Presenting Companies
June 2023 Conference
December Companies to be Posted 11/24/2023
Adiposs Ltd a clinical stage Top 100 Swiss life science company developing a disruptive medical imaging product for brown fat called ImageBATTM. ImageBAT-enhanced CT scan predicts the response to immunotherapy, the emerging gold standard of cancer therapy. The Company is raising Series A of $8 M to start phase II clinical development in cancer patients.
Fatty liver disease is the fastest growing epidemic in the US, while 1 in 3 (or 100 million) Americans have fatty liver disease, many are unaware until the disease has progressed to later stages at which time the disease is no longer curable, patient outcomes are poor and healthcare spending can cost up to $1,000,000 per patient. AGED Diagnostics is using genomic innovation to develop the first accurate blood test for liver disease to help physicians keep patients in the monitoring program, reduce the financial burden for health insurers and improve patient outcomes through early detection and intervention.
Antion Biosciences is the world leader in efficient, safe and cost effective Multiplex Cell Engineering technologies for almost any cell type. We are developing cutting-edge allogeneic cell therapies in indications of high unmet medical and technical engineering need for patients who need hope to become reality. Our technology platform allows us to efficiently silence up to 6 different genes and add a CAR or TCR in a Single Plasmid construct, in a single transduction step.
Bexion Pharmaceuticals is a mid-stage clinical company developing life-changing treatments in Oncology and CNS. The company’s lead compound, BXQ-350, is a novel S1P modulator. With our highly experienced biotech leadership team and expertise in Oncology, we are urgently progressing our pipeline to develop life-changing oncology therapies on our path to becoming a leading biotech/pharmaceutical company.
Blue Note Therapeutics is a cancer supportive care company dedicated to easing the burden of cancer and improving outcomes. Blue Note Therapeutics develops oncology supportive care devices in a digital format for broad access, maximum privacy, and personalization. Each device leverages NCI-sponsored interventions for cancer-related anxiety, depression, end-of-life, and fear of cancer recurrence. Products in Blue Note’s pipeline feature asynchronous social communities, artificial intelligence personalization, and interactive instruction. Blue Note’s lead product attune™, a digitized version of a proven in-person intervention for anxiety and depression, is under review at FDA. An abstract containing the results from a recent randomized clinical trial testing the benefits of the Rx-only version of attune was accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago in June 2023.
Boston Immune Technologies and Therapeutics, Inc. (BITT) is a Boston, MA-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing a novel class of antagonist antibodies targeting TNF superfamily receptors for applications in oncology, inflammation, autoimmunity, and infectious disease based on the company’s DOMab™ platform. BITT is initiating clinical trials for BIR2101, its lead candidate, which is a monoclonal antibody that targets tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2). BITT is also developing additional antibodies targeting TNF superfamily receptors for indications in inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. Learn more at: www.bostonimmunetech.com.
Canget BioTekpharma is an innovative drug development company committed to advancing a NEW class of oncology products that eliminate cancer and address multiple mechanisms of drug resistance. Our portfolio of products are the targeted small molecules, not cytotoxic drugs, and our lead drug FL118 is a Triple Target Inhibitor of known drug resistance pathways - DDX5 / USP2a / UbE2T. Our lead product FL118 has demonstrated high efficacy in pancreatic, colorectal, and prostate cancers, and exhibited favorable safety profiles in multiple animal models (mice, rats, dogs).
Cantex is developing azeliragon, an oral inhibitor of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (“RAGE”). Cantex has ongoing phase 2 clinical trials in metastatic pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer, a phase 2/3 clinical trial in hospitalized COVID patients to prevent acute kidney injury and will soon initiate phase 2 clinical trials of azeliragon in newly diagnosed glioblastoma, and in brain metastases in combination with stereotactic radiosurgery. These trials are based on robust pre-clinical data as well as extensive clinical safety information from randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials.
CellVax Therapeutics is a biotech company developing an autologous cancer cell treatment that modifies patients’ cancer cells to behave as antigen-presenting cells, therefore inducing a potent immune response.
