Julia Hill Australia

Bionic Vision Technologies is the commercial entity which holds license to the patents around technology developed by Bionic Vision Australia.

Bionic Vision Australia brings together Australia’s leading experts in medical bionics to develop a bionic eye to restore vision to people with retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.  A prototype device has been successfully implanted into three patients for two years demonstrating outstanding safety and efficacy. 

Our capabilities which  differentiate us from competitors include:

  1. Novel surgical techniques providing greater safety and stability od wide view devices

  2. World leading, pioneering vision processing software

  3. Unique arrangement and stimulation strategies of the electrodes

  4. Unique diamond electrode encapsulation for the high acuity device

  5. World leading psychophysics laboratory for assessing functionality of the devices

  6. Unprecedented expertise and proven track record in preclinical studies

Our development portfolio consists of  wide view devices which aim to increase mobility and independence of patients and a high acuity device which will allow patients the ability to read large letters and recognise faces

Year Founded
2011
Main Sector
Medtech Phase of Development
IP Status
7 granted patents, 45 patent applications
Recent Milestones
Completed successful pilot clinical trial
Bionic Vision Technologies

Johanna Holldack Switzerland

Telormedix is a Swiss biotech company focused on small molecules binding to TLR7 for the development in oncology and infectious diseases.
Telormedix SA
CEO 

Chris Hollowood United Kingdom

Syncona Partners, founded in 2012, is an evergreen investment firm based in London, UK. The firm is an independent subsidiary of the Wellcome Trust who invested the initial £200m capitalization. The firm is mandated to invest in companies with the potential to make major breakthroughs in healthcare. The investment size will usually range from £1M – £20M per company. The firm seeks to create sustainable, profitable businesses, to support them with capital over the long term, for the benefit of patients, and to hold an ownership position to create value for the Wellcome Trust. The firm is actively screening new investment opportunities.

Year Founded
2012
Biotech Phase of Development
Medtech Phase of Development
Capital Structure Preference
Investment Stage Preference
Syncona Partners
Partner 

Ken Hoober

Website:
www.susavion.com
Susavion Biosciences Inc.
CSO 

Carl Horn

 

JBI is a Midwest-based biotechnology company driven to develop a new class of therapies to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. 

JBI’s unique approach is able to lower the production of Amyloid Beta (Aβ), phosphorylated Tau (pTau) and toxic intracellular Aβ aggregates.  Our passion is to develop a therapy to restore the patient’s lifespan and improve patient quality of life.

JBI is focused on further developing its lead compound, JBI-009, based on the strength of compelling preclinical safety and efficacy results to date.

JBI’s approach represents a new wave in thinking about the treatment of AD.  Currently available drugs treat disease symptoms, rather than its suspected cause, and do so with limited success.  Most drugs in late-stage clinical development are attempting to address a likely cause of the disease, the accumulation of Aβ, by potently inhibiting the enzyme responsible for Aβ production.  As this enzyme has other important biological functions, this approach has seen early failures because of unacceptable side effects.  JBI's approach is unique in that it modulates the production of this enzyme rather than inhibits its activity.  JBI’s approach is expected to restore enzyme activity and Aβ production to normal levels with a favorable safety advantage.

JBI’s technology is also unique in that it targets cellular machinery within the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER).  Most drug developers have focused on modifying activity that occurs either on the cell membrane or within the cell nucleus or cytosol.  JBI is one of the first, if not the first, to successfully target activity within the ER.  The discoveries employed by JBI have produced a lead compound that affects the enzyme responsible for controlling the rate-limiting step in Aβ production, penetrates the blood brain barrier, and shows no toxicity in IND feasibility safety studies.  In addition, work has begun on next generation compounds.  This ER-focused approach provides platform potential for future therapies to treat additional significant unmet medical needs.

 


Website:
jacebio.com
Year Founded
2014
Biotech Subsector
Biotech Phase of Development
Technology Overview
JBI-009 is a small molecule with an excellent safety profile to date. The anticipated indication is for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in Prodromal (pre-symptomatic) and mild cognitively impaired patients. JBI-009 is expected to lower Aβ, BACE1, and phosphorylated Tau. JBI-009 is anticipated to have once-daily oral dosing for chronic use and has shown effective penetration through the blood brain barrier. The compound has a low manufacturing cost due to its simple chemical structure.
Current Financing Needs
JBI is a Seed stage company seeking $2.0mm of initial investment to advance IND feasibility research on its lead compound.
IP Status
Patent applications have been filed and are under prosecution, providing exclusivity into 2032.
Management Team Highlights
Carl Horn, Founder, CEO: Mr. Horn is a business leader with over 25 years of pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry experience at Abbott Laboratories, Takeda, TAP Pharmaceuticals and Chicago-based Therapeutic Proteins. His experience includes general management, business development, and strategic marketing within these companies. Deborah Milkowski, PhD, Founder, CSO: Dr. Milkowski has more than 13 years of industry experience in senior roles at TAP Pharmaceuticals where she was the director of the Pharmacology and Technical Assessment organizations and oversaw the pharmacology sections of 10 IND and 4 NDA submissions, including approvals for Lupron Depot® and Uloric®.
Jace Biomedical, Inc.
CEO 

Brian Horsburgh

Neuro Networks Fund is a Venture Philanthropy fund that was established in 213. The fund is looking to make equity investments into companies and projects ranging from $25 for research projects and up to $5 million for early stage companies. The firm will reinvest all returns from these investments back into its fund in an evergreen structure. The firm hopes to begin making its first investments as soon as Q4 214 but is currently very open to discussion and networking with companies in its target sectors. The firm is open to review opportunities from around the globe.
NeuroNetworks Fund
Trustee 

Brian Horsburgh United States

Immunova is a startup with  an IP portfolio licensed from Yale and the Johns Hopkins Universities.

