Biolocity 2022

INNOVATION

Biolocity grew from the successful five-year pilot of the Coulter Translational Fund. The program uses an integrated approach to accelerate the development and commercialization of promising innovations from faculty members at Emory University and Georgia Tech. Biolocity provides a combination of funding, project management, and consulting resources to technologies, diagnostics, and therapies that address unmet clinical needs and have compelling commercial appeal.

The Biolocity approach encompasses three components:

• Biolocity U – educational resources focused on life-science commercialization, including consultations, workshops, internships, and legal office hours.

• Biolocity Fund – more than $1.5 million in funding available each year to Emory and Georgia Tech innovations through a multistage, competitive application process.

• Biolocity Launch – active project management and formal coordination with the life-sciences commercialization ecosystem for Biolocity Fund awardees.

Completing the Team

April Heard joined Biolocity as program and operations manager in spring 2022 followed in short order by a new associate director, Harry Gerard.

Heard provides program planning and implemen tation of Biolocity’s funding cycle activities and tracks project budgets, progress, and metrics. She brings more than 15 years of operational management experience to the program. Already, Heard has proved adept at helping project teams refine their story and relay it in a way that resonates with their target audiences.

Gerard provides leadership, operational planning, compliance, management, and supervision of activities associated with Lab2Launch, a new coworking laboratory space to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. He serves as a navigator, mentor, and advocate for faculty-based startups. Gerard holds a master's degree in biomedical sciences and is passionate about inclusive innovation.

Biolocity-Funded Projects by Category

2015-PRESENT

Device, 32%

Therapeutics, 30%

Drug Delivery, 17%

Software/ Health IT, 15%

Diagnostics, 4%

Cell Manufacturing, 2%

Our 2022-23 Cohort

ATHENA | Athena is an early-stage cell therapy company developing a mesothelin-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell product for the treatment of mesothelioma and other mesothelin expressing solid tumors. Principal Investigator: Crystal Paulos, Ph.D., Emory University

BYSTRO BY REVXON | A search engine for your lifesciences data. Principal Investigator: Thomas Wingo, M.D., Emory University

DEXAPATCH | Low-swelling, steroid-releasing, implantable hydrogel platform to reduce post-operative inflammation in tight surgical spaces. Principal Investigators: Andrés Garcia, Ph.D., Georgia Tech; Adam Klein, M.D., Daniel Refai, M.D., Stephen Linderman, M.D., Ph.D., Emory University

MAGTRACK | MagTrack is a wearable alternative controller that simplifies power wheelchair driving and the control of digital devices for people living with tetraplegia. Principal Investigators: Nordine Sebhki, Ph.D., and Omer Inan, Ph.D., Georgia Tech

ORALLY BIOAVAILABLE CXCR4 ANTAGONISTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER | Best-in-class orally bioavailable CXCR4 antagonists heat up solid tumors. Principal Inves tigators: Dennis Liotta, Ph.D., Eric Miller, Ph.D., Haydn Kissick, Ph.D., and John Petros, M.D., Emory University

PROLYMPH NANO | Drug delivery technology unlocks new market opportunities by targeting the lymphatic system.

Principal Investigator: Susan Thomas, Ph.D., Georgia Tech

Heard

Gerard

“Biolocity was incredibly helpful. This funding allowed us to scale up our lead molecule [and] collect critical de-risking data for our projects, guiding us on the types of experiments to perform and informing us on pharma partnerships and startup considerations.”

Eric Ortlund, Ph.D. PROFESSOR, EMORY DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY

“[Biolocity] gave us the time we needed to do market research and to grow as entrepreneurs. ...

We also did key technical work that required intense focus and time, which ultimately led to the successful fabrication workflows we are developing now. Without Biolocity, we would not be where we are. Period.”

Mason Chilmonczyk, Ph.D. CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, ANDSON BIOTECH, INC.

Success Stories

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted 501(k) clearance to ANGIOCLOUD to begin marketing its cloud-based software for clinicians. The company’s platform enables 3D visualization and measurement of cerebral blood vessels to help neurologists with diagnosis and preoperative planning. The company, co-founded by Frank Tong in the Emory Department of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, was part of Biolocity’s first cohort in 2015-16. The underlying technol ogy for AngioCloud’s service was developed at Emory by Tong, Leandro Gryngarten, Marina Piccinelli, and Alessandro Veneziani.

Famed startup accelerator Y Combinator invested in ANDSON BIOTECH in January 2022 as part of its W2022 batch. Andson helps pharmaceutical companies quickly, accurately detect and measure chemicals during their drug development and quality control processes. Spun out of Georgia Tech by postdoctoral research Mason Chilmon czyk and Professor Andrei Fedorov, the company’s technology cuts traditional mass spectrometry time from hours or days to minutes.

