Partnering Opportunities – Call for Proposals for Novel Therapeutic Targets with Application Across Pfizer’s Core Therapeutic Areas

Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) is now accepting pre-proposals for its 2021 CTI Call for Proposals.

 

CTI collaborates with academic institutions and investigators to push forward great science, using the depth and breadth of the Pfizer enterprise to accelerate concepts into viable therapies with breakthrough potential for patients.

 

Who can apply?
Weill researchers. Please contact Lisa Placanica, Senior Managing Director, CTL at WCM

 

Application Period Opens: March 22, 2021

Submission Deadline: June 28th 2021

 

Download the flyer for more information.

 

Learn more about Pfizer’s areas of interest: https://www.pfizercti.com/?cmp=21flyer#interest

 

 

Meet the Panelists of Running a Startup: Perspective of Two Women Founders and CEOs from Cornell

For the third WI2 webinar, we speak with two women founders and CEOs from Cornell University to find out about their experience as female founders/CEOs and to hear about the lessons learned during the formation and the growth of their venture.

 

Join us Apr 2, 2021 11:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada).

 

Panelists


Dr. Rachel Dorin, Founder, and CEO, TeraPore Technologies

 

Dr. Rachel Dorin is TeraPore’s CEO and company founder. She is co-inventor of TeraPore’s core technology and received her Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Dorin is passionate about innovation, growth, and gender equality. She started TeraPore with a vision to solve mission-critical purifications with advanced filtration technology.

 

Dr. Dorin received B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biology from the University of New Mexico (UNM). She worked at Sandia National Labs Advanced Materials Labs on nanostructured metals for energy applications for several years. She also performed research on gene expression in fluorescing microbes in UNM’s biology department. Her research at Cornell focused on the application of self-assembling materials to separations applications. She received a minor in business from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and led the Technology Entrepreneurship @ Cornell organization. Dr. Dorin was the recipient of Cornell’s McMullen Fellowship as well as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

 

 


Dr. Siyu Huang, Founder, and CEO, Lionano SE

 

Siyu is the co-founder and CEO of Lionano SE and its heritage company Lionano Inc. She founded Lionano through a business plan competition at Cornell. She worked in Cornell Tech Transfer office and later on drove the first commercialization project through sponsorship from Columbia University. She has successfully closed series of financings for Lionano Inc. and Lionano SE. with more than $50M raised from a variety of VCs and PE from the US and Europe. She grew the sales from zero to full capacity demand in 4 months for Lionano Inc. She also led the partnership agreement execution with 5 out of World’s Top 10 Auto OEMs, 2 battery manufacturers, and 3 strategic material suppliers for Lionano SE. Prior to Lionano, she worked in Johnson & Johnson in sales & marketing and led strategic alliances with external Fortune 500 partners. She received both her Ph.D. in Chemistry and MBA from Cornell. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

 

 

Moderator


Alice Li, Executive Director, Center for Technology Licensing, Cornell University

 

Alice Li is the Executive Director of Cornell’s Center for Technology Licensing (CTL), the university’s technology transfer office. She oversees activities in technology management, marketing, licensing, and outreach to support Cornell’s goals in commercializing technologies, promoting startups, and building partnerships.

 

 

Register here:

 

More information on the Women Innovators Initiative

Watch the Digital Health Innovations – What They Are, How to Protect Them, and Commercialization Strategies Panel

 

On March 12, 2021, CTL hosted the first installation of the Weill Digital Health Series: Digital Health Innovations – What They Are, How to Protect Them, and Commercialization Strategies

 

The featured panelists were:

  • Kathryn Bowsher, Commercial Strategist, ACT ONE Healthcare
  • Peter Fleischut, Sr VP & Chief Transformation Officer, Digital Health: Innovation Center, NY Presbyterian
  • Jason Novak, Partner, Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, Haynes and Boone
  • Roger Kuan, Partner, Chair – Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, Haynes and Boone
  • Anshu Vaish, MD, Director, Data Science External Innovation Janssen Research & Development, LLC

 

The panel was moderated by Lisa Placanica, Senior Managing Director, Center for Technology Licensing at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM).

 

More information on Weill Digital Health Series and upcoming panels:
https://ctl.cornell.edu/weill-digital-health-series/

Vacuum Helmet to Contain Wearer-Expelled Aerosols During Medical Procedures

Technology Summary

This technology is a vacuum helmet that prevents the spread of patient aerosols during medical examinations and procedures while maintaining easy access to the patient’s nose and mouth.

