Biotechnology of the Month:

MHC-II-related Protein Mediates Apoptotic Cell Death  

Physical Sciences Tech of the Month:

Improved Organic Semiconductors and Organic Photovoltaics   

Today @ the TTO

Perspective: Major Funding Milestones for CU Licensees and Companies

In the last few weeks, several CU licensees and partner companies achieved significant financing milestones, including VC funding rounds, acquisitions and grants (see below). This trend fits with a statewide increase in investment in the second quarter of 2011; and while one swallow doesn't make a summer, we're hopeful that this trend will continue through 2011, enabling our partner companies to bring CU technologies closer to the market. Recent key financings:

Chesapeake Energy Purchases 50 Percent Stake in Sundrop Fuels 

Chesapeake Energy announced that it will invest $155M into Louisville-based renewable energy company Sundrop Fuels, giving Chesapeake a 50% stake in Sundrop. Sundrop merged with CU licensee Copernican Energy in 2008, acquiring CU-developed solar-thermal biomass-to-gas conversion technology.

OPX Bio Raises $36.5M 

In early July, CU licensee OPX Biotechnologies Inc. announced it has raised $36.5M in a Series C round of private-equity financing. The privately held Boulder-based biotech company develops renewable, bio-based chemicals and fuels that it believes will be less expensive, more efficient and more sustainable than the petroleum-based chemicals used to develop plastics. OPX Bio is working with Dow Chemical Co. to create a large-scale demonstration project showing that OPX's BioAcrylic can be produced on an industrial scale. (See also: Backers Believe in OPX Bio.)

Biodesix Closes $20M Series D Financing 

Biodesix Inc. has closed on a $20M Series D financing to support ongoing commercialization activities for the company's first product, VeriStrat®, a blood-based test for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The test identifies patients likely to have good or poor outcomes when treated with epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRIs). Biodesix and the University of Colorado have an ongoing clinical collaboration to further support the test, and are exploring ways to broaden the scope of the collaboration to other areas. In addition, Biodesix has ongoing studies exploring the clinical utility of VeriStrat in other solid epithelial tumors and with a variety of EGFRIs. The financing was led by existing investors.

Clean Urban Energy Raises $7M To "Turn Buildings Into Batteries"

Chicago-based Clean Urban Energy (CUE) raised $7M in a series A round from Battery Ventures and Rho Ventures, the company announced in July. CUE's software-as-a-service "exploits the thermal mass of commercial office buildings to make [them] more efficient," according to a company press statement. The software was developed at the University of Colorado, which struck an exclusive R&D and licensing agreement with CUE in 2008.

Precision Biopsy Closes $2.5M Round of Funding

CU licensee Precision Biopsy has closed a $2.5M round of funding to kickoff the commercialization phase of a novel prostate cancer detection technology developed at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Precision Biopsy technology significantly improves prostate cancer detection rates and focuses therapy only where the cancer lesions exist instead of the entire prostate gland.

Mosaic Biosciences Raises $1M in VC Round

Mosaic Biosciences Inc., a Boulder biotechnology company, has raised $1M in venture capital to help fund research into technologies that assist in bodily tissue regeneration. The company, founded based on technology developed at CU-Boulder, is researching biochemical processes that can help a body generate new muscle, bone, cartilage and other tissues.

Flashback Technologies Receives $150K, Business Assistance from CID4
Flashback Technologies received $150,000 in funding and additional business assistance from the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development (CID4). The company and its partners are using the software - licensed from the University of Colorado, where it was created by one of Flashback's co-founders - to develop a device to non-invasively detect blood loss levels and shock risk in trauma patients.  

TTO Announces August 15 Deadline for BDEG Project Summaries

Under the State of Colorado's Bioscience Discovery and Evaluation Grant (BDEG) Program, CU researchers are eligible for awards of $50,000 to $200,000 for commercial proof-of-concept (POC) work; eligible fields include therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, platform technologies, and biofuels. Interested researchers must submit a short Project Summary to TTO by August 15, 2011, as well as an Invention Disclosure if one is not already in place. The deadline for the application itself is September 9, 2011. Applications and more information are available online.  For questions, please contact your invention case manager at TTO; if you do not have one, then please contact Rick Silva, 303-724-0222 (UC Denver) or Kate Tallman, 303-492-5732 (CU-Boulder and CU-Colorado Springs). 

