CU-Colorado Springs Technology of the Month:

Western States Biopharma to Commercialize CU Autoimmune Disease Treatment

Western States Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.(WSBI), a privately-held biotechnology company focusing on the development of novel therapies to treat inflammatory disease, and the University of Colorado announced today that they have entered into a licensing agreement for approaches to inhibiting newly discovered T cell Cytokine Inducing Surface Molecules, or TCISM™ autoimmune disease drug discovery targets. WSBI is currently advancing its lead molecule - WSBI-711, an antibody against two TCISM targets - into midstage pre-clinical testing. WSBI's other promising TCISM antibody and orally-active small molecule therapeutic programs are also progressing towards pre-clinical development.

Syberenety Options Addiction Support Software from CU

A social networking tool developed jointly by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Syberenety LLC may soon be available to help recovering addicts stay connected to support and accountability. Through an interactive, online social support network environment, coupled with applications on a handheld device, users will stay connected in real-time with professional and personal mentors, to give those battling addiction the best chance at avoiding and coping with potential relapse. Technology underlying the social network tool was recently optioned to Syberenety LLC, a Colorado-based company seeking to help those recovering from addiction find support in a secure online network.

Sandhill Scientific Options CU Diagnostic Device for Esophageal Diseases

A diagnostic device developed at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine was recently optioned by Sandhill Scientific, Inc., a Colorado-based company developing diagnostic devices for a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses. Diagnosing inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract such as severe gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), inflammatory bowel disease (lBD), and a number of other diseases can be difficult. Blood, stool and x-ray tests are not sufficient to diagnose any of these conditions definitively, or to differentiate them, and more invasive methods such as endoscopy are costly and carry potential complications. The optioned technology provides a less invasive way for doctors to determine the cause and appropriate treatment of esophageal inflammation. (Click the link above to read the full press release.)

Podcast: Dave Allen, Tech Transfer Office

W3W3 radio talked with David Allen, Associate Vice President for Technology Transfer at the University of Colorado, to get caught up on federal public policy related to university technology transfer: "Overall, we are finally seeing some attention being given to university tech transfer at the federal level. The biggest shift is a realization that the transfer of research from the lab to a company doesn't occur through checking boxes or filling out forms, happenstance or luck, rather the work of technology transfer is complex and involves many aspects beyond the university. You just can't take a complex asset and apply simple (non complex) solutions or you'll sub-optimize the system objectives, which is our case is commercialization." Listen to the podcast or view an archive of all TTO podcasts.

miRagen teams with Santaris Pharma

CU licensee miRagen Therapeutics Inc. is teaming with Santaris Pharma A/S in Denmark to develop medicines to treat cardiovascular disease. Santaris Pharma is acquiring a minority equity interest in miRagen in return for providing miRagen the licensing rights to use Santaris Pharma's locked nucleic acid (or LNA) drug platform. The platform will be used to identify and select drug candidates against miRagen's microRNA targets.

RealD Dazzles in IPO Debut

Three-dimensional technology expert RealD Inc. delivered an eye-popping gain in early trading on July 16, its first day as a public company. The company's stock opened at $19.55 a share, up 22% from its initial public offering price of $16. The Beverly Hills company dominates 3-D technology systems used in movie theaters; in 2007 the company acquired CU licensee ColorLink, who helped develop the optical filter technology underlying RealD's theater displays.

ION Engineering Wins Federal Grant

CU licensee ION Engineering LLC will receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to work on a project that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at coal plants. The company won $2,999,614 for a 15-month project that will fabricate, install and operate a carbon-capture unit to process flue gas at an operating power plant using amine-based solvents.

OPXBIO Recognized As A "Colorado Company to Watch"

CU licensee OPX Biotechnologies Inc., a renewable biochemical and biofuels company, was recently recognized as one of 50 Colorado Companies to Watch by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade in partnership with the Edward Lowe Foundation. Colorado Companies to Watch recognizes companies that support economic growth by developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs and building new industries throughout Colorado.

