Ohio State Startups - Therapeutics, Drug Delivery and Biotechnology

Aether Therapeutics Inc.

License fiscal year: 2018
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Wolfgang Sadee; John Oberdick
College: Medicine
Department: Pharmacology
Leadership: Brian Cummings
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Austin, TX
Description: Aether Therapeutics develops new therapies for pain and addiction. The company is developing its lead compound, 6BMX, as a first-in-class treatment strategy for the prevention of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS affects infants born to mothers suffering from opioid addiction, a significantly increasing problem due to the opioid epidemic. 6BMX preferentially enters the fetal brain to protect the developing fetus from the adverse effects of opioid exposure—including opioid withdrawal symptoms after birth, premature birth and developmental abnormalities—while not affecting the mother.

Armatus Bio, Inc.

License fiscal year: 2022
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Daniel Gallego Perez
College: Engineering
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Leadership: Michael Triplett
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: Armatus Bio is an emerging biotechnology company applying the rigor of advanced bioengineering to the complex challenge of genetic medicine. Through a dynamic collaboration with renowned gene therapy experts in Ohio, the company is building a pipeline of precision genetic-based therapies designed to overcome the limitations of today’s technologies and propel the next generation of medicines that could transform care for people with rare genetic neuromuscular disorders.

Basking Biosciences Inc.

License fiscal year: 2021
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Shahid Nimjee
College: Medicine
Department: Neurological Surgery
Leadership: Richard Shea
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: Ischemic stroke, a condition where a clot blocks blood flow to the brain, affects approximately 700,000 people annually in the United States. Ischemic strokes result in 140,000 deaths each year and are a leading cause of long-term disability. Rapid restoration of blood flow to the brain is the only medical intervention proven to improve outcomes but only approximately 15-20% of patients qualify for either of the two FDA approved treatments. Basking Biosciences is developing a drug, DTRI-031, to dissolve the clot and a matched reversal agent to neutralize the drug if a patient shows signs of bleeding. Bleeding risk has limited the usage of the current FDA approved therapy in ischemic stroke patients. Basking’s reversible therapy has the potential to significantly expand the number of patients who can benefit from early therapy to restore blood flow to the brain.

Celenex Inc.

License fiscal year: 2018
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Arthur Burghes
College: Medicine
Department: Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology
Leadership: Samit Varma
Ownership status: Acquired/merged
Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA
Description: Celenex is a clinical-stage gene therapy company bringing to market a portfolio of ten gene therapies licensed from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State for treatments for lysosomal storage disorders. The company is initially targeting Batten disease, with therapies targeting CLN6, CLN3 and CLN8, as potential first-to-market curative therapies for these rare and devastating diseases. Celenex was acquired by Amicus Therapeutics in September 2018 for $100M upfront and $277M in potential downstream milestone payments.

Clarametyx Biosciences

License fiscal year: 2020
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Amer Amal
College: Medicine
Department: Microbial Infection and Immunity
Leadership: David Richards
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: Clarametyx Biosciences is combating the formidable challenge of persistent antibiotic-resistant infections through an innovative technology platform that targets the biofilm—a protective layer around bacteria—to enable a more effective immune response or antibiotic intervention. The company is building a dynamic pipeline of immune-enabling therapies and vaccines for chronic and recurrent bacterial infections associated with biofilms. Its lead candidate, CMTX-001, is a humanized monoclonal antibody in preclinical development for hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Eikonoklastes

License fiscal year: 2020
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Zhewei Hu
College: Medicine
Department: Surgery – Surgical Oncology
Leadership: Bruce Halpryn
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Cincinnati, OH
Description: Eikonoklastes Therapeutics is a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel immunotherapy based on Ohio State research to treat several diseases with significant unmet clinical need. Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), a devastating subtype in urgent need of a novel therapy, is the lead indication. Breast cancer is the most common newly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of death among women in the United States. Breast cancer deaths are largely the result of recurrent and metastatic disease that typically does not respond well to current treatments.

Entrada Therapeutics Inc.