Heidelberg Instruments to Develop CU Nanotech Platform 

Heidelberg Instruments GmbH (Heidelberg, Germany) and the University of Colorado recently completed an exclusive option agreement for a CU technique that shrinks the circuitry of nano-devices, enabling the creation of smaller computer chips and other nanodevices. The method was developed by CU-Boulder researchers Robert McLeod (associate professor of electrical, computer, and energy engineering), Tim Scott (visiting research assistant professor of mechanical engineering and chemical and biological engineering) and Christopher Bowman (professor of chemical and biological engineering). To create nano-scale circuitry, the patent pending nanolithography method uses tightly focused beams of blue light to record lines and dots thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair onto a substrate such as silicon. This initial step occurs in all types of nanoengineering, but the new system developed by McLeod's team uses a second beam of ultraviolet light to "erase" the edges of the pattern, resulting in much smaller structures. In turn, this enables the manufacture of smaller computer chips, solar cells and other nanoscale devices. (Read full press release.)

SomaLogic, New England Biolabs Partner on PCR Products 

SomaLogic and New England Biolabs announced an agreement for the provision of specific aptamer-based reagents to NEB for nucleic acid amplification and PCR products. SomaLogic will provide certain SomaMers - which are specific protein binding reagents based on chemically modified aptamers developed by SomaLogic - to NEB to incorporate them into its products as reversible inhibitors of thermally active DNA polymerases used in PCR.

Cancer Drug Delivery System Bypasses Normal Cells 

Tiny bubbles filled with cancer-killing drugs zoom through a patient's blood, bypassing healthy cells to lock on and destroy tumor cells without causing toxic side effects. It's not the theme of a science-fiction fantasy but rather the work of a team of researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center led by Thomas Anchordoquy. The technique, which is still in early stages of laboratory research, uses liposomes to deliver a chemotherapeutic agent directly to cancer cells with little damage to normal cells. Liposomes are like microscopic bubbles that can be filled with a drug and then injected into the blood stream.

Boulder's ColdQuanta Expands European Distribution 

CU licensee ColdQuanta Inc., which develops devices that produce Bose-Einstein condensates and cold atoms for research and industrial applications, recently signed a distribution agreement to further expand sales of its products throughout Europe, company officials announced in July.

New Director, BioPharma Alliances at CU

TTO is pleased to welcome Dr. Laura Simon, Director of the new Office of BioPharma Alliances for CU Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus. Laura will serve as a liaison between faculty researchers and biotechnology, pharmaceutical and device companies.  She will also coordinate various internal entities involved in the advancement of CU Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus technologies, including the Tech Transfer Office, the Office of Grants & Contracts and the Colorado Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), as well as coordinating with the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority (FRA), the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development (CID4) and Fitzsimons BioBusiness Partners (FBBp). The Office of BioPharma Alliances is a campus-supported resource for research programs interested in strategic (big picture, multi-year, large dollar) relationships with biomedical enterprises, and is part of CU Denver's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Laura is an experienced biotechnology business development executive who is well versed in the practice of drug development and commercialization. Most recently, Her she was VP of Corporate Planning and Development at Scios Inc., where she played a key role in defining Scios' pipeline from discovery stage target selection to identifying commercially viable products. She was responsible for developing and managing all external corporate relationships, and was the lead Scios executive responsible for negotiating and structuring the company's acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2004. Laura has a BA in Economics from Mills College and an MD from the University of Colorado. Prior to and during medical school, she worked in Tom Cech's lab investigating the secondary structure of telomerase RNAs in different ciliates.

Ken Lund Appointed New Colorado Economic Development Director

Gov. John Hickenlooper has appointed Ken Lund, chief legal counsel in the Governor's office, as the new executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Lund, previously with Holme Roberts & Owens in Denver, took the position officially on Aug. 1, replacing Dwayne Romero, who is returning to the private sector.

CU-Boulder Research Group Gets $300K for Cleaner, More Efficient Coal 

The Department of Energy said in July Tuesday that CU would get $300,000 for work on improving reactors that gasify coal, rather than burn it. Princeton University and Iowa State University also received grants for related projects. Professor of chemical engineering Christine Hrenya will lead Ph.D. students on the project in Boulder.  

103^rd Distinguished Research Lecture: Dr. Kristi Anseth's "The Body Shop" 

August 24, CU-Boulder

Dr. Anseth, distinguished professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, will present "The Body Shop," a lecture on her work in biotechnical tissue engineering to improve medical healing across a wide spectrum, from helping broken bones heal faster to replacing diseased heart valves.

CREED Entrepreneur Series - Go To Market Strategy  

August 30, CREED Center, Golden

The CREED Entrepreneur Series brings you experts in the field to help you differentiate your business and succeed. The Series can help you accelerate your enterprise through a variety of classes, workshops, pitch practice sessions, and opportunities to meet with experts and investors.

Inaugural CBSA & CCIA Oktoberfest 

September 1, Boettcher Mansion, Denver

The Inaugural Colorado BioScience Association and Colorado Cleantech Industry Association Oktoberfest will feature an evening of networking and samplings from Colorado's finest breweries. Hosted by the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) and the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA).

Boulder/Denver New Technology Meetup Group 

September 7, 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.