 

Technology Overview

Clinical encounters of dentists and otolaryngologists inherently expose these health care professionals to a daily risk of airborne transmissible illnesses, such as SARS-CoV-2 infection. Currently, standard personal protective equipment (PPE) is the primary layer of protection for those clinicians. However, PPE items are subject to supply shortages, are usually single-use, and do not provide complete protection. Additional safety measures, such as negative-pressure aeration in clinic rooms, is economically and structurally impractical in many outpatient settings and practices. Therefore, there is an imminent need for new technologies to prevent the spread of patient-expelled aerosols and droplets with enhanced effectiveness and reduced cost.

 

This technology is a vacuum helmet device that overcomes these obstacles, eliminating nearly all (100% of the airborne droplets and 99.6% of all cough droplets) patient-expelled droplets. It is low-cost, easy to use, easy to disinfect or dispose, and rapidly deployable. The helmet has an accessible face opening or other accessible slots for easy access by clinicians. Additionally, it has an opening for connecting the helmet to a source of negative pressure, such as a vacuum particle separator, which is commercially available. The access port and vacuum exit port are modular and can be customized without diminishing the desired outcome. As such, this technology provides a cost-effective and efficient approach to preventing droplet spread during examinations and procedures.

 

Potential Applications

  • Clinician protection against airborne transmissible diseases during dental or otolaryngological examinations and procedures
  • Decreasing turnover time between patients due to clinical room ventilation requirements, thus increasing clinical output safely

 

Advantages

  • Highly efficient in eliminating wearer-expelled droplets (100% of the airborne droplets and 99.6% of all cough droplets)
  • Easy access to a patient’s nose and mouth during medical procedures
  • Low manufacturing and maintenance cost
  • Configurable for single use or may be disinfected and reused

 

Publications

 

Licensing Contact


Donna J. Rounds
646-962-7044
djr296@cornell.edu

 

 

Inventors

 

Patents

  • Filed

 

Cornell Reference

Dromedary Camel Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2

Technology Summary

This technology describes neutralizing antibodies sourced from dromedary camels that are effective against SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses.

 

Technology Overview

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is an established global threat to public health and economic development. Although SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are underway, until herd immunity is reached the global population will remain at risk, underscoring the need for improved therapeutic and preventative approaches. The administration of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) from recovered donors has emerged as a promising therapy but is hindered by short-term efficacy of human polyclonal antibodies and incompatibility with mass production. Alternative sources of therapeutic antibodies may overcome these issues and enable more efficient control of COVID-19 infections.

 

This technology describes dromedary camels as a natural source of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and thus a potential host for large scale production of therapeutic antibodies. Unlike other sources of polyclonal antibodies, camels produce single domain heavy-chain only antibodies, called VHHs, that display high specificity, stability, and solubility. In addition, the small size enables recognition of unusual antigenic sites and deep tissue penetration. The inventors screened over 200 camels with demonstrated anti-MERS-CoV antibodies and found medium-to-high titers of cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Through linear B cell epitope mapping, the inventors identified a large repertoire of betacoronavirus cross-reactive antibody specificities and demonstrated that several SARS-CoV-2 epitopes are highly immunogenic in humans, including a neutralizing epitope. These results suggest that immunization of camels with SARS-CoV-2 could lead to the discovery and production of novel therapeutic antibodies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

 

Potential Applications

  • Treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and related coronaviruses
  • Identification and mass production of broadly neutralizing antibodies

 

Advantages

  • Increased specificity, stability, and solubility compared to conventional therapeutic antibodies
  • Small size allows the camel antibodies to recognize unusual antigenic sites and penetrate deep into tissues
  • Cost-effective production of polyclonal antibodies

 

Publications

 

Licensing Contact


Lukasz Kowalik
646-962-7052
kowalik@cornell.edu

 

 

Inventors

 

Patents

  • Filed

 

Cornell Reference

Meet the Panelists of Digital Health Innovations – What They Are, How to Protect Them, and Commercialization Strategies

Panelists


Kathryn Bowsher, Commercial Strategist, ACT ONE Healthcare

 

Kathryn Bowsher is a commercial strategist with deep expertise in go-to-market and adoption of new solutions throughout healthcare. Starting with novel drugs and devices and evolving into digital health and innovative care models, Kathryn has driven the success of 40+ products and initiatives, spanning a wide range of therapeutic areas, sites of care and business models, the world over. She leverages a rare, holistic understanding of the complex health care ecosystem to help organizations such as Amgen, Stanford Health, Raptor and Bayer achieve transformative change.

