The Newsletter of the MTTC for the Massachusetts
entrepreneur & tech transfer community
February 15, 2017
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Welcome
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Dear MATTO Members and Friends,
Massachusetts has many resources available to entrepreneurs and their start-up companies. One of the newest is being offered by The Forsyth Institute and their
Entrepreneurial Science Center (FESC) which will support Forsyth-based technology start-up companies and nurture new companies in the space. The FESC provides lab and office space to entrepreneurs, as well as support for grant pursuit, outside corporate sponsorship and access to Forsyth's "Entrepreneurs in Residence."
Please also make sure that you review the section below on
Funding Opportunities which includes information on grants, competitions and subsidized spaces for start-ups.
Several MATTO Members are working with the National Academy of Innovators on their annual conference which will be held for the first time in Boston on April 5-7. For the first time the conference will also include a
Student Innovation Showcase.
And finally, congratulations to Chris Noble (MIT) and Marc Sedam (UNH) both strong MATTO supporters and newly elected members of the board of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). Their membership on this board will ensure that MATTO members continue to be represented at the highest levels at AUTM - which represents the interests of the tech transfer community internationally.
The MTTC Team - Abi, Julia, Michele and Barbara
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MTTC Update
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MATTO Seminar on February 22, 2017: "The View from the Corner Office"
When
: February 22, 2017 3:30pm-5:00 pm
Where: Havana Room, 5th Floor, Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, Cambridge, 02142
At this MATTO Seminar, three technology commercialization leaders heading up local tech transfer offices will talk about their current jobs, how the directorship job has changed from the time they first entered the field and how they see academic technology transfer changing in the future. Our panelists will also talk about what their bosses want from them, how the composition of their office is changing with the changing duties of the tech transfer office, and how they work with the commercialization ecosystem both inside their institutions and in the region.
Panelists:
- Christopher Coburn, Chief Innovation Officer, Partners HealthCare
- Lesley Millar-Nicholson, Director of Technology Licensing Office, MIT
- Marc Sedam, Managing Director of UNHInnovation and Associate Vice Provost for Innovation and New Ventures, UNH
Moderator
: Doug Banks, Executive Editor, Boston Business Journal
The seminar is free but you have to register on this
link
Three Upcoming MTTC Events
The 13th Early-Stage Life Sciences Conference
When: April 5, 2017 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Merck Research Laboratories, 33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115
The 13th Early-Stage Life Sciences Conference is a showcase for life sciences technologies developed at the universities, research institutions, and hospitals of New England and for recently formed companies. The Forum is an opportunity for these companies and researchers to present to an audience of angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate investors. Companies that have presented at our first twelve Early Stage Life Sciences Conferences have raised over $250 million in new investments.
Applications to present and/ or exhibit must be submitted by February 27, 2017 to [email protected].
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Food Technology Forum 2017
When: May 2, 2017 11:30am-7:00pm
Where: The University of Massachusetts Club, One Beacon Street, 32nd Floor, Boston, MA, 02108
New England is well known for its cod, lobster, clam chowder and Fluff... but the labs of the universities and hospitals of New England have always undertaken significant research into the creation of new foods, as well as food processing, storage and safety technologies. This Forum will showcase research discoveries and newly formed companies that are working on food and food related technologies.
The event program will include a keynote, experts on industry trends and needs, presentations by emerging companies, a poster session and networking reception. Applications to Present and/or Exhibit must be submitted by March 31, 2017 to [email protected]
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
The 10th Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation (MALSI) Day
When: June 1, 2017
Where: Harvard Club, 374 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
MALSI Day is the biggest day for life sciences startups and innovation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is a high-energy, hands-on event which brings together scientific and business leaders to mingle with scientists, post-docs, professors, entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists.
The conference features Keynotes, Panels, Innovators' Marketplace, Networking Reception with leading life sciences CEO's , and Poster Competition.
It is the flagship event of life sciences in Massachusetts, jointly and actively put together by all the major organizations that are involved in starting and supporting the life sciences start-up ecosystem in the Commonwealth.
The Poster Competition - cash prizes for 3 best posters!
Application to Exhibit must be submitted by May 8, 2017
to
[email protected].