Novus to Distribute AmideBio's Peptides

Novus Biologicals LLC in Littleton has agreed to distribute Boulder-based AmideBio's line of peptides to bioscience researchers worldwide. AmideBio develops and manufactures peptides based on intellectual property licensed from the University of Colorado that was developed by CU professor Michael Stowell, who also is AmideBio's chief technology officer.

Artemis Project Names ROTEC Among Top 50 Water Companies

Metro Denver Economic Development Executive Holli Baumunk Named President & CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association

Holli Baumunk, Vice President of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation for the past seven years, has been named President & CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA). An accomplished economic development executive, Baumunk is well known to many in the Colorado Bioscience Industry, having worked closely with the CBSA on numerous initiatives over the years.

UC Denver College of Engineering and Applied Science Announces New Dean

Marc Ingber, PhD, has become the new dean of the  University of Colorado Denver's College of Engineering and Applied Science. Until recently, Ingber was a program director of the Chemical, Biological, Environmental and Transport Systems Division at the National Science Foundation on loan from the University of New Mexico, where he was professor of mechanical engineering.

Three CU Biomedical Scientists Named Boettcher Investigators

Three University of Colorado researchers are among an elite corps of Colorado scientists who have earned the title "Boettcher Investigator" under a new grant program that will support biomedical research, advance the world's understanding of cancer, Parkinson's and other human health dilemmas, and speed therapies to patients. The Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Program will support the research of early-career biomedical investigators whose work has a direct impact on human health. CU's 2010 Boettcher Investigators are Robin Dowell, an assistant professor at CU's Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology (CIMB), and Gidon Felsen and Paul Jedlicka, assistant professors at the CU School of Medicine. All will share in a $700,000 pool of grant money that will fund up to three years of their research.

BioBoulder
July 21, Laudisio Restaurant, Boulder
The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) and Snell & Wilmer would like to invite you to a Summer Networking BioBoulder event! We are excited to celebrate the summer months in Boulder with one of the best networking forums. Your colleagues in the biotechnology, medical device, bio-fuels and university community will be there - make sure you're there, too.

BioBreakfast: The Passion that Drives and the New Face of CBSA
July 28, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora
Each year the CBSA dedicates one BioBreakfast to spotlighting an article within the annual Bioscience Colorado Magazine. This year, listen as Dr. Larry Gold, Dr. Bill Freytag and Patrick Mahaffy explain what propelled them to grow successful bioscience companies and become leaders of the industry. We will also introduce the new CBSA President and CEO, Holli Baumunk, to our membership.

Call for Submissions: VCIR Fall Conference

July 30 deadline

Venture Capital in the Rockies (VCIR) invites companies from the entire Rocky Mountain region to submit to present at VCIR Fall. Submissions are rated by a team of reviewers who consider factors such as the strength of the business idea, size of the target market, past performance of the company, future prospects of the business, quality of the management team and appropriateness of the business for the audience represented at the conference. The focus of the conference is on information technology, clean technology and alternative energy, consumer products, internet services and life sciences.

Boulder/Denver New Technology Meetup Group

August 3, CU- Boulder
This ongoing event provides a forum for technologists and entrepreneurs to showcase the new (especially web-based) technology developing in Boulder/Denver tech community. Five companies have five minutes each to demonstrate their new technology, followed by five minutes for Q&A from the audience.

CSIA and CBSA 7th Annual Wine Tasting

August 12, Botanic Gardens, Denver

Come enjoy Colorado-grown wine, while mingling among technology and bioscience leaders and professionals at the CSIA and CBSA 7^th Annual Wine Tasting at the Botanic Gardens. With an expected attendance of more than 400 technology and bioscience professionals again this year, this event will take professional networking to the next level.

Colorado Green Tech Meetup

August 12, CU-Boulder

An ongoing event to support eco-entrepreneurs and others people involved and/or interested in green tech: energy generation, transportation, construction, and efficiency technologies. Businesses and researchers present new technologies, and attendees may announce business news, job openings, fundings, etc.

