The Newsletter of the MTTC for the Massachusetts
entrepreneur & tech transfer community
June 19, 2015
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Welcome
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Dear All,
MTTC had another successful conference: 8th Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation (MALSI) Day on June 2, 2015 at the Harvard Club of Boston.
MALSI Day was the biggest day for life sciences startups and innovation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was attended by more than 330 attendees. This was a high-energy, hands-on event bringing together scientific leaders and business experts to mingle with scientists, post-docs, professors, entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists.
MTTC congratulates winners of the poster competition:
1st prize: BeTH: "BeTH's Dynamic Prosthetic Liner Reduces Pain for Leg Amputees"
2nd prize: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering: "Refillable Drug Delivery Device"
3rd prize: Aria Neurosciences: "Novel Disease Modifying Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease"
View the 2015_Notebook for detailed information about the Conference Agenda, Speaker Biographies, Sponsor Information, Company Profiles, and Exhibitors.
Job posting;
Executive Director, IP & Licensing
If your Tech Transfer Office has a job opening please email description to [email protected] for publishing on
http://www.masstechtransfer.org/category/jobs/
The MTTC Team - Abi, Julia, Michele and Barbara 
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MTTC Update
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T3 Meeting on June 24 with Sanofi, Smith & Nephew and Boehringer-Ingelheim
When: June 24, 2015, 2:00-5:00pm
"Tiny" Tech Transfer (T3) offices will meet with representatives from Sanofi, Smith & Nephew and Boehringer-Ingelheim who will talk about the technologies that interest them, and they are interested in learning about T3 technologies and the inventions.
If you are part of T3 and would like to participate, please contact Julia Goldberg at [email protected]
Entrepreneur Opportunity: MTTC Platform Meeting Are you an entrepreneur who needs help with strategy? Funding? Market entry? Partners? Proof of concept? Anything else? For a Platform Meeting, an entrepreneur presents their technology as an investor's pitch to a panel of industry professionals. A one-on-one coaching session is provided prior to the meeting. Then a group of advisors is handpicked for the entrepreneur, so he/she will gain the most from the meeting. At the Platform Meeting, the advisors offer candid feedback and sometimes offer other contacts or private mentoring. It is a great way to make important connections as well as gain some direction when facing difficult startup decisions. Only one entrepreneur presents per meeting, so the meeting is all yours. Meetings are held once or twice a month for a variety of industries and is free of charge to Massachusetts ventures and institutions. Contact Michele Bernier at [email protected] if interested in this opportunity.
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Funding Opportunities
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Massachusetts Life Sciences Center: Internship Challenge Program
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center's Internship Challenge is a workforce development program focused on enhancing the talent pipeline for Massachusetts companies engaged in life sciences. The program facilitates the placement of students and recent graduates, who are considering career opportunities in the life sciences, in paid internships across the state. MLSC will reimburse eligible companies for intern stipends. Internship opportunities are available year-round!
For more information please visit http://www.masslifesciences.com/programs/internship/
AmplifyMass, MassCEC's newest grant program AmplifyMass, MassCEC's newest grant program, was created to support Massachusetts-based, clean tech awardees of ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy). AmplifyMass funding helps awardees satisfy a requirement that a portion of the total project budget be funded via in-kind resources, cash contributions, or a combination of both. Applications for AmplifyMass are accepted on a rolling basis. Upon completing an ARPA-E concept paper and receiving agency feedback, companies and universities are eligible to apply for AmplifyMass.
For more information and to download application please visit http://www.masscec.com/programs/amplifymass
New SBIR Funding for early-stage and venture-backed companies When: August 6, 2015 9:00am
Where: JLABS @LabCentral, Cambridge, MA Twice as many people survived cancer in 2012 than did in 1992. Today, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is poised to further accelerate the rate of scientific discovery and reduce the burden of cancer in the United States and around the world. Michael Weingarten, Director for the NCI SBIR Development Center, Andrew Kurtz, Program Director & Team Leader with the NCI SBIR Development Center, and Todd Haim, Program Director with the NCI SBIR Development Center will present and discuss the SBIR and STTR programs that fund and support small biomedical technology companies. Following the presentation and Q&A, don't miss this opportunity to introduce yourself to the NCI SBIR Development Center representatives during the networking lunch. And finally, for those companies who apply online and are approved, one-on-one meetings with will provide a forum to further discuss your company with the NCI: apply today!