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
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Funding Opportunities
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M2D2 $100K Challenge 2017
Application Deadline February 20, 2017
The University of Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) is pleased to launch the 6th Annual M2D2 $100K Challenge, an opportunity designed to showcase the innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit of seed and early-stage medical device and biotech companies. The M2D2 $100K Challenge Program is sponsored in partnership with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Boston Scientific, Mintz Levin, R&Q (Regulatory & Quality Solutions LLC), MPR Product Development and Omni Components.
The M2D2 $100K Challenge will award valuable in-kind mentoring and development services provided by the program sponsors to selected finalist companies. Applicants from across the nation and beyond are invited to participate, but should clearly indicate their intent to leverage the resources provided as awards in the competition.
SunRISE TechBridge Challenge II: Call for Applications for Realizing Innovation in Solar Energy
Round 1 for Applications - apply by March 15, 2017
SunRISE TechBridge Challenge II: Realizing Innovation in Solar Energy is presented by Fraunhofer TechBridge (a program of Fraunhofer CSE), in partnership with DSM, a global, science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, and Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States. They are seeking innovative solutions to improve the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, resulting in a lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and broader deployment of affordable PV.
Selected teams are eligible to win one or more of the following awards:
- Up to $25,000 in technical validation services from the world-renowned Fraunhofer R&D network;
- Greentown Launch, a 6-month structured acceleration program for solar startups at Greentown Labs, including valuable tools, products, and services;
- Partnership and/or a project with DSM; and
- Venture funding from DSM.
See more information and apply
here.
Massachusetts Ramp-up Program (MassRamp)
Through MassRamp, $3 million of follow-on funding is available to promising early-stage life sciences companies that have been awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR).
MassRamp leverages federal resources by providing supplemental funding for companies who have been awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Federal Grants / Contracts
Applications to the program are due no later than Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 12:00 p.m.
The DOD is seeking innovators
The DOD is actively seeking private-sector innovators to address national security and warfighter needs. The Defense Innovation Summit is a unique opportunity for Universities to connect with our nation's highest concentration of DOD innovation and acquisition officers in Science & Technology. The Defense Innovation Summit is co-located with the Fall National SBIR/STTR Summit, providing one-on-one meetings with program leadership.
Innovation Interests: Energy, Cyber, Medical, Materials, Sensors, Systems, Space
If you are interested in showcasing your university and innovation portfolio to key DOD Innovation Prospectors, please respond to Derek Mayer at 512-800-9796 or
[email protected]
MassTLC MassDevelopment Advanced Manufacturing Futures Program Grant
provides forums for startups and scaling companies to meet potential manufacturing partners and supply chain vendors.
MassTLCs
Advanced Manufacturing Futures Fund Program's goal: to help robotics, IoT and hardware start-ups and scale-ups grow and commercialize their products by connecting them with the local manufacturers and supply chain. These grant funds will help community by providing the knowledge and resources they need to bring great ideas to great products - Made in Massachusetts.
Events are being planned in Springfield on March 2 and at WPI in Worcester on March 16.
2017 MassVentures START
Up to $3 million in funding is available for Massachusetts SBIR Phase II companies
The RFP will be posted March 1 on the MassVentures website and applications are due April 3.
MassVentures START program will be hosting an information session for potential applicants.
When: Thursday March 9, 2017 10 - 11:30 am
Where: Triton Systems, Inc., 200 Turnpike Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824
RSVP: [email protected]
For more information about SBIR Targeted Technologies visit
MLSC 2017 Internship Challenge
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is excited to announce the launch of the 2017 Internship Challenge. This year-round workforce development program focuses on enhancing the talent pipeline for Massachusetts life sciences companies by providing students and recent college graduates with hands-on work experience through internship opportunities at life sciences companies.
This round of the program will run from May 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018. Participating companies will be given access to a robust, searchable database of hundreds of resumes submitted by students and recent graduates. Candidates are then hired as interns and paid directly by companies. Upon conclusion of the internship, the MLSC reimburses each company for intern stipends.
If you are interested in either hosting an intern or becoming one through the Internship Challenge, please visit
If you have any questions after reviewing the information posted, please contact
[email protected].