Coastar Therapeutics is a preclinical biotech company developing gene therapy and cancer immunotherapy with a systemic delivery and targeting technology. The technology uses purified erythrocyte membrane material to coat therapeutics viruses and nucleic acids, helping them evade immune clearance and be successfully delivered to tumor targets or other disease sites. The Coastar team is solving the problems of immune clearance to enable systemic targeted delivery and repeat dosing, drastically increasing the efficacy and lowering the cost of therapy.
CyGenica is a developer of molecular devices designed to provide assistance in the programmable delivery of anticancer drugs, antibiotics, and gene editing toolboxes directly into the cells. The company's molecular devices cross the membrane bilayer and deliver functional molecules into the cytoplasm or other cellular organelles, enabling pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to create new kinds of anti-cancer drugs which may consist of increased brand lifecycle within them.
EpiVax Therapeutics (EVT) develops personalized cancer immunotherapies that are safe, fast, and can be produced on-demand for any solid tumor, addressing major unmet medical needs in oncology. With >25 years of experience in T cell immune engineering, EVT is equipped to design therapies that elicit a comprehensive (CD4+, CD8+) T cell response while avoiding activation of inhibitory and cross-reactive T cell responses. These customized therapies can be delivered to patients at record speed, promoting optimal outcomes. EVT has entered a strategic collaboration with an established mRNA development and manufacturing company for initiating clinical trials in bladder cancer in 2024.
Geneius Biotechnology is a T cell immunotherapy company focused on therapies for cancer. There is growing evidence for the potential of T cell immunotherapy for successful treatment of cancer patients. Our proprietary approach is distinct and unique from other T cell immunotherapy approaches and promotes the surveillance and destruction of cancer cells by the immune system. Through a transformative academic collaboration we are rapidly translating products from bench to bedside. We are currently developing products for both hematologic and solid cancers through our academic collaboration and expect to start clinical trials by the end of the year.
Jaguar Health, Inc. is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, plant-based, sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals with GI distress, including chronic, debilitating diarrhea. Our crofelemer drug product candidate is the subject of the OnTarget study, an ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for prophylaxis of diarrhea in adult cancer patients receiving targeted therapy. Jaguar Health is the majority shareholder of Napo Therapeutics S.p.A. (f/k/a Napo EU S.p.A.), an Italian corporation established by Jaguar Health in Milan, Italy in 2021 that focuses on the development of rare disease indications of crofelemer and expanding crofelemer access in Europe. Jaguar Animal Health is a tradename of Jaguar Health.
Kintara Therapeutics is a clinical-stage drug development company with a focus on the development of novel cancer therapies for patients with unmet medical needs. Our lead program, VAL-083 for Glioblastoma GBM), is in an international registrational study through the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR). We are expecting topline data from our VAL-083 program in GBM before the end of 2023. We are also looking at other indications including grade 2/3 glioma, Ependymoma (rare brain tumors), DIPG (childhood brain cancer) and ovarian cancer in combination with a PARP inhibitor. We also have a program, REM-001, for Metastatic Cutaneous Breast Cancer (CMBC). We recently received Fast Track Designation from the FDA for REM-001 in CMBC patients. In October 2022 we paused our REM-001 program and hope to restart the program after we receive additional funding.
Kiyatec is disrupting cancer therapy selection through use of the patient’s live cancer cells (i.e., functional precision oncology) to inform patient-specific treatment. As demonstrated in peer-reviewed, prospective clinical publications in glioblastoma (GBM) and ovarian cancer, with clinically meaningful accuracy KIYATEC can predict a patient-specific response to cancer drugs before the patient is ever treated. Our glioma test is in use commercially, informing clinical therapy selection at leading institutions across the US. In addition to cancer testing, our business model generates contract revenue from pharma and biotech companies for our advanced 3D cell culture services to shrink the time and cost for new, better drugs to emerge – see for example our recent press release with AstraZeneca.