2nd Annual Symposium for Center for Research and Education in Wind (CREW)

August 13, Colorado School of Mines, Golden

New Study on Innovation Shows Challenges Facing Colorado's Medical Research Workers, Stresses Need for Federal Innovation Policy

Colorado's Bioscience Industry supporters gathered in June at the Colorado State Capitol for a Medical Innovation News Conference sponsored by the Council for American Medical Innovation (CAMI) and was held to focus on a new national research study on the topic and how findings affect Colorado. Review the study, titled Gone Tomorrow: A Call to Promote Medical Innovation, Create Jobs, and Find Cures in America, or visit the CBSA blog for video recaps of the press conference.

Innovation at the U.S. Patent Office: Director Kappos' Three-Track Examination Proposal

For more than a decade, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been criticized for long delays in the processing of patent applications and for issues around patent quality. Both can have negative impacts on innovation, as the USPTO recognized in a recent White Paper. To address these problems, USPTO has done some innovating of its own. Director David Kappos announced a proposal in June that grapples with the backlog issue and offers an opportunity for applicants to work with the Office to assign priority to pending applications. See also: Rep. Trent Franks: Patent Reform Key to Job Growth.

SBA Seeks Input on High-Growth Entrepreneurship Mentoring, Education

Do high-growth, tech entrepreneurs require different mentoring and educational assistance than other entrepreneurs? The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued a Request for Information on successful models, metric and programming for high-growth entrepreneurial mentoring and education. Responses will be used to shape future initiatives at SBA and other federal agencies.

Roundup: University, Community, State, National and International Initiatives

 National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Members Announced

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke recently announced the members of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a group that will support President Obama's innovation strategy by helping to develop policies that foster entrepreneurship and identifying new ways to take great ideas from the lab to the marketplace to drive economic growth and create jobs.

National Academies Looking at Research Universities

At the request of Congress, the National Academies have formed an ad hoc committee to author a report to answer the question: "What are the top ten actions that Congress, the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century?"

Georgia Center to Boost Bioscience Industry

The Georgia Bioscience Commercialization Center (GBCC) was unveiled in mid-June with the goal of transforming pharmaceutical, medical-device and alternative-energy startups into patent-churning, job-generating companies for one of the 21st century's most lucrative industries.

Colorado Harvests a Green Economy

Colorado's green economy has been boosted by more than $796 million in venture-capital investment and $300 million in federal stimulus funds in the past decade, according to a study on green-job growth in the West.

How States Can Attract Venture Capital

It's foolish to try to duplicate Silicon Valley. But smart governments can do a lot to lure investors to their states. A program in New Mexico provides a model for other states that would like to grow their local investment communities.

Job Growth in U.S. Driven Entirely by Startups, According to Kauffman Foundation Study

When it comes to U.S. job growth, startup companies aren't everything. They're the only thing. A study released in July by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows net job growth occurs in the U.S. economy only through startup firms.

Inc. Magazine: How Incubators Speed the Start-up Process

Initiatives such as Y Combinator in San Francisco and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado, provide more than just funding for fledgling entrepreneurs.

A Call to Triple U.S. Spending on Energy Research

The United States is badly lagging in basic research on new forms of energy, deepening the nation's dependence on dirty fuels and crippling its international competitiveness, a diverse group of business executives warn in a study released in June. The group, which includes Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft; Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric; and John Doerr, a top venture capitalist, urges the government to more than triple spending on energy research and development, to $16B a year.

Why Equity Financing Eludes Startups

Despite the hype surrounding equity capital, very few startups raise money from outside investors. The Census Bureau's most recent Survey of Business Owners shows that only 2.7 percent of U.S. companies obtained startup financing from a venture capital firm, strategic investor, friend, or family member.

"Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists."

Edward de Bono, physician and inventor