Available Incubator Space
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Spin-off and Start-up News
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Cocoon Biotech Announces Partnership with Camargo Pharmaceutical Services for Development Programs
Cocoon Biotech, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on utilizing its silk protein-based drug delivery technology for the development of formulations to treat osteoarthritis and other conditions for which many patients find existing treatments to be unsatisfactory. Cocoon announced today that it has entered into service agreements with Camargo Pharmaceutical Services, LLC to provide end-to-end regulatory consulting and strategic development services for Cocoon's pipeline of products initially developed for the treatment of osteoarthritis. The first joint program will involve biocompatible silk fibroin loaded with a small molecule therapeutic, and will include pre-Investigational New Drug (pre-IND) meeting planning and preparations through to New Drug Application (NDA) submissions.
For more information, please visit www.cocoonbiotech.com.
Frequency, Led by MIT's Langer, Aims to Fight Hearing Loss With Drugs
Concerts, power tools, screeching subway trains-they are among the many loud noises that can cause hearing loss by killing off the hair cells in our inner ear that pick up sounds.
A new Cambridge, MA-based biotech, founded by famed MIT researcher Bob Langer and Harvard Medical School's Jeff Karp (a 2008 MTTC Tech Development Awardee) believes it has drugs that can stimulate dormant cells in the inner ear, which could in turn help
regenerate hair cells that would improve hearing in a person who's lost it. Frequency Therapeutics, a stealthy company founded in 2015 and backed by angel investors and "super angels," announced itself and its lead...
Read more
Paragonix Technologies, Inc., and MBA Medical Announce Distribution Agreement of Paragonix SherpaPak⢠Organ Transport Systems
Paragonix Technologies, Inc., announced today that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with MBA Medical to market Paragonix Technologies' SherpaPak⢠Cardiac and Kidney Transport Systems, innovative static hypothermic preservation and transport devices for donor organs, in leading transplant centers in the Southern United States.
Read more
Unilever to buy Cambridge beauty-tech company co-owned by Jennifer Aniston
Living Proof, a beauty products company co-founded by MIT professor Robert Langer, will be acquired by Unilever, the consumer product giant.
Read more
Organ-On-A-Chip Startup, Emulate, Grabs $45M to Shake Up Drug Discovery
Boston-based Emulate, a winner at MALSI Day's 2012 poster competition, announced it has tacked on another $17 million in venture financing, bringing its total Series B venture round to $45 million. The company, founded with a $12 million investment in July 2014, originally spun out of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.
Read more
$25 Million Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Investigators at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC) and Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) - a shared resource between Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), together with the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine's Brain Injury Outcomes (BIOS) Division and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), won a seven-year, $25 million award from NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to form one of only three new national Trial Innovation Centers (TICs) that will provide high-quality design and operational support to investigators conducting multi-center clinical trials.
Massachusetts Partners in Nation's First Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Innovation Institute
Educational and research institutions participating include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Quincy College, UMass Lowell, UMass Medical School, and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), along with a consortium of small, medium, and large biopharmaceutical industry partners from across the supply chain.
The $250 million Institute is a national public-private partnership, awarded through Manufacturing USA, a federally-authorized network of manufacturing innovation institutes. Federal matching funds for the institute will be provided by the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The public-private partnership will develop and commercialize new advanced manufacturing technologies while training a skilled workforce.
Read more
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| Events of Interest |
AUTM 2017 Annual Meeting
When: March 12-15, 2017
Where
: The Diplomat Beach Resort, Hollywood, Florida USA
The AUTM Annual Meeting is the gold standard for professional development in technology transfer. In one location, attendees network with industry, investors, and nearly every academic research institution in the world. If you are responsible for marketing, valuation, protecting, licensing or negotiating university intellectual property, or, you are searching for intellectual property to license, the 2017 AUTM Annual Meeting in Hollywood, Florida USA is the place to be.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambrdge: Connected Things 2017
When
: March 13, 2017
Where
: MIT Media Lab
The first connected products (M2M/IoT) have been rolled out. What hurdles to broader adoption remain?
The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge will gather at the MIT Media Lab for Connected Things 2017 to explore how to accelerate the adoption of the Internet of Things and its impact.
