Three Boston Startups Win Biotech Tuesday Innovation Awards

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.

J. Montgomery to headline blues benefit for film about 1960s WBCN-radio

Will play at West End Johnnie, Boston, on Wednesday, November 20 Limited tickets now available through Eventbrite.com

James Montgomery to lead at acoustic blues benefit Nov. 20

November 11, 2013 [Boston, MA] — Boston music legends led by bluesman James Montgomery will perform an evening of rare, unplugged acoustic blues at Boston’s West End Johnnie’s on November 20.The event will benefit the documentary film “The American Revolution,” which tells the story of the early days of WBCN-FM, as well as a recently established archives at UMass Amherst that is preserving and organizing the more than 100,000 archival items from the era shared for the film.

“In its early days, WBCN was the hub of enormous musical, social and political activity in Boston much of which had a national impact,” says Montgomery. “The blues were at the heart of it, and we’ll celebrate the roots of blues in this special evening of music.”

The benefit is at West End Johnnie’s, 138 Portland St. Boston, MA (phone: 617-227-1588) the cornerstone of Boston’s renewed West End that features an expansive collection of sports and music memorabilia.

Tickets are available online at KickstartWBCN.com for a suggested tax-deductible donation of $25. Donations to the non-profit production can also be made at the website.

“The American Revolution” tells the story of WBCN and Boston’s underground music, political and media scene during the late-1960s and early-1970s. WBCN began broadcasting as a free-form station in Boston on March 15, 1968 and soon became a powerful and groundbreaking media platform for a young generation driven to challenge social, cultural and political norms.

“WBCN broke the mold among radio stations playing the recordings of great blues artists like B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf,” says film producer Bill Lichtenstein, who worked at WBCN starting while in junior high school in 1970 when he was just 14 years old. “Their music influenced emerging bands that were heavily blues-oriented, such as Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin. This evening of music is a celebration of this important musical history.”

The benefit is also supporting the newly-launched “The American Revolution Documentary Archive Collection,” a collaborative project between the film’s producer, Lichtenstein Creative Media, and UMass Amherst Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives.

The archive makes accessible to the public and scholars hundreds of hours of rare audio and video recordings and films; tens of thousands of photographs; letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories; posters; memorabilia; artwork; and other materials gathered from the public and then digitized and cataloged by the film’s Peabody Award-winning producer Lichtenstein Creative Media with UMass Amherst for use in the film.“The value of the American Revolution archives lies in the fact that WBCN was more than just a radio station; it was a voice for a community of young people dedicated to changing the world,” says Rob Cox, head of UMass Special Collections and University Archives. “It is difficult to imagine a more creative array of writers, artists, musicians, and photographers than those who worked for, and were connected by, the radio station. Their contributions will make a important addition to our collections on social change.”

For more information on the benefit contact: Bill Lichtenstein, Lichtenstein Creative Media, cell: 917-635-2538, Bill@LCMedia.com

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and market development firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

–Anita Harris

Don’t miss Nov. 12 deadline to enter $22K biotech award competition; Nov. 19 event

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.

Cambridge municipal election: Peoples’ Republic or Too Much Democracy?

On my way to the polls, today, I ran into a neighbor who had just voted. She is well-educated (has a PhD) and is a responsible citizen. I asked her how she had handled having to rank 25 candidates for City Council…not to mention 9 for the School Committee… on the paper ballot. “There were two names I recognized,” she said. “I voted for them; the rest I chose at random,” she said.

Great. I’d written down my choices–but the crush of candidates and their supporters in front of the school where I vote felt overwhelming.

The school committee candidate I’d planned to place fifth gave me a crushing handshake and said he hoped I’d put him first.

The self-proclaimed “best friend” of a city council candidate said she’d really appreciate my vote.

A lackluster fellow had spoken to me at my doorstep weeks earlier–suggesting that the frontrunner did not need my number 1 so I should give it to him.

In researching the school committee field, I’d been unimpressed with the school candidate who had put his kid in private school…Had decided to give my number 1 vote to a recent business school grad who attended the Cambridge public schools–after several of his uncles–all of whom worked in m– had been killed in the candidate’s native African homeland…

Anyway, I’d written down my choices but with so many names on the ballot, in the voting booth, I somehow skipped a school committee candidate I favored and had to request a new ballot…Goofed again on my city council ballot….When I returned, again, for a new one, a poll watcher asked if I understood how to vote and did I need help. On my second city council ballot try, I found myself voting for incumbents, figuring they, at least, knew what they were doing.

When I went to check out, the voting machine refused my school committee ballot–the tip of the pen had touched one of the boxes when I was considering whom to mark as number 5. I requested yet another school committee ballot. The poll watcher remarked, “Luckily this doesn’t happen often.”

I asked if she meant that most people don’t goof up like I had or that there aren’t usually so many candidates.

“I meant it’s lucky we only vote once a year,” she said.

On my third school committee ballot I somehow missed giving the young African my number one vote. I was too embarrassed to ask for a fourth ballot so gave him number three–and a couple of others–mostly incumbents, the rest of my votes–pretty much at random.

The ballot went through. I remarked to another poll watcher that I’d goofed, yet again and that perhaps the system should be changed. “It’s historically correct,” she assured me. “It dates from the 1700s.”