LabyRx is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on novel therapeutic vaccines and antibodies directed against our proprietary pan-adenocarcinoma target, labyrinthin. In March 2023, we completed a successful Phase I clinical trial of our cancer treatment vaccine in concert with the University of California NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Davis. Significant life extension was observed, laying the framework for a Phase II clinical trial protocol that has already been approved and is pending before the FDA. Preclinical development of antibody-based anti-adenocarcinoma agents is under way, e.g., human(ized) antibodies, CAR-T/-M.
Levatio Therapeutics is a circular RNA platform company developing next-generation circular RNA therapeutics including neoantigen cancer vaccines and immuno-oncology drugs to treat cancer patients. Levatio Therapeutics has also developed proprietary nanoparticles that can selectively target the tumor microenvironment to enhance antitumor immune responses. Furthermore, Levatio Therapeutics can help strategic partners develop their assets through an open innovation program.
Twenty-three years of research confirms that a tumor, subjected to a tumor treating field (TTField) at the optimal frequency, intensity, angles, and length of time cannot survive and that normal cells will not be harmed. Although the TTField device on the market today (Novocure) is effective and approved for multiple indications, independent research reveals it to be suboptimal. In addition, it is not effective for diffuse metastatic disease. LifeBridge’ s patented Adaptive Tumor Treating Fields Device is built from the ground up to optimize every TTField variable to treat up to 15 types of primary tumors more effectively. In addition, the LifeBridge device is specifically designed to make therapy available to metastatic patients with diffuse disease for the first time. LifeBridge is creating a blue ocean opportunity by providing an effective therapy without side effects for metastatic cancer patients. Our value proposition is survival with a high quality of life.
Lumicell is a privately held company focused on improving surgical outcomes and reducing healthcare costs by utilizing its innovative fluorescence-guided surgical technologies to enable a more complete resection of cancer that may have otherwise been left behind. The company’s first product in development is the Lumicell Direct Visualization System, designed to illuminate residual cancerous tissue within the breast cavity during the initial lumpectomy procedure. Lumicell’s proprietary, pan-oncologic optical imaging agent LUMISIGHT is also being explored across a wide variety of solid tumor indications. For more information, please visit www.lumicell.com.
Metritrack’s Breast Volume Navigator (BVN™) uses small precise sensors at the ultrasound probe and the patient’s skin to continuously associate all ultrasound images and lesions with customized 3D maps of the patient’s breast and axilla. In addition, the display time of the breast lesions is monitored to make sure small cancers cannot escape detection. The system’s accuracy for volume coverage reporting with deformable phantoms was over 95% in the NIH sponsored research study.
NeoTX is a specialty biopharmaceutical company, with a focus on research and development in oncology immunotherapy. With a strong research and development team, our strategy is to build a patented, proprietary and unique product pipeline to capitalize on technologies that NeoTX is developing independently and through collaborative partnerships and license agreements.
Oncoheroes is a pioneering biotech company based in Boston that is solely dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative therapies for children and adolescents with cancer, addressing the urgent need for new treatments in this underserved population. Oncoheroes adopts a comprehensive approach, encompassing drug discovery, clinical development, and strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, foundations, and patient associations. With a strong team of founders with personal experience with childhood cancer and a track record in drug development, Oncoheroes built a multi-asset pipeline establishing itself as a platform for advancing pediatric oncology treatments.
OncoLize develops injectable drug depots to treat rare and deadly tumour diseases. Using thin needles or catheters, we localize the small drug depot inside the solid tumour. While graudally eroding away, the depot slowly releases a range of well-known drugs inside the tumour. This is done at much higher concentrations than ever possible via oral medication or intravenous injections, yet the total load of the drug is limited to the volume of the tumour. The benefits are relevant: better treatment options for the patient and the doctor, with far less side-effects, and at much lower costs. We will start with GBM-tumours in the brain, and add pancreatric, prostate and urinary tract tumours to our portfolio as we develop a range of depots containing different Chemo-drugs.
