March 2017


NEWSWORTHY
GSK & QB3@953 help launch Telo Therapeutics

Telo Therapeutics, is a start-up biotechnology company co-founded by Joe Costello, PhD, UCSF Professor of Neurological Surgery, and Robert Bell, PhD, a former post doc in Dr. Costello's lab. GSK's Discovery Partnerships with Academia (DPAc) group recently extended its 2015 collaboration agreement with QB3@953, and has now formed a collaboration with Telo Therapeutics to develop a novel precision medicine with the aim to reverse cancer cell immortality. Press release here
NEWCOMERS
GraphWear

GraphWear is replacing blood and urine diagnostic tests with a non-invasive sweat test. Sweat is diluted and ultra-filtered blood and has the same bio molecular information as blood, only in minuscule concentrations. GraphWear has developed a non-invasive flexible sensor that can tap into this information for real-time healthcare monitoring, using nanotechnology.
Inflammatix

Sepsis (a complication of some infections) is associated with half of all in-hospital deaths, and is the single most expensive diagnosis nationally ($24 billion). There is no rapid gold standard diagnostic, so physicians largely guess at presence and severity of infection. Blood cultures, which may take 24-48 hours to return, only turn positive in ~30% of all patients with infections, and so are not effective for ruling out infections. Inflammatix (pronounced in-flah-MATT-iks) has a breakthrough solution: we 'read' the immune system to determine the presence, type (bacterial/viral) and severity of infection. The technique works by measuring the expression levels of several host immune genes, and then applying proprietary Inflammatix algorithms to produce clinically actionable results. The Inflammatix gene sets have been extensively validated (24 validation cohorts, >1000 patients) and published in top-tier medical journals.
RECENT GRADUATIONS
Please join us as we toast the growth and success of Miroculus and wish them well as they move to SOMA in San Francisco. Celebrations will be on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 3:30 PM.

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UPCOMING EVENTS
Amgen Seminar and Office Hours: March 17, 2017, 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM

12:30 PM   Networking and Lunch

1:00 PM     "From bench to bedside - and you thought molecule identification was difficult!"  Sean Lybrand, Director of Value, Access and Policy, Amgen Australia

2:00 - 4:00  Amgen Office Hours
Janis Naeve, Managing Director of Amgen Ventures and Samantha Palmer, Senior Licensing Manger, Amgen

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To apply for Office Hours with Amgen, please contact Linda Eng.

Janis Naeve PhD joined Amgen in 2005 and is the Managing Director of Amgen Ventures, guiding the fund's investment in biotechnology companies focused on discovering and developing human therapeutics. From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Naeve was director of Corporate Development at X-Ceptor Therapeutics, acquired by Exelixis.

Samantha Palmer PhD joined Amgen in 2015 and is the Senior Licensing Manager for Inflammation. She has an extensive background in immunology and microbiology and leads the Inflammation product search and evaluation efforts for Amgen business development covering Rheumatology, Dermatology, Respiratory and Specialty Gastro-Intestinal diseases.
Seminar: March 21, 2017, 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Safety Assessment for the Investigational New Drug (IND) Application
Sue McPherson, Executive Director of Toxicology
WuXi AppTec

 
The success of an Investigational New Drug (IND) applications is one of the key milestones of the drug development process. Sue McPherson from WuXi AppTec Lab Testing Division will be talking about the Drug Safety Assessment, a critical piece in the IND package. She will be sharing information on basic requirements, project implementation, timelines, as well as overall strategies for a successful IND application. She will also invite you to an in-depth look into the WIND program, an integrated service platform for your IND project currently offered by WuXi AppTec.

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To apply for Office Hours with WuXi AppTec, please contact Linda Eng.
Seminar: March 23, 2017, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Fraud Prevention Seminar
Eddie Contreras, Senior Director, Fraud Prevention
Debi Kutaka, Senior Fraud Risk Manager

Silicon Valley Bank
While early-stage entrepreneurs take big risks, they often ignore the substantial risk of theft or loss when they can least afford it.

Why should you care? Small-to-medium enterprises are particularly vulnerable because they are much less likely to make fraud prevention or cyber security a priority. But consider the consequences: the Securities and Exchange Commission has estimated that half of the small businesses that suffer a cyber attack go out of business as a result.

This seminar will provide tips on how to protect your start-up from fraud. Don't be scared; be vigilant.


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Seminar: March 24, 2017, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
CIRM 2.0: Funding Translation of Stem Cell Based Treatments in California
Shyam Patel, Senior Science Officer, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is California's stem cell agency. Some therapies that come out of stem cell research involve transplanting the cells themselves. Others will be drugs that were discovered through modeling diseases in a petri dish. Still others will be diagnostics that allow doctors to diagnose and treat diseases more effectively—or through technologies that open up whole new fields of research. Our funding promotes all areas of stem cell research that show promise to accelerating treatments to patients in need.

We have a little over 4 years left to make new awards under our current funding paradigm, and if we work diligently, we can accomplish a lot. Imagine 50 new therapeutics candidates discovered under our early stage programs. Or reducing by half the time it takes to move the next great idea through translation into the clinic. And of course, conducting these new clinical trials – all 50 of them! CIRM 2.0 has programs that cover all of it - from the earliest stage seed funding through advanced clinical research. And we want to make sure that you know how to get the most out of it. Over these next four years, we will make approximately $700 million in new awards to advance stem cell research and development. It is both a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. Come join us, and be part of the team that is making stem cell history.


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Seminar: March 28, 2017, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Biotech Investing with Versant Ventures
Graham G. Walmsley
Versant Ventures


Graham Walmsley is an Associate at Versant Ventures focused on biotechnology and healthcare investments. Graham joined Versant after completing his training as a Physician Scientist Fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. During his medical training, Graham served as a subintern in the Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. As a Bio-X Fellow and Thermo Scientific Pierce Scholar, Graham conducted his thesis work in the laboratories of Irving Weissman and Michael Longaker with a focus on regenerative medicine, stem cells and therapeutic approaches to fibrosis. Graham's work was featured in TIME Magazine and resulted in several international patents as well as over 60 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science and Cell.

Graham received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine from Stanford University. Graham earned his B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology with summa cum laude honors from the University of California, Berkeley.


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Lunch and Learn: March 30, 2017, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
An Introduction to Risk Management
Azita Alavi, Regional Manager
Harvard Risk Management Corporation


While it may be impossible to eliminate all risk, Harvard Risk Management consultants work with companies to help reduce exposure to identity theft and fraud. The solutions they offer can help to improve their clients' bottom line.

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OUR PARTNERS
Published On: March 1st, 2017Categories: Newsletters 2017
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