WESTCHESTER COUNTY LIFE SCIENCES UPDATE

Element 46 Graduate myze and YouTube’s Doctor Eye Health Partner to Change Daily Eye Care Behaviors for More Than 865,000 Consumers

Mamaroneck’s myze, the leading U.S. digital eye health platform and a graduate of the Element 46 Tech Accelerator, has partnered with the leading provider of eye care-focused content on YouTube, Doctor Eye Health, to raise awareness, education and provide affordable access to daily eye care routines and products. The partnership between myze and Doctor Eye Health will provide access to daily eye care products and routines to hundreds of thousands of patients as both companies continue to expand their audiences.

myze is the only digital health platform focused exclusively on elevating and accelerating the importance of eye health. Its mission is to make eye care part of everyone’s daily self-care routine by providing easy and affordable access to daily eye care routines curated by the world’s foremost experts in dry eye and ocular surface disease. Since its launch in September 2022, myze has brought hundreds of doctors into its platform providing daily eye care management to thousands of patients.

Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator Alum,

PNI Thrive, Featured in Frontiers (Frontiers in Virtual Reality)

Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator alum, PNI Thrive, was recently featured in Frontiers (Frontiers in Virtual Reality) regarding its virtual reality (VR) application used to help ease anxiety and improve the mental health of cancer patients undergoing treatments.

The study's results found that VR meditation was able to significantly reduce anxiety, stress, and fatigue in cancer patients. The VR meditation group had significantly lower anxiety, stress, and fatigue levels than the control group. The VR meditation group also had significantly higher levels of relaxation and well-being. The results show a significant and noteworthy increase in patient-reported outcomes of mental and physical health post-VR treatment vs. the pre-VR treatment for the test group.

Take Your Venture to the Next Level!

Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator

August Info Sessions and Deadline Information

The Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator (WCBA), the County's first competitive-entry, six-month life sciences accelerator for first-time founders, is accepting applications for the 2024 cohort. Life science ventures at any stage of development are invited to apply. Join a community of nearly 50 founders and expert mentors that has raised over $15 million in funding. 

Apply by September 1 for early action or by October 24.  

Program Benefits 

• An exclusive network of mentors and coaches including consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders from leading therapeutics, digital health, diagnostic, medical devices, and healthcare delivery companies; 
• Bootcamp, roundtables, and workshops designed and delivered by industry leaders; 
• Introduction to leading professional service companies including legal, financial, and IP; 
• A vast network of program alumni and entrepreneurs in the Metro NY region, including: JelikaLite, CatchU, Chiefy, Vyir, NyTmT, Laronix; 
• Support from municipalities and corporate sponsors; 
• Potential collaboration for clinical feedback 

Upcoming Information Sessions 

Learn more about the program, meet an alum and hear what you stand to gain from becoming a 2024 venture at an upcoming information session: 

2024 Program Info Session

Date: August 24

Time: 12:00 PM

Register

Strengthening Your Application Workshop

Date: August 31

Time: 12:00 PM

Register

If you have questions and/or cannot attend the information session and would like to learn more about WCBA, please feel free to contact Doris Alcivar, Assistant Program Manager, WCBA at doris@firstxfounder.com.  

Attention Employers: Westchester County to Host Multilingual Job Fair on September 28

Westchester County Executive George Latimer and the Office for Economic Development invite County businesses to participate in an upcoming Multilingual Job Fair scheduled for September 28. The event aims to connect businesses, municipalities, colleges, hospitals, schools and other institutions with skilled individuals who possess the valuable ability to speak multiple languages.

Date: September 28

Time: 9 AM - 12 PM

Venue: Little Theatre, County Center, 198 Central Avenue, White Plains

We are pleased to inform you that there is no charge for either exhibitors or attendees to participate in the job fair. To secure your organization's space, we kindly request you to provide us with the following information by September 12:

• Business Name
• Contact Information (phone number and e-mail address) for two representatives who will be present at your table during the event.
• Details about open positions within your organization.
• Materials from your organization that you would like to showcase during the job fair.

To RSVP or for any additional information, please reach out to Shari Rosen Ascher at sascher@westchestercountyny.gov or Martha Lopez at mlopez@westchestercountyny.gov. As space is limited, exhibitor tables will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

By participating in this job fair, you not only contribute to the growth of your organization but also support the advancement of individuals with unique language skills. Gracias, Merci, Obrigado, 谢谢, 감사합니다 - We extend our gratitude in various languages to express our appreciation for your interest in the event.

Regeneron to Acquire Decibel Therapeutics to Boost Hearing Loss Therapy Programs

Westchester-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Decibel Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing transformative treatments to restore and improve hearing and balance, announced a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Decibel by Regeneron.

Decibel and Regeneron established their initial collaboration in 2017, with an extension announced in 2021, and are developing three gene therapy programs targeting different forms of congenital, monogenic hearing loss. DB-OTO, which is currently in the global Phase 1/2 CHORDTM clinical trial, is an investigational cell-selective, adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy designed to provide durable, physiological hearing to individuals with profound, congenital hearing loss caused by mutations of the otoferlin gene. Preclinical programs include AAV.103 for people with GJB2-related hearing loss and AAV.104 for people with stereocilin (STRC)-related hearing loss.

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Teladoc Health Is Providing Free Virtual Services to Hawaii Residents Impacted by Wildfires

Purchase’s Teladoc Health, the global leader in whole-person virtual care, is providing free, 24/7 general medical telehealth visits to Hawaii residents, first responders and others directly impacted by the recent devastating wildfires.



Individuals in Hawaii who have been displaced or who cannot access medical care as a result of the fires can seek treatment from a licensed health care professional for any non-emergency illness by calling Teladoc Health directly at 855-225-5032. Individuals seeking physician-authorization for prescription refills of non-narcotic drugs can also get assistance. For emergencies, patients should call 911.

Oligomerix Publishes Preclinical Data on Novel Small Molecule Therapeutic in Development for Alzheimer’s Disease and Rare Neurodegenerative Diseases

White Plains' Oligomerix, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a platform of tau self-association inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders, announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating that the oral small molecule OLX-07010 inhibits tau aggregation in a model for inherited tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Earlier this year, Oligomerix announced first-in-human dosing of OLX-07010 in a Phase 1a clinical trial.

The self-association of tau protein into progressively larger aggregates and tau tangles is a common pathological process in AD and multiple rare inherited neurodegenerative diseases such as PSP and FTD. Since tau tangles and amyloid plaques are hallmarks of AD, treating both could be more beneficial to patients than targeting a single pathology. Additionally, because tau pathology has been highly correlated with disease progression in AD, our approach has been to target tau self-association, the first step in tau aggregation.

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Westchester’s life sciences ecosystem?

Please let us know.

Email lifesciences@westchestergov.com.