Immunova's technology platform has a unique capability to deliver one or more drugs to the tumor/disease microenvironment. The drugs can be proteins, small molecules or nucleic acids. The delivery platfrom has demonstatable advantages over other delivery systems. The technology has applications in oncology and inflammation.

The company's lead asset is positioned in oncology. IMM-01, consists of two drugs that (a) undermine the tumor micorenvironment and (b) increase anti-tumor cell mediated immunity. This asset is capable of curing mice of metastatic disease. Further, it significantly enhances the activites of immune checkpoint inhibitors. It is non toxic.

The company is seeking investment and R&D partners. Immunova has defined the path to a Phase I/IIa multidose trial which could initiate within 15 months of funding. Immunova is also seeking partners who wish to validate this platform in oncology and inflammation.

Website:
www.immunova.net
Year Founded
2011
Biotech Subsector
Biotech Phase of Development
Technology Overview
Immunova’s platform enables effective drug combination therapy. Chemically diverse drugs such as biologics and small molecules can be formulated and encapsulated in a liposome and thereby delivered systemically to a target cell or environment where each encapsulated API can be released independently in a controlled or tuneable manner using our proprietary technology. Importantly, this approach also potentiates existing or novel therapies often increasing their therapeutic index. LipoGel-TR is a hybrid platform of liposomes and PLGA nanoparticle delivery systems designed to possess the positive features of each platform while minimizing the negative aspects. Many of the building blocks required to make a LipoGel can be bought preassembled and GMP from third party providers thus shortening development timelines. We have demonstrated the superiority of LipoGels in numerous in vitro assays (drug loading and release and potency) and animal models of disease (efficacy and survival). Using our technology we have demonstrated that we can (a) direct one or more drugs to the TME, (b) increase drug synergies, efficacy and potency of chemo and immunotherapies, (c) decrease drug toxicity, (d) increase immune cell activity and (e) generate new intellectual property.
Alliance & Collaborations
The company is actively seeking partners in oncology and inflammation.
Supporting Metrics or Evidence
The technology has been published in high profile journals and the founder actively collaborates with numerous scientists at leading institutions. The Company’s initial focus is cancer immunotherapy: delivery of molecules that modulate immunity, positively and negatively, in order to undermine the tumor microenvironment and allow the immune system to keep pace with tumor evolution and thus be primed to eradicate disease. Our lead asset, IMM01: • Is targeted to and accumulates in tumors; • Encapsulated APIs are slowly released over 7 days and this can be further modulated; • Dramatically increases potency and efficacy: in a murine model of metastatic disease, IV delivery of IMM-01 results in 85% survival of IMM-01-treated mice at day 60 whereas all untreated mice, as well as mice treated with the drugs in solution, have died by day 30; • Increases immune infiltrate within the tumor which correlates with good patient outcomes • Significantly increases the potency of anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 mAb therapy in a mouse model of metastatic disease supporting published MoA studies • Is not toxic; there are no signs of renal, hepatic, bronchial, RBC or leukocyte toxicity when IMM-01 is administered to mice at high doses.
Current Financing Needs
Immunova is seeking $8-10M to fund operations for three years and including a phase I/IIa clinical trial
Current Timeline
Pending financing, IMM-01 is ca 15 months from a Phase I/IIa clinical trial
Current Investors
Angel-backed to date
IP Status
The company has licensed 4 granted and 3 pending patents
Recent Milestones
Q3 2014 • Demonstration of synergy with checkpoint inhibitors • New patent filed • Patent granted • Academic founder noted as a bioentrepreneur to watch by Nature Biotechnology Q4 2014 • First phase technology transfer to CMO • Identified lead clinical trial site and PI • Determined drug needs for clinical trial • Regulator engaged for ‘preIND meeting’
Management Team Highlights
The Company has recruited an impressive team that has an established and successful record of building companies. The management, advisors and scientific founders have an established network of both pharmaceutical and medical contacts and extensive experience running biotechnology firms and executing clinical trials. For reference, the following biotech startups founded/managed/invested in by Immunova Management or Advisors, were acquired prior to FDA approval: • Neurovir Therapeutics, Inc. – Acquired by MediGene AG for $42M • Nurel Therapeutics – acquired by DyaMid AB (undisclosed) • Proximagen plc. – Acquired by Upsher Smith for $550M • PharmaGenics Inc. – acquired by Genzyme for $28M • Prostagen– acquired by Cytogen (undisclosed)
Immunova LLC