 

Today she is the Managing Director of Act One Healthcare, serves on the board of Pocket Naloxone Corp and Red Team Associates, and advises Nassau Street Ventures. Previously Kathryn was President, CEO and Director of PurThread Technologies, founder and CEO of a commercial strategy consulting group, VP of Marketing at Somnus Medical and Director of Global Marketing for Baxter’s largest product line. She began her work with new solutions at Goldman Sachs & Co. Kathryn holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She earned an A.B cum laude from Princeton University.

 


Peter Fleischut, Sr VP & Chief Transformation Officer, Digital Health: Innovation Center, NY Presbyterian

 

Peter M. Fleischut, MD, is Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer for NewYork-Presbyterian. In this role, he leads NYP’s enterprise EMR integration, pharmacy operations, innovation and transformation. Dr. Fleischut is also responsible for the development of the NYP OnDemand suite of digital health services and the implementation of clinical operations for the new David H. Koch Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

 

A graduate of Jefferson Medical College and the Wharton Program for Working Professionals at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Fleischut joined NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell in 2006 and has held the roles of Medical Director of the Operating Rooms, Deputy Quality Patient Safety Officer, Founding Director of the Center for Perioperative Outcomes, Vice Chairman, Chief Medical Information Officer, Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Medical Operating Officer. In 2016, he was appointed Vice Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology.

 

Dr. Fleischut has received numerous awards and honors, including NewYork-Presbyterian’s Physician of the Year, Modern Healthcare Up and Comers, Becker’s Hospital Review 40 under 40, and the American Telehealth Association President’s Award.

 


Jason Novak, Partner, Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, Haynes and Boone

 

Jason Novak is a Partner in Haynes and Boone’s Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, where he focuses on advising entities, both large and small, on the various legal issues that can arise with emerging technologies in the healthcare and life sciences industries. Tech and Biotech are traditionally disparate technologies that, when blended together to form many of our most exciting new technologies, bring forth a combination of unique and interrelated legal issues.

 

Jason has extensive experience in IP strategy and patent portfolio management, preparation and prosecution, oppositions, counseling, licensing and technology transactions, in and out-licensing, freedom-to-operate, various types of due diligence, IP training, risk recognition and management, and dispute resolution. He directs that experience to clients in various industries, particularly in the medical device, personalized/precision medicine (e.g., genomic sequencing platforms, computational genomics/bioinformatics, and molecular diagnostics), digital health, life sciences tooling, and food industries.

 

Prior to starting this practice, Jason was a IP Director for Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he managed worldwide IP needs in genetic sciences instrumentation and software (e.g., qPCR, dPCR, capillary electrophoresis). Jason managed large IP portfolios, a team of agents and attorneys, licensing programs, various diligence needs, various IP-related transactions, and foreign and domestics patent challenges.

 

Before moving into the legal industry, Jason was a research engineer for a leading food product company, where he led numerous product and process redesigns, reformulations and launches. This cross-functional role required interaction and experience with operations, finance, marketing and regulatory areas, contributing to Jason’s ability to deal with various corporate functions from both an R&D and legal perspective.

 


Roger Kuan, Partner, Chair – Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, Haynes and Boone

 

Roger Kuan is a Partner at Haynes and Boone and chair of the Precision Medicine and Digital Health Practice Group, where he counsels companies that are uniquely positioned in the convergence of the life/medical sciences and technology industries on how to successfully navigate the complexities of the intellectual property (IP), data rights and regulatory challenges they encounter.

 

Roger has extensive experience in IP strategy and portfolio management (utility/design patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade dress), data rights strategy, licensing and technology transactions, freedom-to-operate clearances, enforcement, monetization, IP due diligence, and dispute resolution. His practice is focused in the life sciences sector (e.g., research tools, analytical instrumentation/software, digital therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, biomanufacturing equipment, etc.) with an emphasis in emerging technologies such as Precision Medicine (e.g., genomic sequencing platforms, AI/ML, computational genomics/bioinformatics, molecular diagnostics, companion diagnostics, etc.), Digital Health (e.g., mobile apps, clinical decision support, software, digital therapeutics, AI/ML Imaging Diagnostics, wearables, etc.) and 3D printing/bioprinting.

 

Prior to joining Haynes and Boone, Roger served as Director, IP Counsel at a multinational biotechnology company, where he managed a team to support the worldwide IP needs of the company’s life sciences tools, bioproduction/biomanufacturing, molecular diagnostics, and nucleic acid sequencing system/software platforms. Prior to finishing his law degree, he worked in the life sciences industry for several Fortune 500 pharmaceutical, medical device, and chemical companies. He has held professional positions in the R&D, sales, engineering, and regulatory affairs organizations.

