Image for Life Science Innovation Day 2014

On Tuesday, June 3, the Massachusetts Life Science Center (MLSC) will host  its 7th Mass Life Sciences Innovation  Day at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston. Billed on its Website as “the biggest day for life sciences startups and innovation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Mass Life Science Innovation Day is  “a high-energy, hands-on event” at which scientific leaders and business experts mingle with scientists, post-docs, professors, entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists.  

“This is one of the best opportunities to hear about trends affecting life sciences start-ups and to learn about new technologies that are ready for commercialization, ”  according to Abigail Barrow, Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center and the conference chair,  

A central question to be addressed at the event involves creativity, according to Barrow. That is, can researchers still be creative with the organizational and financial demands that are placed on research environments?  Do corporations and academics still have the courage to allow their teams to be really creative? If you want to do interesting and exciting science can you still get the funding? How does business and finance leadership view creativity?

“Our speakers and panelists will discuss the current battle to create innovation friendly environments and its impact on entrepreneurs and young researchers finding jobs.”

The morning session will feature a keynote address by Mark Levin, who will speak about how Third Rock, the  venture capital firm he founded,  invests in new companies.

 Brock Reeve, Director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, will be the luncheon speaker.
Morning and afternoon breakout sessions featuring more than 40 speakers will cover scientific topics such as indication selection, experiment design and managing research programs as well as entrepreneurial topics including  “how to join the venture capital club,”  how to pitch your new idea, and “where to find money to fund your start-up.”

Some 30 early-stage companies and major research institutions will present posters and compete for prizes to be awarded at the close of the day by State Senator Karen Spilka.  The award-winners will be chosen by 20 Life Science CEOS and biotech leaders who will also attend a closing reception. The reception will include an Innovators Marketplace offering resources needed to commercialize an invention.

 More information on the program and registration is available on  the MLSC website at  –http://www.mattcenter.org/malsi-day-2014/home.html .

Here’s a link to the agenda and a complete list of speakers.
Conference fees range from $60 for students  to $550 for two marketplace exhibitors.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation Day was  developed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Start-up Initiative (MALSI)–a platform organization that brings together all major public and private entities in the State that are committed to building the next generation of Massachusetts companies. MALSI’s mission is to ensure that Massachusetts maintains its lead as the #1 region in the world to start, nurture and grow life sciences companies.  MALSI partners include: Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, MassBio, Mass Medical Angels, TiE Boston, and several major universities and research hospitals.

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is an author, photographer  and communications consultant based ib Cambridge, MA. 

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA. 

Boston area  startups Cocoon Biotech, Riparian Pharmaceuticals, Cellanyx Diagnostics, and DavosPharma  were awarded$22K in funds and in-kind services at an innovation competition held by Biotech Tuesday, a Cambridge-based networking organization for life science professionals.

left-to-right : Execs from EMD Serono, Novartis and Lab Central

At an event on November 19th event, executives from EMD Serono, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and LabCentral chose the winning startup pitches from among five finalists’ presentations. The finalists were selected from an initial field of thirteen online entries based, in part, on online feedback from BiotechTuesday members. The three winners were all therapeutics and diagnostics startups proposing solutions to challenging medical problems.

Cocoon Biotech, Inc., led by CEO and founder Ailis Tweed-Kent, a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital won the $5000 EMD Serono Innovation Award.  Cocoon Biotech is developing a silk-based gel for injection into the joint to provide long lasting joint support and lubrication in patients with osteoarthritis.  EMD Serono is the biopharmaceutical subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a global pharmaceutical and chemical group.

Riparian Pharmaceuticals, led by Will Adam, Chief Scientific Officer and President, won both the $10,000 in-kind Novartis Innovation Award and the $3000 in-kind Pharmatek Innovation Award. Riparian Pharmaceuticals is focused on therapeutics that induce an anti-inflammatory response in cells to address diseases such as atherosclerosis.  Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. discovers and develops new and innovative medicines. Pharmatek Laboratories, Inc. is a premier pharmaceutical chemistry development and manufacturing organization supporting the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries.