Feld-Weiser One-on-One: Reflections On Serving in the White House 

September 7, CU-Boulder

Please join Silicon Flatirons for this turnabout Feld-Weiser event. Phil Weiser will begin with a brief presentation about his reflections on technology policy while serving as the Senior Advisor for Technology and Innovation at the White House. Following the presentation, Brad Feld will moderate a question and answer session and welcome questions from the audience. A networking reception will follow.

CBSA Innovation After Hours

September 8, Rocky Mountain Innosphere, Fort Collins

Hosted by the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), Innovation after Hours is a premier monthly networking and education forum open to all members of the community that will be of special interest to those in scientific, technology and creative fields. It will showcase the best and brightest innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs in Northern Colorado and around the world.

Save the Date: Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference 

September 21-23, Denver

See the future of healthcare - and your role in shaping it - at the Rocky Mountain region's second life science investor conference, bringing together leading investors, strategic partners, emerging companies and senior executives to cultivate partnerships within our industry.

Save the Date: Innovation Policy and National Competitiveness 

September 23, CU-Boulder

To join in the national conversation about the future of innovation policy and national competitiveness, this conference hosted by CU's Silicon Flatirons center will bring together a number of leading thinkers, industry leaders, and policymakers to focus on a critical set of questions that bear on innovation. The conference will focus on three principal questions as to the role of government in spurring innovation and economic growth: (1) how it can enable the basic building blocks; (2) how it can support the development of entrepreneurial clusters and regional innovation; and (3) what strategies it can employ to advance national competitiveness in a global economy.

CU Resources

RETool: Developing Business & Careers in the New Energy Economy  

Focused on a clean-energy future? Get ahead of the curve and take RETool: a 4-day executive education certificate program hosted by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship and the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. RETool provides a deep-dive short course for individuals seeking to "retool" their skills to enter the clean energy field, as well as for businesses seeking new opportunities in cleantech. 2011 fall sessions (8:30am-5:30pm):

Friday, September 9: Renewable Electric Power (Denver Tech Center)

Friday, October 7: Understanding Smart Grids (Downtown Denver)
Friday, November 4: Renewable Transportation Energy (Denver Tech Center)
Friday, December 2: The Promise of Energy Efficiency (Downtown Denver)

Colorado Blueprint Focuses State Economic Development Efforts on Innovation 

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently unveiled the Colorado Blueprint: A Bottom-up Approach to Economic Development, a document that responds to outlines the steps that will be taken by the Hickenlooper Administration over the next few years to support and promote economic development across Colorado. The plan consists of six focus areas including cultivating innovation and technology. The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) will welcome public comments until August 10.

Colorado's eSpace Program Yields Results 

A $75,000 investment in a Boulder-based nonprofit business incubator designed to train new aerospace employees has yielded $1.4M in salaried jobs to the Colorado economy, according to a review of the program's first six months. The Incubator program at eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship, which provides space and resources for entrepreneurial aerospace companies, delivered a return on investment of 362 percent since October 2010. (The eSpace incubator program is home to CU licensee TIGON EnerTec, which is developing a hybrid propulsion technology.)

Support Breeds Patents: University Support Boosts Productivity for Academic Inventors 

A supportive atmosphere helps university-based innovators to produce more patents and inventions, says a survey of scientists at Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) - interdisciplinary centers funded by the NSF to bridge academia and industry. Support includes rewards for commercialization that are built into the tenure or promotion processes, institutional leadership that fosters cross-disciplinary opportunities and technology-transfer offices that streamline the patent process.

DOE Announces Funding for Nationwide University-Based Clean Energy Business Competitions 

In July, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $2M in available funding for the National University Clean Energy Business Challenge. This nationwide initiative will create a network of regional student-focused clean energy business creation competitions whose winners will compete for a National Grand Prize at a completion held at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. in early summer 2012.

New NSF Program Promises to Boost Commercialization of Academic Research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, a public-private partnership, intends to connect NSF-funded scientific research with a project team, made up of professionals from the technological, entrepreneurial and business communities, to help transition NSF-funded scientific and engineering discoveries at institutions of higher education into commercial technologies, products and processes.   

University/Industry Partnerships Work: Don't Kill the Golden Goose 

The current partnership between U.S. universities, teaching hospitals and related non-profit organizations with American industry, while imperfect, leads the world in translating early stage research into products, jobs and new companies. (Commentary by Robin Rasor, President, Association of University Technology Managers.)

Rare-Disease Studies Seek Online Micro-Donations to Fund Research 

Those wanting to raise awareness about a rare disease will be able to take advantage of an initiative being launched later this year: a website that connects research projects with members of the public who can donate just a few dollars to help to develop cures.  

"There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are sciences and the applications of science, bound together as the fruit of the tree which bears it."

Louis Pasteur, French microbiologist and chemist