Summer Waves: Diving Into Innovation

Greetings and welcome back to the Springboard Corner, where we showcase and spotlight the latest achievements from life science and hi-tech startups that have been part of Connect’s Springboard program.

Company Updates & Milestones

Cooler Heads – which has developed the first portable and FDA-approved scalp-cooling solution to help cancer patients keep their hair as they undergo chemo, recently entered into a partnership with Lovell Government Services. Lovell will serve as the company’s SDVOSB Vendor (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business) in order to bring the Amma™ system to federal healthcare providers, e.g., the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Military Health System (MHS) among others.

DTx Pharma – a leader in developing novel RNA-based therapeutics for personalized treatments for neuromuscular, ocular and CNS diseases, recently announced that their therapeutic candidate, DTx-1252, has received orphan drug designation by the FDA. DTx-1252 is intended to treat Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A (CMTIA), a debilitating neuromuscular disease, for which there are no approved treatments.

eSub – founded in 2007, the company is a leader in developing comprehensive, cloud-based project management software solutions for the construction industry. They recently announced the successful closing of a $2M equity round which will allow them to continue to scale and grow the company.

Events.com – a leader in developing all-inclusive event management platforms with multiple capabilities, the company recently raised $8.12M, the first tranche of a larger $100M round.

Inhibrx – a clinical stage biotech company developing cancer therapeutics, they recently were granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA for their drug candidate, INBRX-101, a potential candidate to treat patients suffering from a specific type of emphysema. Receiving this designation allows Inhibrx to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs intended to treat serious medical conditions.

MyoGene Bio – founded in 2018, this early-stage biotech company is developing therapies to treat muscle diseases, with their initial focus on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The company recently announced they had received an undisclosed amount of venture funding from CureDuchenne Ventures, the corporate venture arm of CureDuchenne, a non-profit organization which funds research programs working on developing treatments for this disease.

Prenostik – founded in 2012, the company has developed an AI-powered software platform, to help students learn more effectively, and thereby reduce dropout rates in higher education. Their Student Learning Dashboard (SLD) is a chatbot which acts as a realtime coach, keeping students motivated and improving their learning skills. They were recently awarded a $274.5K SBIR Ph-1 grant from The National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue to grow and innovate their work at scale.

Special Shout Out!

Every year UCLA announces its Bruin Business 100, an initiative that recognizes exceptional business founders who are UCLA alumni for their outstanding achievements and impact. This year three of those selected are companies we have worked with through our Springboard program:

Amptron Medical – developing the next generation of fully integrated respiratory therapy devices.

MyoGene Bio – developing gene editing therapies to treat muscle diseases.

ShadowBox – developing cloud-based workflow automation platform for healthcare providers.