License fiscal year: 2019
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Dehua Pei
College: Arts and Sciences
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Leadership: Dipal Doshi
Ownership status: Public (NASDAQ: TRDA)
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Description: Entrada Therapeutics is developing an intracellular biologics and drug delivery platform designed to enable new treatments for devastating diseases. Entrada’s delivery vehicles boast improved bioavailability, biodistribution, metabolic stability and enhanced efficiency compared to previous gold standards. Initially the company will focus on utilizing its intracellular delivery system for treating a rare, fatal mitochondria disease with no currently approved treatment options.

ExonanoRNA LLC

License fiscal year: 2018
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Peixuan Guo
College: Pharmacy
Department: Pharmacy
Leadership: Nam Vo
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: ExoNanoRNA is commercializing a novel drug delivery system utilizing branched RNA nanostructures to improve drug solubility in vivo, drug loading efficiency and drug efficacy while reducing toxicity and allowing for tumor targeting.

Immunanoengineering Therapeutics, LLC

License fiscal year:
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Yizhou Dong
College: Pharmacy
Department: Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology
Leadership: Christine Poon
Ownership status:
Headquarters:
Description: Immunanoengineering is developing platform technologies based on lipid nanoparticles and cell therapy that can target specific tissues, such as immune system, tumor and brain. These particles are broadly applicable to carry diverse treatment regimens and thus an excellent technology for enabling a variety of therapeutic applications.

Inthera Bioscience AG

License fiscal year: 2014
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Quintin Pan
College: Medicine
Department: Otolaryngology
Leadership: Ulrich Kessler
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Waedenswil, Switzerland
Description: Inthera Bioscience AG is a pre-clinical stage oncology company developing small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. The company utilizes a proprietary technology platform to rationally design orally available molecules that display hot spot residues on a non-peptidic backbone, merging the versatility of small molecules with the specificity of biologics. The initial focus is reactivation of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway in HPV-associated cancers.

NanoMedical Systems Inc.

License fiscal year: 2008
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Mauro Ferrari
College: Medicine
Department: Internal Medicine
Leadership: Randy Goodall
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Austin, TX
Description: NanoMedical Systems is commercializing silicon-based medical nanotechnology products for personalized medicine. The company’s Personalized Molecular Drug-delivery System (PMDS) is an implantable capsule with a nano-channel chip that provides sustained, controlled drug release within the optimal therapeutic range. This translates to improved safety and therapeutic efficacy, ultimately resulting in improved patient outcomes. The company licenses technology from Ohio State and the University of Texas.

NervGen Pharma Corp.

License fiscal year: 2018
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Yingjie Shen
College: Medicine
Department: Neuroscience
Leadership: Ernest Wong
Ownership status: Public (TSX-V: NGEN, OTCQX: NGENF)
Headquarters: Vancouver, British Columbia
Description: NervGen Pharma Corp. is a regenerative medicine company dedicated to the advancement of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of nerve damage, including spinal cord and peripheral nerve injuries. The company’s technology targets protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (PTPσ), a neural receptor that inhibits nerve regeneration. Inhibition of the PTPσ receptor promotes regeneration of damaged nerves and improvement of nerve function in animal models for various medical conditions. Initially, the company is advancing its lead compound, NVG-291, toward clinical trials for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. NervGen completed its IPO in March 2019 and began trading on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange (“NGEN”). The company licensed technologies co-developed by Ohio State, Case Western Reserve University, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Versitech and the University of Hong Kong.

Neucore Bio, Inc.

Novartis Gene Therapies

License fiscal year: 2014
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Arthur Burghes
College: Medicine
Department: Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology
Leadership: Sean Nolan
Ownership status: Acquired/merged
Headquarters: Bannockburn, IL
Description: Avexis, now doing business as Novartis Gene Therapies, is a biotechnology company developing gene therapies designed to treat rare and life- threatening neurological genetic diseases. The initial proprietary investigational gene replacement therapy, AVXS-101 (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) is in development for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). In addition, the company is pursuing gene therapies for Rett syndrome (AVXS-201) and a genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene (AVXS-301). Avexis was acquired by Novartis for $8.7 billion in May 2018.