Osmol is an IND stage biopharma company developing technology licensed from Yale University to prevent chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN is a significant unmet need associated with microtubule-based chemotherapies including taxanes, the most widely used breast cancer treatment. There are no approved treatments for CIPN, leaving oncologist’s only option to reduce the dose or length of chemo treatment, Osmol’s initial focus is in breast cancer where up to 80% of patients develop CIPN. CIPN is driven by the dysregulation of neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS1), a calcium sensor protein that maintains resting calcium concentration and dynamically enhances responses to cellular stimuli. Osmol is developing a novel, patented drug (OSM-0205) to modulate NCS1 function and prevent neuronal damage caused by the off-target effects of chemotherapy.
PAZ Pharma’s therapeutic approach is dual target-selective anticancer drugs aimed at two G protein-coupled receptors, GPR55 and the β2-adrenergic receptor. Our lead drug, PAZ-001, is a competitive inhibitor of GRP55 and a selective and biased agonist of the β2-adrenergic receptor. In animal models of pancreatic cancer, PAZ-001 inhibits tumor growth and spread by reducing expression and function of the HIF-1α and c-Myc oncogenes producing widespread disruption of pro-oncogenic signaling pathways and attenuating glycolytic metabolism. Our compounds act as single agents and synergistically with current standard of care drugs and can be used to simultaneously attack glycolytic and oxidative tumor metabolism when co-administered with metformin.
Perthera is an AI-driven precision oncology decision support software platform for oncologists. Perthera uses the power of multi-omic cancer profiling and the advanced analytics of its proprietary AI-driven Precision Oncology Platform to support oncologist decision-making by providing a Perthera Report with evidence-based, matched, and ranked therapy options, including clinical trials. Perthera then collects and uses patient outcome data to continually inform and refine future treatment options, ensuring that patients get access to the best, personalized therapy options for their cancer at any point in their journey.
Picture Health’s AI software algorithms utilize radiology and pathology images to address unmet clinical needs including immunotherapy treatment selection and on-treatment response monitoring. These software tools incorporate proprietary imaging feature sets from licensed technology developed over nearly a decade with $60M+ of grant funding in the company founder’s academic research lab . Pharmaceutical companies will utilize these algorithms in their drug development process, especially within clinical trials, while clinicians will utilize similar technology as FDA approved Software as a Medical Device “SaMD” tools.
Building on an independent proof of the concept in humans, Pleco Therapeutics is progressing a portfolio of novel first-in-class Plecoid™ therapies that remove the burden of toxic metals within the cancer microenvironment.
Processa is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of Next Generation Chemotherapy drugs.
Qu Biologics, a Phase 2 clinical stage company, has developed a first-in-class immunomodulation platform designed to transform the treatment and prevention of cancer and other chronic inflammatory diseases by restoring the full depth and breadth of immune function in a targeted organ. Qu has completed four Phase 2 clinical studies with compelling efficacy and safety data in ≥ 360 patients, with a safety profile similar to vaccination. Qu’s platform trains innate immunity in a targeted organ to shift the tumor microenvironment from immune suppression to immune activation by restoring multiple important anti-cancer mechanisms simultaneously. Synergy has been demonstrated with all cancer therapies tested to date, including enabling CAR T cell efficacy in solid tumors. Two Phase 2 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled studies are underway in late-stage colon cancer (potential pivotal study with accelerated approval) and immunosenescence, with milestone data anticipated in 2024.
Rakovina Therapeutics’ focus is the development of new cancer treatments based on novel DNA-damage response technologies. The Company has established a pipeline of novel DNA-damage response inhibitors with the goal of advancing one or more drug candidates into human clinical trials and obtaining marketing approval for new cancer therapeutics from Health Canada, the United States Food and Drug Administration and similar international regulatory agencies.
Rapa is a developer of a healthcare technology platform designed to cure cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company is working on a series of technologies focused on curing cancer, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases with the help of cell therapy, helping patients to cure their diseases with medical technology.
SciTech Development is a Specialty Pharmaceutical Company dedicated to advancing breakthrough cancer treatments. We have developed a powerful, new Drug Delivery Platform (SDP) that will revolutionize how safe and promising, yet challenged drugs, can be delivered to kill cancer. SciTech has developed our first, patented drug, ST-001-nanoFenretinide that combines SDP and the drug fenretinide as a broadly applicable anticancer drug. SciTech’s innovations will impact our mission to develop cost-effective therapeutics that deliver transformative clinical outcomes. SciTech Development is in the pre-revenue clinical stage of development.
