Newsletter September 2024

Openwater secures $54M in funding to advance open-source wearable medical devices and diagnostics

Openwater, a resident company at 953 Indiana, has recently secured $54M in funding, bringing its total raised capital to $100M. Founded by Mary Lou Jepsen, Openwater is developing an innovative platform that combines infrared imaging, ultrasound, and electromagnetic fields to diagnose and treat diseases at the cellular level. This non-invasive approach allows for real-time visualization and targeted therapies, potentially offering a new frontier in medical treatment.

Switch Bioworks awarded grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to build synthetic biology driven nitrogen fixing biofertilizers for farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This grant funding will allow Switch to implement its microbial discovery pipeline and engineering technologies to develop effective and environmentally friendly biofertilizers.

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub!

The Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub, based in Cambridge, MA, is a cross-disciplinary R&D unit designed to accelerate therapeutic progress and to pioneer a better future in human health through co-creation partnerships.

Foundery Innovations Founders at Work Seminar

September 19 @ noon - 1pm
135 Mississippi St, San Francisco

Foundery Innovations, an MBC BioLabs alumni company, works closely with academic partners to validate promising drug targets. Once validated, Foundery generates immuno-therapy development candidates that are spun into NewCos. Co-founders Michel Streuli and Venkataraman Sriram will provide an overview of how the company operates and the potential advantages of its Immune Studio model.

MilliporeSigma Ice Cream Social

September 12 @ noon - 3pm
135 Mississippi St, San Francisco

Please join our partners at MilliporeSigma for an ice cream treat and connect with their representatives to learn how they can support every stage of your research and production needs, from initial development to large-scale manufacturing.

Sartorius Lunch & Learn: Incucyte

September 23 @ noon - 1pm
953 Indiana St, San Francisco

September 24 @ noon - 1pm
733 Industrial Rd, San Carlos

Join our partners for lunch & learn on Sartorius’ Incucyte technology! Learn about its real-time automated imaging and quantification capabilities and the key benefits, including continuous monitoring of cell health, proliferation, and morphology without disturbing the cells, and the ability to generate high-quality, reproducible data with ease.

Sartorius Lunch & Learn: Data Analytics Software Suite

September 25 @ noon - 1pm
135 Mississippi St, San Francisco

Please join our partners at Sartorius for an overview presentation of their Umetrics® Suite of Data Analytics Software. The Umetrics® Suite gives you access to powerful yet easy-to-use tools to optimize your manufacturing processes and bring quality products to market faster.

Engage Bio Founders at Work Seminar

September 26 @ noon - 1pm
930 Brittan Ave, San Carlos

Engage Bio, a resident company at MBC BioLabs in San Carlos, is developing a new class of non-viral DNA medicines to solve the two hurdles that have held back the field of non-viral DNA: potency and toxicity. They have shown that their Tethosomes induce high levels of tissue or tumor specific protein expression, for months and potentially years. With applications ranging from long-acting gene replacement to cancer immunotherapy, the team at Engage Bio is now charting the path toward their first human clinical programs.

Malvern Panalytical: Small Molecule Development Workshop

September 24 @ 9:30am - 3:30pm
135 Mississippi St, San Francisco

Our partners at Malvern are hosting a workshop on small molecule API development, covering polymorphs & crystallinity, critical quality attribute development & testing, non-oral delivery routes, and particle sizing.

Partner Office Hours

Connect with our partners from Cytiva, Malvern Panalytical, Agilent, Eppendorf, Revvity, or MilliporeSigma during their scheduled office hours this month!

Qum Therapeutics

Qum Therapeutics is developing multi-specific antibodies for cancer and autoimmune disease. Their mission is to serve those with unmet medical needs by delivering innovative therapeutics grounded in cutting-edge science.

We are excited to welcome CEO Jaehak Oh and CTO Hangil Park to the 953 Indiana community in San Francisco!

1849 Bio

1849 Bio is building microbes for metal extraction, enabling cleaner and cheaper mining of difficult-to-process ores. This will unlock 100M tons of copper stranded in ores that are not profitable to mine. They are using bioengineering approaches to optimize the microbes used in biomining processes, which today account for ~1% of global copper production, to expand the types of copper ores that can be microbially processed.

We warmly welcome Co-founders Jai Padmakumar and Yongjin Park to the 953 Indiana community in San Francisco!