OncoImmune Inc.

License fiscal year: 2005
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Yang Liu
College: Medicine
Department: Pathology
Leadership: Yang Liu
Ownership status: Acquired/merged
Headquarters: Rockville, MD
Description: OncoImmune specializes in therapeutics for cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. OncoImmune’s lead compound CD24Fc is a clinical stage asset targeting the CD24-Siglec axis that regulates host inflammatory response to tissue injuries. This has broad implications in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, cancer and graft-versus-host disease. OncoImmune has received orphan drug designation for CD24Fc in both the United States and Europe. Oncoimmune was acquired by Merck for $425 million in 2020.

Prelude Therapeutics Inc.

License fiscal year: 2016
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Robert Baiocchi
College: Medicine
Department: Internal Medicine
Leadership: Kris Vaddi
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Wilmington, DE
Description: Prelude Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision oncology company focused on discovering and developing small molecule therapies optimized to target the key drivers of cancer cell growth, resistance and survival. With core competencies in medicinal chemistry, cancer biology and drug development, Prelude has the ability to rapidly translate discoveries into potential treatments for patients with cancer.

Sirona Therapeutics Inc.

License fiscal year: 2014
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Susan Mallery
College: Dentistry
Department: Oral Pathology
Leadership: Bence Boelcskevy
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: Sirona Therapeutics is commercializing an oral patch that delivers chemopreventive drugs directly to pre-cancerous oral lesions, reducing toxicity and adverse side effects.

Strand Therapeutics

License fiscal year: 2021
Ohio State primary inventor(s):
College:
Department:
Leadership: Jacob Becraft
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Description: Strand Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company applying synthetic biology to RNA therapeutics and developing the first platform for the creation of programmable, long-acting mRNA drugs capable of delivering precise, multi-functional, potentially curative treatments with a single dose. Strand’s technology potentially has broad applicability across a spectrum of diseases. The company will initially focus on the development of mRNA therapies that act through multiple immune mediated mechanisms to deliver potentially curative treatments in oncology. In solid tumors, Strand’s mRNA approach has the potential to significantly improve response rates to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. In hematological tumors, Strand’s early work may have the potential to revolutionize CAR-T therapy.

TRIM-edicine Inc.

License fiscal year: 2018
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Jianjie Ma
College: Medicine
Department: Surgery
Leadership: Changhua Qiu, PhD
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: TRIM-edicine is developing novel protein therapeutics and biologics to treat unmet medical needs, such as acute and chronic tissue injuries, muscular dystrophy, cancer, aging and diabetes. Novel therapeutic approaches involve the MG53, MG29, and ATAP proteins.

Vitranu Inc.

License fiscal year: 2021
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Pengfei Jiang
College: Engineering
Department: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Leadership: Gordon Bethwaite
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
Description: Vitranu, Inc. is developing a Tunable Extended Release Capsule (TERCTM) for biologic pharmaceuticals delivered via intravitreal injection. The company uses novel electrospinning technology to produce a tiny, double walled, tunable capsule that can be filled with either biologic or small molecule therapeutics. Learn more about Vitranu in

Zvelt Therapeutics, Inc.

License fiscal year: 2022
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Lei Cao
College: Medicine
Department: Cancer Biology and Genetics
Leadership: Al Hawkins
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Cleveland, OH
Description: Zvelt Therapeutics is developing a novel dual-cassette adeno-associated viral (AAV) technology for delivery of gene therapies via adipose/fat tissue. AAV vectors are mainstream delivery platforms due to their safety profile and promising clinical results. However, the use of AAV-mediated gene transfer in systemic delivery has been limited due to the low transduction efficiency of naturally occurring AAV serotypes, resulting in a narrow therapeutic and dose limiting toxicity. Zvelt’s novel engineered hybrid vector could provide a powerful tool to manipulate gene expression in multiple tissues, delivering 50X-100X lower doses to achieve the same level of expression expression. Zvelt's initial target development is adipose/fat tissue, focused on rare metabolic diseases and ultimately diabetes and obesity.