Cellanyx Diagnostics, led by Co-Founder and CEO Ashok Chander, won the $4000 in-kind LabCentral Innovation Award.  Cellanyx is developing a prostate cancer diagnostic based on culturing tumor biopsy cells that promises to be much more accurate than current diagnostics.  LabCentral provides fully functional lab space, permits, waste handling, plus all reasonably common lab equipment for bioresearch.

In addition to awarding startups, the event also acknowledged the contribution of life science products and services in enabling cutting edge research for new therapeutics.  DavosPharma won the Most Innovative Product or Service Award in recognition of its Anthem-GenTox product. This product offers scientists a high throughput genotoxicity assay based on human cells with greatly improved accuracy over conventional methods.

“This was Biotech Tuesday’s first innovation competition–but by no means its last, “said BioTechTuesday Co-Founder Seth Taylor, who organizes BiotechTuesday and served as master of ceremonies for the event.” The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly in favor of the competition,” Taylor said.  “We look forward to continuing our efforts to engage our broad community of life science professionals in supporting innovators.”

The competition took place at District Hall, a new event space at 75 Northern Avenue in the Boston Seaport District.

–Anita Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and content expert based in Cambridge, MA. 

New Cambridge Observer is published by the Harris Communications Group,  a PR and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square. HarrisCom offers writing and content services for clients in healthcare, life sciences, biotech, energy and the environment.  Full disclosure:  HarrisCom handled media outreach for the event as a probono sponsor. 

Our colleague Seth Taylor asked us to let you know that BioTechTuesday will be holding a $22K Life Science Innovation Competition and Pitch event on November 19; deadline to enter the competition is Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Here’s the scoop:

BiotechTuesday, a networking organization for life science professionals, will hold an innovation competition at which major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will award $22K in funds and in-kind services.   The winners will be life-science startups and researchers judged to have the most innovative ideas and laboratory products.

The event will take place at District Hall, a new event space at 75 Northern Avenue in the Boston Seaport District, from 6-9, on Tuesday, November 19.

Awards include:

• Financial and in-kind prizes for the most promising startup concepts and early stage ventures. Innovators can submit their concept or venture online for consideration by November 12, 2013. The BiotechTuesday community will then vote online—contributing to the selection of five finalists who will pitch their concepts at the event. At the event, competition judges from Novartis, EMD Serono, Pharmatek and others, will choose the winners.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER[http://goo.gl/gBhiaq]

• Recognition for the most innovative recently-launched products or services. Companies can submit recently launched products or services online for consideration, by November 12, 2013.  Finalists will present their pitches one-on-one to attendees and judges at the event.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER [http://goo.gl/03Q7pG]

“This competition event is unique in that it relies on a true community from a top life-science super cluster to select and validate some of the most exciting new approaches in the field,” said Seth Taylor, BiotechTuesday co-founder and host. “It provides a tremendous opportunity for the community to engage with innovators launching the hot companies of the future, and products that may impact their work today.”

Peter Parker, co-founder and director of programming for LabCentral, an innovative, shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for life-sciences startups, said: “We share in Biotech Tuesday’s mission to advance innovation in the life-sciences community. We are pleased to offer one month’s free membership and a bench space in LabCentral’s co-working lab and office facility ($4,000 value). LabCentral provides fully functional lab space, permits, waste handling, plus all reasonably common lab equipment for bioresearch. Access to conference rooms and event space,  kitchens, etc. is also included, as is participation in programming specific to the interests of life-sciences startups.”

In the words of Charles Wilson, Vice President and Head of Business at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc:  “We believe that the time and expertise of large companies can be of great value to startups.  For this reason, we have committed to offering resources and analysis to help a winning company reach investors and commercialize their therapeutics.”

