CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Life science-focused venture capital firms Atlas Venture, F-Prime Capital, RA Capital Management, and Osage University Partners (OUP) have partnered to create Science2Startup (S2S)™, an invitation-only symposium aimed at strengthening connections between biotech investors and therapeutics researchers at the world’s top academic research institutions. S2S will take place on April 23, 2019, in Cambridge at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
The day-long event will feature presentations of promising therapeutics in development, ones that could be part of a new generation of startups, by the participating universities’ principal investigators. There will also be a panel discussion entitled “Maintaining the Innovation Funnel – Future Trends in Funding Translatable Science," and a keynote address, “Biopharma as a Catalyst for Clinical Translation,” by Jay Bradner, President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. Attendees at S2S will include life science-focused investors, top biotech entrepreneurs and senior individuals from the pharmaceutical industry. Evotec, Deloitte, Goodwin, JLL, and Silicon Valley Bank are the event’s sponsors.
S2S is led and organized by Ben Auspitz, Partner at F-Prime Capital; Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture; Joshua Resnick, Managing Director at RA Capital Management; and Bill Harrington, Managing Partner at Osage University Partners.
“S2S was created to recognize the high quality of science that is being developed around the world. At S2S, researchers advancing novel science will connect with potential investors and partners who can help translate their work into therapies that can have a meaningful impact for patients,” said Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture.
"We have an exceptional group of participants in this year's S2S program,” said Ben Auspitz, Partner at F-Prime Capital. “We're excited to provide a forum for scientists and entrepreneurs who are seeking to advance academic research into meaningful medicine."
“The enthusiasm to open up the Cambridge/Boston investment, start-up, and biotech ecosystem to great scientists and ideas from around the country and world is part of what makes our ecosystem great. We are excited that S2S is playing an ongoing leadership role in driving that,” said Joshua Resnick, Managing Director at RA Capital.
“S2S showcases innovative, clinically-relevant academic research in a remarkable and collaborative forum that attracts leading venture investors and pharma executives to this one-day event in Boston. The goal of events like S2S is to accelerate the translation of innovative discoveries made by some of the world’s preeminent researchers from basic research to the bedside,” said Bill Harrington, Managing Partner at Osage University Partners.
The scientific presenters were selected by an advisory group of experienced biotech investors. S2S received over 175 presentation submissions from 64 institutions across 3 continents and narrowed the presenting group down to 12. These 12 selected researchers and first-time entrepreneurs then received hands-on coaching and feedback on their scientific translation and drug development plans through a mentorship program, powered by MassCONNECT. Mentors included S2S Advisors and other industry experts from the Boston biotech ecosystem.
The S2S presenters are:
- Steven J. Ackerman, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Vadim Gaponenko, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, developing a novel CCR3-biased antagonist nanoparticle therapeutic for asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis.
- Michelle Arkin, Professor, University of California, San Francisco, harnessing the chaperone 14-3-3 to target transcription factors and beat breast cancer.
- Kambez Benam, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Denver, developing novel host-targeting anti-influenza therapeutics.
- Michael Demetriou, Professor, University of California Irvine, developing a novel immunotherapy to kill diverse cancer types with a single agent.
- Gerald Dorn II, Professor, Washington University in St. Louis, developing mitofusin agonists for peripheral nerve disease.
- Christiane Ferran, Professor, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, developing a novel therapy to achieve glycemic control.
- William Hawkins, Professor, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developing a two domain anti-cancer therapeutic providing three advantageous properties.
- Louise Hecker, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, developing a NOX4 inhibitor for fibrosis.
- Caroline Le Poole, Professor, Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University, developing a modified heat shock protein (HSP70I) based treatment of vitiligo.
- David McCormick, President, IIT Research Institute and Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, developing novel agents to treat sleep-disordered breathing (SDB; sleep apnea).
- Mukesh K. Nyati, Associate Professor, University of Michigan, developing DGD1202 for EGFR-TKI resistant lung cancers.
- Philip Reigan, Associate Professor, University of Colorado, targeting WEE1 kinase for brain tumor treatment.
S2S’s advisors are Ben Auspitz, Partner at F-Prime Capital; Mark Barrett, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Frazier Healthcare Partners, Inc.; Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture; Abbie Celniker, Partner at Third Rock Ventures; John Evans, Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners; Meredith Fisher, Partner at Partners Innovation Fund; Brian Gallagher, Partner at Abingworth; Kevin Gauthier, Audit Partner at Deloitte; Jean George, General Partner at Lightstone Ventures; Bill Harrington, Managing Partner at Osage University Partners; Craig Johnstone, COO at Evotec; Marian Nakada, Vice President of Venture Investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.; Amir Nashat, Managing Partner at Polaris Partners; Kush Parmar, Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures; Joshua Resnick, Managing Director at RA Capital Management; Otello Stampacchia, Managing Director, Omega Funds; and Stacie Weninger, President of FBRI.
For more information, please visit www.science2startup.com.
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading biotech
venture capital firm. With the goal of doing well by doing good, we have
been building breakthrough biotech startups for over 25 years. We work
side by side with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs to translate
high impact science into medicines for patients. Our seed-led venture
creation strategy rigorously selects and focuses investment on the most
compelling opportunities to build scalable businesses and realize value.
For more information, please visit www.atlasventure.com.
About F-Prime Capital
F-Prime Capital is a global venture
capital firm investing in life sciences, healthcare, and technology.
Since 1969, F-Prime has worked closely with entrepreneurs and academics
to create innovative solutions to some of the world's most significant
challenges in healthcare and technology. For more information, please
visit fprimecapital.com.
About RA Capital Management
RA Capital is a multi-stage
investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and
private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs,
medical devices, and diagnostics. The flexibility of its strategy allows
RA Capital to provide seed funding to startups and to lead private, IPO,
and follow-on financings for its portfolio companies, both facilitating
the crossover process and allowing management teams to drive value
creation with fewer capital concerns from inception through
commercialization. For more information, please visit www.racap.com.
About Osage University Partners
Osage
University Partners (OUP) is a venture capital firm focused on
investing in startups that are commercializing pioneering university
technologies. OUP partners with top research universities to invest in
their most innovative startups, and OUP shares its investment profit
with its partner institutions. The firm invests in software, hardware,
and life science companies at all stages of company development. OUP has
partnered with 100 universities, including 39 of the top 50 U.S.
institutions by research expenditures, and has invested in over 90 of
their spinouts. OUP is part of a family of investment funds within Osage
Partners, which is based in the Philadelphia area and manages in excess
of $800 million. For more information, visit oup.vc.