Seed funding program to use Brigham and Women's as startup testing ground Brigham and Women's Hospital has formed a partnership with a San Francisco-based seed-stage investment fund in an effort to test and potentially integrate digital health startup innovations into the Boston hospital. The hospital formed an affiliated medical partnership with Rock Health, and the two organizations are currently in the midst of finalizing plans. The partnership is expected to begin this summer and last three years. Read more
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Spin-off and Start-up News
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UMass Amherst industry alliance with ANIKA Therapeutics
Anika Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in products for tissue protection, healing, and repair based on hyaluronic acid (HA) technology, today announced an agreement with the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst to collaborate on research to develop a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). As the population in the U.S. continues to age, the Centers for Disease Control estimates 67 million individuals will be diagnosed with RA by the year 2030. The purpose of this research collaboration is to develop a novel modality for the treatment of RA, and if successful, is expected to yield a candidate that will move toward clinical development in 2017. Read more
Wyss Institute's organs-on-chips to be used in drug research at J&J Thumb-sized chips designed at Harvard's Wyss Institute to simulate different organs in the body will be used by the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson in early testing of cancer and other drugs under a collaboration disclosed today. Through a startup formed by Wyss last year called Emulate, so-called "organs-on-chips" will be used by J&J's Janssen division to predict how the human body will react to new potential drugs better than animal testing does. Read more
UMass supports 8 researchers with technology development grants President Caret today announces funding 8 projects with $25K each as part of the Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures (OTCV) Technology Development Fund grants: - Jie Song, Ph.D., Department of Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation, UMass Worcester: "ClickGel - an injectable drug delivery platform with precision degradation controls"
- Derek Lovley, Ph.D., Kelly Nevin, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology, UMass Amherst: "Technology for Real-Time Monitoring of Groundwater Contamination"
- Vincent Rotello, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, UMass Amherst: "CRISPR/Cas9 Protein Delivery using Nanoassemblies"
- Carlos Gradil, DVM, MS, Ph.D., DACT, Veterinary and Animal Sciences, UMass Amherst, Institute of Applied Life Sciences: "IUD(s) in horses: a model of human contraception"
- Takako Jones, Ph.D.; Oliver D. King, Ph.D.; and Peter L. Jones, Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology and Neurology & The Wellstone Program, UMass Worcester: "Rapid and accurate molecular diagnosis of FSH muscular dystrophy"
- Charles Kiefer, Ph.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, UMass Worcester: "FracCRP: a biomarker of internal acute tissue injury in emergency patients predictive of emergency readmittance or death within thirty days of discharge"
- Zhiyong Gu, Ph.D.; Fan Gao, Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering, UMass Lowell: "Developing Lead-free Nanosolder Paste for Low Temperature and High Reliability Soldering in Microelectronics and Flexible Electronics"
- Joey Mead, Ph.D.; Carol Barry, Department of Plastics Engineering, UMass Lowell: "Commercialization of a Spray/Dip Coating to provide Durable Superhydrophobic and Icephobic Surfaces"
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| Events of Interest |
Workshop: Business as a Second Language
When: June 22, 2015 9:30am - 5:00pm; Reception: 5:00pm -7:00pm
Where: UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
The one-day intensive & interactive workshop helps entrepreneurs to greatly improve their elevator pitch, establish the basis for their 10-minute or longer pitch, and identify strengths and weaknesses in their business plan.
The program includes:
- Practical, actionable information about business concepts
- Effective strategies for pitching well and with integrity
- Do's and don'ts for effective pitching
- Lots of opportunities for practicing your elevator pitch
- Many opportunities to get (and give) pitch coaching
The workshop is free to participants.