Biolocity portfolio companies CELLFE and AGRITHERA presented their pitches at the Coulter Investment Forum in April 2022 alongside other early stage biotech companies. CellFE, funded by Biolocity in 2016, has developed a scalable, high-throughput microfluidic device for the efficient delivery of gene-editing molecules into cells. Agrithera is developing cannabidiol (CBD) prodrugs to treat epilepsy without the typical pharmacological drawbacks. The company was part of the 2021 Biolocity cohort.

Top: Mason Chilmonczyk in the lab. (PHOTO: ROB FELT)

Middle: Cerebral blood vessels.

Bottom: CellFE high-throughput microfluidic technology (PHOTO COURTESY: CELLFE)

63 Wallace

Coulter

Meet Our Experts in Residence

Biolocity taps the expertise of consultants across a wide range of disciplines to guide funded teams on project-specific needs. The Experts in Residence actively participate in project meetings within their specialty area, offering teams strategic insights to help leverage their commercialization potential. Our experts consult on everything from business, strategy, and product development to legal and regulatory issues.

Our current experts include:

KEYTON WEISSINGER | For more than two decades, Keyton Weissinger has been creating and growing technology companies. He founded Hoteltools, the first cloud-based hotel property management system, selling in 2001 to Radiant Systems, which is now owned by NCR. Then he joined Dialog Medical as vice president of technical operations and became vice president of innovation at Standard Register when it acquired Dialog, leading all healthcare technology product strategy until Standard Register’s own acquisition in 2018. Weissinger most recently co-founded Copient Health. He’s also a mentor for healthcare startups at Tulsa Innovation Labs.

MANUEL KINGSLEY | An expert in medical technology evaluation and commercialization, Manuel Kingsley has worked for McKinsey & Company in mergers and acquisition and developing growth strategies. His experience includes leadership roles in product development, new market assessment, strategy, operations, and mergers and acquisitions at Baxter Healthcare, Edwards Life Sciences, and CR Bard.

RIFAT “RIF” PAMUKCU, M.D. | Rifat “Rif” Pamukcu is CEO of Midway Pharmaceuticals and managing partner of RxMP Therapeutics and Mobius Innovations. With more than 110 academic publications and 150+ patents, Pamukcu is regularly featured in the popular media. As founder and chief science officer of Cell Pathways, he raised more than $140 million and took the company public on the NASDAQ exchange. Pamukcu also serves on the boards of Atrin Pharmaceuticals and Midway Animal Health.

BRIAN WALSH | Brian Walsh has built a career as a global technology and medical industry executive with expertise in general management, operations, and marketing. He has demonstrated commercialization skills in a variety of healthcare technologies and applications, including urology, surgery, orthopedics, oncology, imaging, lasers, and software. Walsh’s insight helps firms commercialize complex solutions to address unmet business, customer, and clinical needs.

Yogi Patel, Ph.D. CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, FOCUSED CRYO, INC.

“This program helped us turn our idea into an actual company with legs. It gave us the confidence to believe that we could really turn this into a successful product and company.”

Internship Program Develops A New Generation of Innovators

Biolocity’s internship program is designed to develop aspiring health technology professionals’ ability to conduct in-depth market diligence for early stage technologies. Interns work with the Biolocity team over a six-month period to support Biolocity’s diligence process for funding proposals.

“Working with Biolocity ignited a desire to seriously consider branching out from my original short-term career goal of medtech research and development and consider positions in venture groups within academic medical centers and global medical device firms,” said Kyle Cowdrick, a Ph.D. student in the Coulter Department. “I think my background, now enhanced by Biolocity, uniquely positions me to add a lot of value quickly to such a group internally as well as externally to faculty and student innovators or strategic partners.”

Since 2020, Biolocity has trained 23 interns from 10 departments across three campuses. The hands-on, immersive experience teaches them to validate unmet

clinical needs, identify and formulate technology value propositions, create interview guides and conduct primary market interviews, and perform top-down and bottom-up market sizing.

Interns also learn to assess competitive landscapes, determine strategic positioning for early stage technol ogies, and identify key risks of commercialization. Along the way, they hone their writing skills for a scientifically literate business audience, and they get to network with and learn from seasoned professionals, including the Biolocity Oversight Committee.

“Biolocity was an engaging way to meet other students with similar interests and goals and grow my network,” said Nada Boualam, an Emory health policy and management Ph.D. student. “I particularly enjoyed the pitch meeting and hearing how the board thought about what technologies to fund. The experience gave me a small taste of what an investing or tech commer cialization career would look like.”

Keno Ogelohwohor

Kyle Cowdrick

Grayson Goss

Reece WilliamsCassandra Tom

Jonathan ChenArthan Bhatt

Nada Boualam Melissa Cadena