In a jam-packed day, we'll discuss the key issues that need to be addressed to accelerate adoption of IoT for people, places, and things such as: data governance, privacy and security, standards, accelerating development/deployment, change management, and more.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Venture Fast Track: Fundraising Bootcamp for Early Stage Entrepreneurs & Meet 30+ Boston Investors
When
: March 14th, 2017
Where
: Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP
The Capital Network's Fast Track Boot Camp for Early Stage Entrepreneurs, is an intensive, interactive full-day seminar designed to provide entrepreneurs and innovators an in-depth understanding of what it takes to raise early stage capital. You will leave the Venture Fast Track with concrete materials and knowledge that will help you move your company forward through the various stages of the fundraising process, and with a new network of mentors and peers from which to draw.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Advanced Biomanufacturing Symposium
When
: March 27, 2017 - March 28, 2017, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Where
: Rubin Campus Center, 100 Institute Road
Worcester Polytechnic Institute will hold its second annual Advanced Biomanufacturing Symposium, a two-day, in-depth event that will focus on the technology and processes of continuous biomanufacturing and the challenges of making novel cell and regenerative tissue therapies that are approaching the clinic.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
2017 MassBio Annual Meeting
When
: March 30, 2017 - March 31, 2017, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where
: Royal Sonesta Boston, 40 Edwin Land Boulevard
The MassBio Annual Meeting focuses on the timeliest and critical challenges facing the Massachusetts life sciences industry. The meeting program is designed by a steering committee of industry leaders and the agenda encompasses keynote presentations, panel discussions, interactive working sessions and extensive networking opportunities. The MassBio Annual Meeting also includes the Innovative Leadership Award Luncheon, which honors an industry leader for his or her contribution to moving the life sciences industry forward.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
NewCo Boston: A Business Festival
When:
April 4 - 6, 2017
Where:
Boston, MA
Founded in 2012 by industry veteran John Battelle, NewCo is a live business festival and media platform with a unique twist. Its events are a mashup of a business conference and an artist's open studio - with the vibe of a music festival. NewCo started in San Francisco and has grown to 16 city festivals around the globe. And now, with local partner MassTLC, we are coming back to Boston!
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
When
: April 5-7, 2017
Where
: Hyatt Regency, Boston, MA
GTCbio's Stem Cell Summit provides cutting-edge information on developments in all areas of stem cell research from bench to bedside, including the biology, medicine, applications, regulations, product development, and the commercialization of stem cells.
The Stem Cell Summit agenda consists of two back-to-back conferences over three days:14th Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine Conference and 6th Stem Cell Product Development & Commercialization Conference.
Network with with speakers from Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Mesoblast, Pfizer, Celgene, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, BioTime, ViaCyte, CIRM, Athersys and many more at this intimate forum to discuss the future of stem cell therapy.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
The 6th NAI annual conference and Student Innovation Showcase
When
: April 5-7, 2017
Where
: Boston Marriott Long Wharf, 296 State St, Boston, MA 02109
The NAI Annual Conference is held each spring and features stimulating presentations and networking with renowned inventors from across the U.S. and around the world. The meeting serves as an arena where innovation and entrepreneurship in the academic world, leading to local and national economic development is recognized, honored and cultivated.
The 2017 focus is Recognizing Pillars of Academic Innovation. During the three days of events we will be discussing issues related to public policy and industry partnerships, highlighting
NAI Fellows and entrepreneurial faculty, and best practices in mentoring the next generation of academic innovators.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
The NAI Student Innovation Showcase
The NAI Student Innovation Showcase is designed to feature the inventions from outstanding student led teams across all disciplines at the annual meeting, and to recognize and strengthen the culture of inventorship for the next generation.
Selected teams will be invited to present their inventions at the 6th Annual Conference of the NAI on April 7, 2017 in Boston, MA and have the opportunity to network with leading innovators from around the world. Winning teams will also be matched with an NAI Fellow, an expert in their field, who will provide mentorship in the potential commercialization process for their technology.
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MTTC is based at UMass and facilitates technology transfer from all research institutions, public and private, in the Commonwealth. The Center is financially supported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and MTDC. www.mttc.org MATTO is the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices www.masstechtransfer.org
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