Biolocity awardees are selected from in an intensive, multi-staged application process that includes market assessment, competitive analysis, and identification of development risks to be addressed for commercial success. All projects are selected by an oversight committee comprised of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, clinicians, biomedical engineers and university technology transfer experts who make the difficult decision of identifying projects with the most compelling commercial potential.
Below are the innovative projects and teams selected for this year’s cohort.
1. 12X Bone Regeneration for Spinal Fusion: a repurposed, generic small molecule that induces bone formation to improve spinal fusion and prevent non-union.
Principal Investigators: Nick Willett, PhD, Emory University, Scott Boden, MD, Emory University, Sreedhara Sangadala, PhD, Emory University
2. Heteroresistance AST: an approach to determine antibiotic susceptibility, resistance, and hetero resistance within two hours of blood culture.
Principal Investigators: David Weiss, PhD, Emory University and Peter Yunker, PhD Georgia Tech
3. SaGA for Cancer Drug Discovery: a proprietary drug discovery platform utilizing a novel isolation assay for metastatic “leader” cells in solid tumors to develop novel cancer therapeutics.
Principal Investigator: Adam Marcus, PhD, Emory University
4. Sirpant Cellular Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors: SIRPαlow engineered macrophages immunotherapy for treatment of solid tumors.
Principal Investigators: Yuan Li, PhD, Georgia State University and Ned Waller, MD, PhD, FACP, Emory University
5. Verso Transcaval Docking Station: a device that allows clinicians to precisely deliver and position existing transcatheter aortic or mitral valves in the IVC for treatment of Tricuspid Regurgitation.
Principal Investigator: Jorge Jimenez, PhD, Georgia Tech
“The applicants from this funding cycle were the most competitive we have seen since the relaunch of the Coulter program in 2014” says Shawna Khouri, managing director of the Biolocity Program. “We are excited to work with our new awardees to support their technology development and hope to expand our outreach in the future to assist more teams working to positively impacting human health.”
Funding and project management provided by the Biolocity program is used to bridge the gap in development between early-stage university research and its path to the market. If you are interested in commercialization guidance for a device, therapeutic, or platform technology with the ability to positively impact human health, schedule a meeting here.
To learn more about Biolocity’s funding and partnership opportunities, visit www.Biolocity.org.
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Biolocity is a philanthropic, multi-institutional network supporting university medical technology commercialization in the southeast. Through a combination of investment, project management, consulting, and educational programming, Biolocity provides early-stage, patient impacting technologies with the resources needed to reach critical commercialization milestones.
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