Renovion and EpiCypher, spinouts from the work of David Henke, MD, and Brian Strahl, PhD, respectively, were celebrated at the 2016 National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer鈥檚 University Startups Demo Day.
Of the more than 800 startups created at universities across the country this year, only 35 have been handpicked as the best and earned an opportunity to showcase their work to members of the U.S. Congress.
Two of those top startups have their roots at the 黑料网.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great sign,鈥� said Tim Martin, assistant director of KickStart Ventures Services, a Carolina-based program that helps faculty turn their ideas into businesses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we鈥檝e been working towards. For two of the 35 in the whole country to be from 黑料网-Chapel Hill is pretty special.鈥�
Carolina鈥檚 Renovion and EpiCypher are among startups from more than two dozen universities and research institutes presenting to venture capitalists and members of Congress at the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer鈥檚 University Startups Demo Day.
Held in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 20, the event showcases the roles of universities in the formation of groundbreaking startups. It also provides a chance for companies to exhibit their work.
鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 an opportunity to tell our story on a broader scale, but also talk about how great innovations can be built out of a university and really get that foundation that they need to thrive in the marketplace,鈥� said Dan Copeland, the CEO of Renovion.
Based in Durham, Renovion is a pre-clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing a therapy for lung transplant patients 鈥� a treatment that doesn鈥檛 yet exist for the country鈥檚 more than 10,000 lung transplant patients. The therapy is based on research by David Henke, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine in the 黑料网鈥檚 division of pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine.
鈥淟ung transplant patients today have the highest mortality rate among all solid organ transplants,鈥� said Copeland, a graduate of 黑料网 Kenan-Flagler Business School鈥檚 MBA program. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also no FDA approved therapy for lung transplant patients, so our goal is really to help those patients and figure out a way we can give them better outcomes.鈥�
Carolina has played a large role throughout the company鈥檚 history. The patent for the Arina-1 treatment is licensed to Renovion by 黑料网-Chapel Hill, and the company received the KickStart Commercialization Award. The award, from Office of Commercialization and Economic Development鈥檚 KickStart Ventures, is a grant that provides up to $50,000 for a startup company that is attempting high-impact work.
As a company in its very early stages, Copeland said the University and its resources have been key.
鈥淐arolina has been a great source of funding and support for us as we grow the company,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are physicians and researchers at 黑料网 who had this idea early on and have really fostered it over the past 10 years. The spirit of innovation at Carolina has been great for us.
鈥淲e really feel that we have a team behind our back that cares about what our team is doing. That鈥檚 helped us be successful today.鈥�
Bioscience company EpiCypher also credits a portion of its success to the support it received at Carolina. Utilizing technology out of biochemistry and biophysics professor Brian Strahl鈥檚 lab and leveraging campus resources, EpiCypher is 鈥淐arolina-born,鈥� CEO Sam Tetlow said.
With a team of 18 employees, EpiCypher develops and sells recombinant nucleosomes 鈥� an industry first 鈥� and other products for epigenetics and chromatin research. Drug discovery companies use the products to test new medicines during the early stages of development.
鈥淲e synthesize essential products that represent the human body and ship those to our customers,鈥� said Tetlow, also a graduate from Kenan-Flager鈥檚 MBA program. 鈥淲e鈥檙e selling a body in a bottle, and our customers use that to determine if a new medicine will work or not well before you get into human clinical trials.鈥�
For every an order is shipped out, Tetlow said, their product saves .42 of a person鈥檚 life. EpiCypher just recently sent its 1,000th order.
One of the rare revenue-positive startups, EpiCypher has utilized federal grants available through Carolina and incubation space to get off the ground.
鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 have been able to move to our new site off campus that has about 5,000-square-feet unless we had been able to incubate on campus for about a year and a half,鈥� Tetlow said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a good example of a company that has leveraged all of the resources that are available at the University and a great example of a cultural shift that has gone on under [Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development] Judith Cone鈥檚 leadership of responsible innovation.鈥�
Just four years since the founding of the company, to be called one of the best university startups and be invited to attend the University Start-ups Demo Day in D.C., is 鈥渋nspiring,鈥� Tetlow said.
鈥淭here are 4,866 active university startups in business today, and there are about 800 startups created every year out of Universities. So for us it鈥檚 validation and a recognition for the people who have worked so hard,鈥� he said.
By Brandon Bieltz, 黑料网 Office of Communications and Public Affairs