Take a look at the exciting updates from the New York State (NYS) Biodefense Commercialization Fund and discover how MSIP is aiding the growth of program participants and healthcare innovations.
The New York State (NYS) Biodefense Commercialization Fund was established in 2021, with a $40 million budget to accelerate the development and commercialization of solutions for infectious diseases while promoting the growth of new life science businesses and supporting industrial growth. The Fund provides grants to startup companies and academic institutions working on innovative projects in the field. Three cohorts of the Fund have been successfully launched so far, with the latest round of awardees announced by Governor Kathy Hochul on July 15, 2024.
The Strategic Alliance and Program Management and Marketing and Outreach teams of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP) lead the Biodefense Mentorship Program which provides support from a vast network of industry experts across healthcare domains to help advance healthcare technologies and innovations.
The Mentorship Program offers a structured approach to project development, with engagement points and objectives set at six-month intervals. MSIP has recruited over 50 industry mentors to guide awardees towards successful commercialization of their technologies. Mentors and awardees are matched based on their expertise and project needs.
Mentorship Program Impact:
- Awardee cohorts 1 – 3 included over 24 innovations.
- Mount Sinai awardees included four startups and two academic innovations, earning a total of over $5 million in funding.
- Mentor cohorts 1 – 3 engaged over 40 industry advisors.
- Awardees have received over $350 million in additional funding since participation in the Fund.
- Over 24 new jobs were created and 24 patents were filed since the launch of the Fund
Program Awardee Highlights:
- Inso Biosciences: This early-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing hardware platforms and tools for handling genomic samples was awarded a Phase I SBIR grant for $175,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin the development of their technology platform towards applications in long-read sequencing for agrigenomics.
- RenBio: this company, developing an antibody delivery platform known as “Make Your Own” (MYO) technology, is using protein-based therapeutics to treat various diseases. RenBio raised $24 million in Series A funding and aims to complete IND-enabling preclinical studies to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial.
- Columbia University, Dr. David Brenner: led by Dr. David J. Brenner, the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University, whose laboratory is developing a Far-UVC technology that has shown potential in safely reducing airborne transmission of diseases in public spaces. The Stephen Ross Foundation committed $2.5 million to Dr. Brenner to establish the Far-UVC Foundation Professorship at Columbia University. Dr. Brenner also organized the First International Congress on Far-UVC Science and Technology (ICFUST) which hosted over 200 attendees from 10 different countries.
Discover More Startup Programs Led by MSIP:
As a New York State Certified Business Incubator (also known as NYSTAR), MSIP is expanding opportunities for early-stage companies through other programs as well, including:
- Elementa Labs: A virtual incubator program that confidently positions healthcare and biotechnology startups for the next stage of their development. The program offers strategic alignment with the Mount Sinai Health System, granting access to subject matter experts in healthcare and science. This fosters a better understanding of customers and the potential advancement of core technology platforms. If interested in applying, click For any inquiries, please e-mail elementalabs@mssm.edu.
- National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Hub NY Region: Mount Sinai is a partner site for this program, which is designed to train startups in developing successful business plans using the customer discovery methodology. Our expertise in the healthcare and biotechnology industries ensures that participants receive top-notch training and guidance to help them achieve their goals.