Timothy Scott, President and Co-Founder, Pharmatek Inc., a contract research organization offering $3000 in reagents to the winning team, said:  “We are committed to supporting innovation with our products and services, and through our Pharmatek University educational programs,”

Event attendance is open to the public. Click here to register [http://goo.gl/fRUh1J].

BioTechTuesday is a networking organization offering monthly events and an online community for life science professionals.  Founded in 2002 in the Boston area, BiotechTuesday now has thousands of members. 

Contact: Seth Taylor 617-615-6152    staylor@biotechtuesday.com   Twitter: #pitchbio

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and market development firm specializing in strategic communication, media relations, social and digital media for health care, life science, biotech, tech and energy.  

UK-based Alacrita, a global life science consulting firm with consultants worldwide, will soon be opening an office in Cambridge, MA, according to Robert Johnson, who will head the office, here.

The company was co-founded two years ago by Anthony Walker, who had previously served as Executive Director of Global External R&D Europe at Eli Lilly,  and  by Johnson, who had led business development at Onyvax, a biotech company that developed biopharmaceuticals to combat cancer.

Drawing on the capabilities of more than 50 consultants worldwide, Alacrita  provides strategic, operational,  technical  advice or  hands-on project management to organizations of all sizes in  the pharma, biotechnology and life science industries, Johnson said.

According to the Alacrita Web site, clients may be academic institutes, tech transfer experts,  life science investors, startups  or  established companies in need of expertise in:

• Business development and marketing
• Intellectual property
• Product development
• Regulatory affairs

Recent whitepapers available on the  company Website   include:

• Biotech in Israel: A Land of Promise » May 2012 – by Anthony Walker, PhD
• FDA Approvals Provide Reason For Cheer » March 2012 – by Robert Johnson
• Deal Watch Annual Review 2011 » January 2012
• Viewpoint: Pharma Industry Myths » January 2012 – by Anthony Walker, PhD
• Europe’s stellar decade of prostate cancer innovation » September 2011 – by Rob Johnson
• Are we all biotech now? » June 2011 – by Anthony Walker and Rob Johnson
• China: Opportunities for biotech firms » March 2011 – by Rob Johnson and Li Zeng
• Re-Profiling: a Hidden Threat to Originators? » February 2011 – by Dr Jo Davies
• Deal Watch Annual Review 2010 » January 2011 – by Roger Davies and Jill Ogden
• Mitigating Out-sourcing Risk » December 2010 – by Robert Johnson and Anthony Walker
• Deal Watch: a Review of Notable Deals » October 2010 – by Sharon Finch

Alacrita’s US offices will be located in the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square.  The company name comes from the Latin, “alacritas,” or “lively.”  It is meant to convey “a cheerful readiness,” Johnson said.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning strategic public relations,  marketing communications and thought leadership firm in Cambridge, MA.

The Cambridge Innovation Center and quite a few companies will be holding open houses this Thursday in Kendall Square, Cambridge–as part of the nine-day Cambridge Science Festival.

Billed on its Web site as “the first of its kind in the nation,”  the annual Festival opened on Saturday, April 24, to showcase  Cambridge as an internationally recognized leader in science, technology, engineering and math.  A multifaceted, multicultural event held every spring, the Cambridge Science Festival makes science accessible, interactive and fun.

A myriad of events–ranging from talks and panel discussions to demonstrations, luncheons, museum exhibits, elementary school science fairs  and company open houses–are listed at the  Festival’s Schedule of Events.

I expect to be at the Cambridge Innovotion Center open house at 1 Broadway  on Thursday evening–as will my client, InVivo Therapeutics, and   Vitality, Seeding Labs, Acorn Product Development,   HubSpot and other companies.   The Venture Cafe, on the 11th floor,  will be open to the public  from 6-9 pm.

As a graduating  PhD, Robert Langer, now Institute Professor at MIT, was having trouble finding work.

