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Two UNC startups awarded funding to develop anti-inflammatory therapy for cystic fibrosis, remove blood clots more effectively
Eldec Pharmaceuticals and SonoVascular receive a combined $72,511 in funding to turn discoveries made in UNC-Chapel Hill laboratories into treatments and devices that will help patients
Published May 1, 2018
KickStart Venture Services has awarded two startup companies with commercialization awards that will enable the companies to complete high-impact projects as they translate and commercialize intellectual property owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The commercialization awards are part of a campus-wide effort to translate discoveries made in UNC-Chapel Hill’s academic laboratories into products and services that can benefit people outside the university setting. “The commercialization award program provides vital early-stage funding for startups from UNC-Chapel Hill,” said Don Rose, PhD, director of KickStart Venture Services. “It enables the companies to build prototypes, obtain preliminary data for government grant applications or launch a beta program. The award is a stepping stone that propels the companies to be more attractive for funding from grants, angel and venture capital investors.”
2 UNC-Chapel Hill startups receive KickStart Commercialization Awards
$72,511 in funding awarded across the two companies
7 faculty, founders and researchers from among UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State
63 companies have received $1.9 million in funding or services from KickStart Venture Services since 2009
$28 million raised in SBIR/STTR grants by KickStart companies
$270 million in total funding raised by KickStart companies
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Two companies received funding through this round of KickStart Commercialization Awards:
Eldec Pharmaceuticals is developing therapeutics that meet the urgent need for an effective anti-inflammatory therapeutic to treat chronic lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Chronic bacterial infection and inflammation in CF lungs leads to persistent neutrophilia and bronchiectasis. Lung disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in CF patients. The treatment plan is based in the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, but no effective anti-inflammatory drugs are currently available to treat CF patients. Eldec Pharmaceuticals was founded by Robert Tarran (UNC Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and Marsico Lung Institute) and Flori Sassano (UNC Department of Cell Biology and Physiology).
SonoVascular is developing a highly differentiated and proprietary device designed to more effectively remove blood clots and significantly reduce the reliance on thrombolytic drugs, which are currently used to dissolve blood clots. The device uses a low frequency, forward-looking catheter-based ultrasound transducer to significantly increase thrombolytic rates and decrease bleeding complications, while significantly reducing treatment times and health care costs. SonoVascluar was founded by CEO Daniel Estay and is based on intellectual property developed by Xuming Dai (UNC School of Medicine), Xiaoning Jiang, Jinwook Kim and Jianguo Ma (NC State Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering).
About KickStart Venture Services
KickStart Venture Services is a program in the Office of Commercialization and Economic Development within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at UNC-Chapel Hill. It helps to develop and launch startup companies based on UNC intellectual property. Since 2009, KickStart Ventures Services has provided consulting and $2 million in awards to 63 IP-based startups. These companies have gone on to secure $28 million in non-dilutive SBIR/STTR grants and $270 million in total funding. Funding for the commercialization awards comes from the Office of Commercialization and Economic Development at UNC-Chapel HIll.