I do wonder if, in the 1700s, voters had to rank 25 people for the same office–or if the system was designed –or remains– to ensure that incumbents remain in office. I also wonder if, as a British colleague remarked when I told him about our ranking system, there is such a thing as “too much democracy.”

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and consultant living in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and market development firm based in Kendall Square.

Cambridge’s Luke Farrar Kickstarts fundraising for Aussie Claustral Canyon 3-D Film

With 17 days to go, and at 37% of his target, 3-d filmmaker Luke Farrar says things are going quite well for his Kickstarter campaign to fund an amazing filmmaking project–using a novel, 3-D camera–to bring a beautiful Australian canyon to your computer Screen.

Luke says Claustral Canyon is one of the world’s most ancient and beautiful slot canyons. Fifty million years old, it is ten times older than the Grand Canyon. There is no record of the Aboriginals ever having been there, which only adds to the mystery of the place. The canyon was only explored for the first time in the 1960s.

Here’s a link to Luke’s Kickstarter page, which includes a video explanation and demonstration of the project. Luke is based at the CIC, where I work; great if you could help him out with a few bucks.

Journey To A Lost Canyon .

–Anita Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and digital marketing firm working with health, science, technology, energy and the environmental clients, worldwide.

CIC welcomes new (old) client…

Warm welcome to one of the newest (oldest?) clients at the Cambridge Innovation Center…My favorite entrant in the Halloween Competition, so far. It’s by Mike Burtov, CEO at Cangrade, which offers hiring automation/psychological testing. Back story is that this guy or gal is still waiting for Netscape to load…from 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. Pleased that s/he’s in C3 (shared space on the 5th floor) rather than on another floor, where I often work, which we’ve dubbed “elderhostel” for reasons you might be able to guess.

–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR, social media and content marketing firm based in the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.

Guest Post: Mark Orton on Metadata, the Government and You

Mark Orton, our friend and former Cantabridgian, now living in Hudson, NY (aka Cambridge on the Hudson), suggests that the government is not being straightforward about how the multitude of data it is collecting is being used. He recommends a new tool called “Immersion” with which you can check out just how easy it is to compile and understand your own metadata.

Mark first posted the following on July 9 at Current Matters as “The uses of metadata: an experiment you can conduct with your own life.”

—AMH

With the recent revelations of the NSA vacuum cleaner collecting metadata about every aspect of our lives1 we have been subjected to calming incantations, “We are only collecting metadata, we aren’t looking at the content”. As I (and many others) have pointed out earlier, this is complete nonsense.

Now three fellows at MIT have provided us with a web tool to visualize metadata from our own lives. If you have a Gmail account, you should trundle over to Immersion and take a look at your own metadata.

I have been using my Gmail account as my main email system for a number of years. There are four other email addresses connected to it so the graphic below presents much more than just my Gmail email address’s activity.

(click on the graphic to see it full size)

Immersion: a people-centric view of your email life

Keep in mind that the Immersion site offers a great deal of interactivity. You set sliders to see different chunks of time, pick out particular people and see how they connect to others, and much more. There are three mysterious sliders on the left, “charge”, “node”, and “link” that change the organization of the chart. I have been unable to determine exactly what they do and the MIT guys have, to my knowledge, provided no explanation. Perhaps in their cocoon on Mass Ave, they assume that everyone will know or immediately intuit the uses of these sliders.

In my case it was very easy to identify the basic clumps of my life: family and friends, Hudson business community, and the library. Then you might notice floating around the periphery are a lot of nodes without links (or only occasional ones) to anyone else. These are my clients. I don’t email most of them very often. And, excepting a referral by me for some specific business purpose they never know about the existence of others amongst my client base, therefore no links between them.

Now, having played with this a bit one gets a much more visceral sense of how important and useful metadata is. And, imagining a pool of metadata that adds telephone contacts, location data from cellphones, text messages, Facebook, LinkedIn, and financial transactions, it is easy to see how fine grained and comprehensive a picture could be constructed.

So, as noted in an earlier post, NSA Vacuuming, Meta Data, Mistaken Misleading Metaphors, the government is being disengenuous, to be mild, to describe metadata as only metadata.

Here is a view of my data for just the last year. Some people have disappeared, new ones added, and the shape of the intensity of the interactions changed. Immersion: a people-centric view of your email life=last year

We are forced to assume that they are collecting everything, emails, telephone calls, financial transactions, text messages, anything digital which is virtually every aspect of life unless you took to the woods before 2000 and have been subsisting in an entirely cash economy without any communications that re not face to face. The tangle of lies by every government official involved will not support any other sensible interpretation. [↩]

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.

Climbing the walls–literally–at CIC Party in Somerville

Felt very cool in joining 500 of my closest friends at the all-CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center) Party held at Brooklyn Boulder indoor climbing center, in Somerville, on Friday night. During the day, CIC is a vibrant workplace for 500 companies and 1700 people on nine floors of two high-rise buildings in Kendall Square, Cambridge. At the party, all of that energy 2013-07-12_20-17-49_347

and many of those people were unleashed in one huge horizontal space–literally climbing the walls, doing yoga, taking photos, who knows what else. We were given the choice of drinking or climbing…

2013-07-12_20-17-37_80 Friends Tom, R, Michael, Kathryn….heck, almost everyone I knew– chose the former, making us, perhaps, a bit less cool?

—Anita Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing agency located in Cambridge, MA.