As he told the Health Innovators Group of Combined Jewish Philanthropies on Friday, most of his classmates took jobs with oil companies but  he knew that wasn’t for him.  Having helped found an alternative high school in Cambridge, he  applied for 50 or 60 jobs in curriculum development, but no one wrote him back. Then he tried medical schools and hospitals, but “they didn’t write back, either.”  Finally, someone  in his lab told him that someone at Children’s Hospital sometimes hired “unusual people.”

That “someone” was Judah Folkman, who, in 1974,  was beginning to work on angiogenesis, which involved the idea that cutting the blood flow to tumors could halt  their growth.  The possibility  intrigued Langer, who  was hired–but made a rather inauspicious start.

As a post doc, he spent half of his time scraping meat off of cow bones delivered from a South Boston slaughterhouse. He   discovered 200 methods that didn’t work;. He  faced  hostile scientists who told him they didn’t believe anything he said, and,  as time went on,  was denied many patents by officers who were were unwilling to accept his proof.

It took until 2002 for  the first angiogenisis drug to gain FDA approved.  By then, Bob, who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, was MIT’s most prolific inventor and a University Professor who had helped found many companies and   inspired countless students–who now run departments, labs, and companies of their own.

I’ve known Bob since the 7th grade…and was in the 8th-grade English class  in which, he tells people , he was so shy that he froze during a public speaking exercise, and got an F.  We both went to Cornell, where, he’s told me, he found that he learned more studying on his own (and playing bridge) than going to class.  And I remember sitting in a pizza parlor with him in  1982, watching as he diagrammed  his ideas on a mechanism for “slow release” for pharmaceuticals–on a napkin.

Despite his success, a recent writeup in Nature,  and much  excitement about possible “pharmacies on a chip,”,  a stem cell device to help individuals with spinal cord injuries,  and an adhesive for heart surgery based on the sticky-stuff that allows gekkos to climb up walls, Bob  remains the same old Bob, who sometimes gets  ideas for new devices, materials and methods  from television and magazine magazines.    He’s still down-to-earth, supportive, and even funny.   (Did  you know that the most  surgical devices are invented by doctors who use household materials to fit their operating needs…which is why the “stretchiness” material used in artificial heart is the same stuff used in ladies’ girdles? )

So- for job hunters out there the message is simple but profound. Believe in yourself and your ideas, treat people kindly, and  keep on going.

Great talk, Bob. Once again, bravo.

AMH

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

I’m  helping Cambridge Heart and Kogs Communications get out the good news that the company’s non-invasive test, which is administered much like a stress test, on a treadmill, accurately predicts the risk of sudden cardiac arrest–the leading killer in the US.

Here’s today’s release:

Tewksbury, Mass., March 3, 2009 – Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB-CAMH), today announced the publication of five articles supporting the use of Microvolt T Wave Alternans™ (MTWA) testing in a supplement to the March issue of the Heart Rhythm journal. Featured in the supplement is a comprehensive meta-analysis of 6,000 patients confirming the value of MTWA as a non-invasive marker of risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

The MTWA test, administered much like a stress test on a treadmill, was developed by Cambridge Heart as a diagnostic tool to help physicians determine a patient’s risk of sudden cardiac arrest — the leading cause of death in the United States.

The meta-analysis, conducted by a group led by Stefan Hohnloser, MD, FHRS, of the JW Goethe University Division of Cardiology in Frankfurt, Germany, assessed 13 MTWA clinical studies involving approximately 6,000 cardiac patients.

“The results demonstrate that MTWA testing is a consistently accurate predictor of sudden cardiac death and cardiac arrest in patients who do not already have implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs),” said Dr. Stefan Hohnloser. “These are the patients for whom MTWA testing is intended.”

The meta-analysis authors also conclude that:

· Patients who test negative for MTWA abnormalities are at extremely low risk (0.3%) for SCA in the next 12 months.

· MTWA testing can help doctors guide ICD therapy to appropriate patients and overcome the widespread reluctance of patients and referring physicians to accept ICD therapy.