Starpharma (ASX: SPL, OTCQX: SPHRY) is an innovative Australian biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing and commercializing novel therapeutic products. Starpharma has established itself as a world leader in the field of dendrimer technology, creating a proprietary platform technology called DEP® (Dendrimer Enhanced Product) that enhances the efficacy and safety of drugs, opening new avenues for targeted and controlled drug delivery. Starpharma’s DEP® platform is highly versatile with broad applicability across multiple oncology approaches including chemotherapeutics, antibody-drug conjugates, and radiotheranostics, in addition to antivirals and other non-oncology molecules. Starpharma has established DEP® platform partnerships with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, MSD, and Genentech.
TATUM is a pre-clinical biotech company with a first-in-class platform to crack cancer resistances using advanced multipronged biologics. This new modality provides combination immunotherapy on a single agent and surpass the clearance efficacy of standard of care immunotherapy in hard-to-treat animal tumor models. The company was founded by three scientific entrepreneurs on a mission to tackle major unmet medical needs using synthetic biology and is backed by an advisory board of world-class experts.
Telexos has recently succeeded in developing a unique and patented Liquid Biopsy based technology that ensures, for the first time, the quantitative isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) out of blood samples, paving the road to use this analyte finally for next generation cancer diagnostics. Even, the detection of a single cancer cell in 40bn cells is possible and each individual CTC can be precisely characterized (e.g., drug targets, resistances, etc.). The technology can potentially be applies to all solid tumors and shows already a much higher sensitivity compared to current competitors (breast cancer). First clinical pilot studies also demonstrated a higher sensitivity compared to tissue diagnostics (stratification) and that therapy monitoring (breast cancer patients) works well.
Therabene was founded in 2020 by a team of experts in organic chemistry, translational medicine and clinical and business development. The Company operates at BioIncubator, where it runs a full functional laboratory for early stage drug development. The Company’s main focus is the development of hetero-bifunctional small molecules employing proteolysis-targeted chimeras (PROTAC) technology for use in oncology, more specifically for treatment of triple negative breast (TNB) cancer, pancreatic cancer and other types of cancer with unmet needs.
Thrive Bioscience (thrivebio.com), located in the Greater Boston Area, manufactures and sells to researchers a family of instruments with software tools that provide previously unavailable live cell imaging, analytics, and automation for improved processes, reproducible results, and breakthrough insights. Thrive’s products leverage imaging and extensive software tools to automatically capture and build a database of terabytes of high-resolution images and data. The principal markets are drug discovery, drug development, in vitro fertilization, regenerative medicine, basic research, and infectious disease research.
TibaRay is an early stage company developing a new Radiation Therapy system that will treat cancer patients in a fraction of a second, resulting in dramatically reduced collateral damage to normal tissue leading to better outcomes. The well-patented enabling technological breakthroughs came out of the SLAC National Accelerator Lab and Stanford University Healthcare and uniquely position TibaRay to disrupt this $7B market by curing cancer in a FLASH.
Immunogenic Cell Death has recently been described as the "Optimal Anticancer Therapy." Viska Bio has produced a recombinant fusion protein between a llama antibody targeting EGFR and the enzyme xanthine oxidase. When supplied with its substrate, hypoxanthine, the tumor localized protein produces super oxide in the tumor microenvironment. This results in lysosome leakage and ICD with calreticulin migrating to cell surface.
Xipiro has developed a novel molecule, pNaKtide, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. While anti-VEGF halts new vessel growth in the cancer tissue, it often leads to unintended negative consequences. Anti-VEGF therapy represents a ~$4 billion market in the U.S. alone. pNaKtide, unlike anti-VEGF therapies, targets pathology upstream and has a neovascularization effect without causing ischemia. The science is validated, peer-reviewed and patent protected. Research has also shown pNaKtide has an excellent pharmacokinetic, toxicology and safety profile.