 


Anshu Vaish, MD, Director, Data Science External Innovation Janssen Research & Development, LLC

 

Anshu Vaish, MD is a Director of External Innovation in the Central Data Sciences Group of Janssen R&D and is responsible for leading a number of the external partnerships that support the organization’s data science efforts. He has a diverse background ranging from starting a global health focused non-profit around clean water, malnutrition, and maternal-child health; management consulting at McKinsey & Co; and being the founding CEO of a venture-backed digital health company developing remote patient monitoring software for rural hospitals.

 

Dr. Vaish is passionate about how technology and data can help improve the lives of patients everywhere and is excited to discuss the important role of pharma.

 

 

Moderator


Lisa Placanica, Senior Managing Director, Center for Technology Licensing at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM)

 

Dr. Placanica is Senior Managing Director, Center for Technology Licensing at WCM. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing WCM’s activities in technology management, marketing, licensing, and outreach to support Cornell’s goals in commercializing technologies, promoting start-ups, and building partnerships.

 

Prior to joining WCM in 2020, Dr. Placanica held the position of Managing Director, Business Development and Licensing at Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. In this role, she was responsible for managing a team of business development professionals focused on identifying, advancing, and partnering therapeutic technologies developed at the Mount Sinai Health System and acted as deal team lead for closing complex intellectual property transactions. Dr. Placanica also was a Licensing Manager in the Office of Technology Development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she focused on development and commercialization of cell and gene therapy related inventions and previously was a key member of the Cell Biology research group at Athersys, Inc in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Dr. Placanica received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Weill Cornell Medical College where she studied the biochemical composition of gamma secretase and its role in Alzheimer’s Disease in the laboratory of Dr. Yueming Li at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She holds a B.A. in Biology from Cornell University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with Distinction.

 

In 2013, Dr. Placanica became a Certified Licensing Professional.

 

 

Register here:

https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jBVwUlH4R2KRk2bNFdmneA

More information on Weill Digital Health Series:

Cornell and other leading universities launch Joint Technology Licensing Program

 

Cornell has partnered with fifteen leading research universities, including —Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Harvard, the University of Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, SUNY Binghamton, UC Berkeley, UCLA, the University of Southern California, and Yale—to launch the University Technology Licensing Program (UTLP).

 

UTLP delivers selected intellectual property assets from universities’ patent portfolios related to the physical sciences for efficient licensing, allowing interested tech companies to acquire licenses to multiple universities’ inventions for their current and future product offerings.

 

In pooling the patents, UTLP will streamline the dissemination of these universities’ technologies, paving the way for continued innovation in the marketplace. By implementing a one-stop-shop for companies to access technologies of interest, UTLP accelerates innovation in the industrial arena.

 

Read the Press Release and visit the UTLP website.

 

For more information regarding Cornell and the UTLP, please contact Martin Teschl, Associate Director, Licensing & Business Development – Physical Sciences at Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University.

CTL Welcomes the 2021 CTL Practicum Cohort

The Center for Technology of Licensing at Cornell University is proud to welcome the 2021 CTL Practicum cohort. The CTL Practicum is a program available to Cornell STEM and MBA graduate students. The program allows the Practicants to gain valuable experience in commercializing university-based research.

 

Please help us welcome Shiang-Wan Chin, Jingjing Fu, James Ryan and Cybelle Tabilas.

 

Shiang-Wan Chin, 2021 CTL PracticumShiang-Wan Chin
Shiang-Wan Chin is a Ph.D. candidate in the field of Systems Engineering at the College of Engineering. Shiang’s advisor is Professor Hakim Weatherspoon.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Jingjing Fu, Postdoctoral Associate, College of Agriculture and Life SciencesJingjing Fu
Jingjing Fu is a Postdoctoral Associate at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jingjing’s research focus is on gut microbe metabolome. Her advisor is Professor Brian Lazzaro.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

James Ryan, 2021 CTL PracticumJames Ryan
James Ryan is a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. James’s advisor is Dr. Francis Lee.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cybelle Tabilas, 2021 CTL PracticumCybelle Tabilas
Cybelle Tabilas is a Ph.D. candidate in Immunology at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Cybelle’s advisor is Professor Brian Rudd.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CTL team has designed the Practicum to engage the Practicants with technology commercialization activities such as technology evaluation, market analysis, and venture support. The program will leverage their unique research backgrounds while providing a view into career opportunities outside of academia.

 

For more information about the CTL Practicum:
https://ctl.cornell.edu/students/ctl-practicum/

CTL IP Series

The IP series is featuring invited guest speakers who will provide an overview of the different types of intellectual property (IP), updates on the latest changes in the IP landscape and impact on strategies for protecting Cornell IP.