· In clinical trials, appropriate ICD shocks are an unreliable surrogate endpoint for SCA and can skew results of risk stratification studies.

“This comprehensive analysis confirms the findings of numerous peer-reviewed studies which underscore the important role of MTWA in assessing a patient’s risk of sudden cardiac arrest,” said Ali Haghighi-Mood, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Heart.

The Heart Rhythm supplement also includes:

· A second meta-analysis of MTWA testing in patients with non-ischemic heart disease, authored by Gaetano De Ferrari, MD and Antonio Sanzo, MD of the Department of Cardiology at Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia Italy. Analyzing eight available trials involving 1,450 patients, the paper indicates that in this population negative MTWA results can help patients and their physicians decide whether ICD therapy may safely be avoided.

· An article by Michael J. Mirro, MD, Medical Director of the Parkview Health System Clinical Research Center in Fort Wayne Indiana, who describes how his center has incorporated MTWA testing into clinical practice to complement other methods for identifying and educating patients about the risk of SCA.

· A review of numerous studies concerning the underlying cellular mechanisms of T-wave alternans. The authors conclude that microvolt T-wave alternans is a marker of cellular changes that make the heart susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest. The review was carried out by Michael Cutler, DO, PhD, and David S. Rosenbaum, MD, of the Heart and Vascular Research Center at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

· A review by Navinder Sawhney, MD and Sanjiv Narayan, MD of the University of California at San Diego that underscores the value of MTWA testing in patients who have had heart attacks but do not fall within current guidelines for ICD implantation.

The articles in the supplement can be found on the Heart Rhythm journal website at:

http://www.heartrhythmjournal.com/issues/contents?issue_key=S1547-5271(09)X0006-8

About Cambridge Heart, Inc.

Cambridge Heart develops and commercializes non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, with a focus on identifying those at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The Company’s products incorporate proprietary Microvolt T-Wave Alternans measurement technologies including the patented Analytic Spectral Method^® and ultrasensitive disposable electrode sensors. Medicare reimburses the Analytic Spectral Method^® under its National Coverage Policy. Cambridge Heart, founded in 1990, is based in Tewksbury, MA. The company’s Microvolt T-Wave Alternans™ (MTWA) test, developed by Cambridge Heart (OTCBB: CAMH), is based on research originally conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://www.cambridgeheart.com.

Statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, we use words such as “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “estimates”, “could”, and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause or contribute to such differences include failure to achieve broad market acceptance of the Company’s MTWA technology, failure of our sales and marketing organization to market our products effectively, inability to hire and retain qualified clinical applications specialists in the Company’s target markets, failure to obtain or maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for use of the Company’s MTWA test, customer delays in making final buying decisions, decreased demand for the Company’s products, failure to obtain funding necessary to develop or enhance our technology, adverse results in future clinical studies of our technology, failure to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology and other factors identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10‑K/A under “Risk Factors”, which is on file with the SEC and available at www.EDGAR.com. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so except as may be legally necessary, even if our estimates should change.

The New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.

I’m pleased to announce that Scientia Advisors has launched ScientiaNET,  a “knowledge network” for  health care and the life sciences. ( True,  they are my client, but I AM pleased).

The network now has 10 thousand member/experts and is seeking additional ones.  Members are leading scientists, physicians, practitioners, academics and industry professionals who are  paid their hourly rates to provide Scientia and its clients with analyses, opinions, surveys and consultation on life science tools and technologies, medical devices, diagnostics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and regulatory issues.

The member/experts typically consult with business leaders and decision-makers on industry trends and developments, operational problems/solutions, or specific products/services.

If you’d like to become a ScientiaNET member or engage one (or many)   please visit www.scientiaadv.com. 

AMH

Scientia Advisors, based in Cambridge, MA and Palo Alto, CA, is a global management consulting firm specializing in strategic growth and operational strategies  for major and emerging companies in health care and the life sciences.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.