time basis.

The submission deadline is Friday, June 2, 2023, by which time the application and all supporting documents must be received.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SAFEs, Convertible Notes & Engaging Your First Lawyer(s)

Biotechnology, Medical Technology & Life Sciences

A CNYBAC Concept to Commercialization Virtual Series Presentation

In this presentation, we will discuss key SAFE and convertible note terms, what rights investors expect (and when you can push back) and keeping up-to-date with your SEC filings. We will close by discussing when to engage legal advisors and how to decipher law firm models and control legal costs.

Date: Wednesday, May 3

Time: 3:00 PM

Register

The Power of R&D Partnerships:

Biotechnology, Medical Technology & Life Sciences

FuzeHub

New York State is home to a world-class life sciences research and industry cluster. Panelists will discuss the innovative companies and public-private partnerships that are accelerating developments in therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and related products.

Date: Wednesday, May 10

Time: 10:00 AM

Register

Pitch Day 2023

This annual event features pitches and presentations from 23 ventures from both the Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator and ABCT life sciences accelerator programs. This year's event will also feature a panel of distinguished alums who will share their work changing care within biosciences.

Date: Thursday, May 11, 2023

Time: 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Register

inFUZEd Marketing Meetup: Where Customer Journeys and Content Strategies

Collide to Increase Engagement and Sales

How can you move a lead from cold to warm to hot, and convert them into a manufacturing client? Customer journey mapping can be a useful exercise in helping marketers better understand where opportunities exist to effectively engage both potential and existing clients. It can also identify gaps that might be hindering your ability to close a sale or build lasting loyalty and repeat sales. 

Date: Tuesday, May 23

Time: 11:00 AM

Register

Have good news to share with

Westchester’s life sciences ecosystem?

Please let us know.

Email lifesciences@westchestergov.com.