For more information and to register please visithttp://bit.ly/Biz2Lstudent
Leading Successful Virtual Teams and Planning and Running Engaging Virtual Meetings
When: June 23, 2015, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where: Takeda Pharmaceuticals, 40 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA
This workshop will focus on critical success factors for getting the great results from virtual teams/meetings. A proliferation of new technologies has lulled many into thinking that we actually have to think less about how we communicate. In fact, communicating and collaborating across time, distance, and cultures has never been more complex or difficult. Virtual teams are becoming commonplace, but the old rules for running a meeting don't necessarily apply.
For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Festival of Genomics When: June 23, 2015 - June 24, 2015, 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Where: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Summer Street, Boston The Festival of Genomics will transform the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center into a vibrant celebration of everything genomics: Visionary talks from our headliners, focused speaker line-ups, specialized workshops, the 'Genome Dome' and a whole lot more to discover and do. They are opening the doors for academics, drug developers, clinicians, healthcare professionals, investors and patient organizations. For more information and to register please visit the Event website
MassBio: Good Promotional Practices Before & After Approval When:Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 8:00 am - 10:00 am Where: MassBio, 300 Tech Square, 8th Floor, Cambridge Please join MassBio for a lively discussion of promotional practices throughout the product development life cycle for life sciences companies of all sizes. The discussion will touch upon current regulatory and compliance trends, pre-approval promotional issues, inclusion of promotional plans in early development, and post-approval promotion compliance. MassBio has assembled a panel of legal, commercial, and regulatory experts to share their insights and experiences. For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Swissnex Boston: MIT & ETH Zurich Discussion & Reception When: June 25, 2015 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: MIT Koch Institute, 1st Floor, 500 Main Street (MIT building 76), Cambridge, MA, 02142 The MIT Alumni Association, in partnership with swissnex Boston, is excited to bring together two of the world's leading researchers in synthetic biology for a lively conversation and networking reception on Thursday evening, June 25th. Professors Ron Weiss (MIT) and Yaakov (Kobi) Benenson (ETH Zurich) will share their latest research in enabling more sophisticated synthetic circuits at the cellular level with alumni from MIT and Swiss universities. Weiss's and Benenson's research in biological circuitry is being used to better understand the way RNA communicates with DNA and how circuits engineered from biological materials can connect to strengthen or weaken cells. Such research may have longstanding impacts on efforts to combat disease at the cellular level. For more information and to register please visit the Event website
Boston University: 6th annual Tech, Drugs and Rock n' Roll When: Tuesday July 14th, 2015 4:00PM to 8:00PM Where:Metcalf Ballroom, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 TDRR is proud to introduce Funder Alley, a novel initiative implemented to drive direct interaction between investors and innovators looking for investments. Companies like Pfizer CTI, Sanofi, Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (B-BIC), Mass Medical Angels, Allied Minds, Rockport Capital and VentureWell amongst others will set up shop at the event for you to ask questions, get information, or simply connect with industry professionals. Meet like-minded people, explore new ventures and celebrate the intersection of the medical, technology and business communities Other exciting features include: Innovator of the Year award, Exhibits and digital posters , MAPP: Mobile App Contest, Kinglsey Flood and great music, appetizing food and a special appearance by Rhett the Terrier. For more information and to register please visit Event website
Digital in Clinical Trials When: September 9, 2015
Where: Boston Park Plaza Hotel, 50 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116 The conference explores the behavioral and technical hurdles, new business models, the investment climate, what apps clinical trial leaders want to see and the evolution of standards. There is an opportunity to participate in creating a clinical trial app. Investors and app developers will also benefit from attending. This one-day event helps drug developers get their arms around the mobile/digital clinical trial landscape. For more information and to register please visit Event website
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MTTC is based at UMass and facilitates technology transfer from all research institutions, public and private, in the Commonwealth. The Center is financially supported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and MTDC. www.mttc.org
MATTO is the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices www.masstechtransfer.org
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