With the success of our previous post introducing the A-B of our Washington start-up zone we are delighted to bring you the C-E with a few more companies you may know. If you are considering joining the start-up zone you can either make an application here or contact isabella.aung@terrapinn.com for queries or more details.
If your application is successful, you will receive the following benefits:
- 1m wall space in the Start-up Zone
- 2 passes to the conference and exhibition
- Branding and marketing materials
- Access to our networking portal
Further details can be found on the Congress website; don’t delay as spaces are limited!
Who is already in the zone?
CaroGen Corporation
Founded by Drs. Bijan Almassian, Valerian Nakaar, Michael Robek, and John Rose. Develops and commercialises novel immunotherapy approaches using the virus-like vesicle (VLV) platform. This patented platform was invented by Professor John Rose at Yale University School of Medicine and exclusively licensed to CaroGen. It relies on in vitro evolved artificial virus (enveloped self-amplifying mRNA) harnessing the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from an alphavirus and the glycoprotein from vesicular stomatitis virus. Intrinsic adjuvant properties, rational design, and application of synthetic biology allow VLV express antigens of choice to induce robust antigen-specific immune responses.
In collaboration with Dr. Robek at Albany Medical Center and Dr. Rose at Yale, CaroGen is developing CARG-201, its lead candidate for immunotherapy of chronic hepatitis B. Furthermore, VLV possess oncolytic activity and may express cytokines, cytokine antagonists, and PD-L1 shRNA to promote Th1 immune responses and reverse immune exhaustion. CaroGen is developing CARG-2020, the lead candidate for immunotherapy and prevention of recurrence of solid tumours. The vision is to create a wave of transformative immunotherapeutics designed to engage the body’s immune system to both recognise and fight off infectious diseases and cancer.
Centivax
Developed a platform technology for broad-spectrum vaccines. The first indication is influenza, where they have achieved breakthrough results in live protection of pigs and ferrets from diverse influenza viruses. This platform and their IP are broadly applicable to many rapidly mutating pathogens: universal vaccines for the coronavirus family and HIV are in preclinical development. Centivax is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, NIH, DoD, US Navy, US Army, NIIMBL, and other organisations.
The team is led by CEO Jacob Glanville, who in 2012 founded and in 2020 sold a successful antibody engineering biotech (Distributed Bio) to Charles River Laboratories for $104M (with no dilutive financing). The team includes members with a combined >150 years of pharma industry experience including 50+ INDs, 4 BLAs, and over 100 discovery programs.
Congruence
The purpose at Congruence is to enhance the clinical and commercial impact of injectable drugs and vaccines that have unsolved, emerging and hard-to-address delivery needs.
The world of injectable drugs is continually evolving, growing and diversifying. These changes continually generate new, compelling drug delivery needs. However, many incumbent drug delivery device companies are not structured or focused in a way that allows them to identify and address these needs adequately. In short, delivery device development has often lagged advances in pharmaceutical science, meaning pharma and biotech companies have sometimes adopted suboptimal delivery solutions for critical therapies.
Their goal is to address this gap. They want to be the company that pharmas and biotechs turn to when they need a knowledgeable device partner that has proactively developed innovative, practical platform solutions. They also want to be responsive, agile and humble enough to continue to anticipate and innovate to address evolving needs.
Duke-NUS Medical School, Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre (ViREMiCS)
Specialising in arboviruses like dengue and Zika virus as well as other emerging pathogens, ViREMiCS aims to accelerate the clinical translation of vaccines and therapeutics by working with academia and industry partners to validate and apply molecular endpoints of safety and immunogenicity. ViREMiCS has established a toolkit of ISO-accredited assays that measure conventional vaccine trial endpoints like binding and neutralising antibody titres, and T-cell response post-vaccination. These assays are tightly integrated with ISO-validated workflows for genomic and proteomic profiling to identify molecular endpoints that are predictive of vaccine safety and immunogenicity.
Collectively, ViREMiCS proposes a seamless framework which encompasses adaptive clinical trial design and application of molecular endpoints for safety and immunogenicity to generate a high-quality evidence base for regulatory decision making to support vaccine licensure.
Elarex
Elarex’s mission is to get more drugs and medicines to the people who need them by helping manufacturers eliminate the dependence of vaccines and biologic drugs on the cold chain. The dependence on the cold chain not only holds back these therapies from making it to hard-to-reach markets, but it relies on expensive infrastructure which can often break down, rendering an entire batch of expensive product ruined.
The stabilisation technology that they have patented will also give an unstable product the chance to make it to market. In some cases, the cold chain is not enough to keep an unstable vaccine or biologic drug viable. The additional stabilisation of their technology can allow this product to make it to market, where it otherwise may never be commercialised.
Elarex evolved out of McMaster University, where experimentation with stabilising vaccines and biologics in pullulan started in 2014. This breakthrough work evolved to include trehalose, and resulted in numerous publications and patents. In 2019, Elarex Inc. was founded to bring this proprietary technology to market in the form of PT120-D. Since then, they have developed XE120-L, a second technology platform specifically for stabilising mRNA-LNPs in liquid.
Engimata
Founded in 2019 to reduce vaccine wastage by developing thermostable adjuvants and vaccines that can be distributed at room temperature. Engimata’s mission is to create a more sustainable world by reducing vaccine wastage, and to save lives by increasing vaccine accessibility.
The platform consists of thermostable nano lipid particles that can be combined with different antigens to make a vaccine. Vaccine wastage in the supply chain due to temperature fluctuations is a major problem that costs billions of dollars every year. Engimata has a patented liposomal platform technology and manufacturing processes that improve vaccine efficiency and enhances vaccine stability, enabling distribution at room temperature and preventing vaccine wastage.
Engimata has developed a thermostable COVID-19 vaccine candidate with good stability at temperatures up to 40°C. Engimata’s patented COVID-19 vaccine is cost-effective, easy to scale up, and simple to manufacture and distribute at room temperature. Engimata is a MIT Sandbox alumni team and has placed as a finalist at the MIT $100K, Stanford BASES product challenge and social e-challenge competitions. In 2021, Engimata received the 2021 Economic Drivers award from the city of Pleasanton, CA.
EpiVax Therapeutics (EVT)
A next generation precision immunotherapy company with an innovative technology for designing highly specific, personalised tumour-targeting immune therapies that can effectively train the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. These customised therapies can be delivered to patients at record speed, promoting optimal outcomes. Animal studies show that EVT therapies are effective and highly immunogenic.
EVT has completed preclinical work and is ready to file IND and start a clinical trial. EVT’s technology is trade secret and IP protected.
Eyam Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics
Eyam’s mission is to design and develop third generation vaccine technologies that create universal coverage and protection through their proprietary Gemini self-amplifying RNA and DNA platform. Leveraging the Jennerator Bioinformatics Platform, they are designing and testing universal vaccines to protect against COVID-19, influenza and others. On the therapeutics front, they are advancing an antibody biologic for the treatment of Leukaemia and lymphoma.
