| Name | Title | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
Lisa Wyman |
Chief Technical and Quality Officer | Profile |
AAI Pharmaceutical is a Wilmington, NC-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is a chronic, life-threatening disease that affects millions of people worldwide. In the United States, 30,000 new cases are estimated every year with half of those cases diagnosed in young children. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the patient`s immune system goes awry and attacks and destroys the pancreatic beta cells. Beta cells are responsible for regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels by producing precise amounts of the essential hormone insulin. The discovery of injectable insulin in the 1920s changed T1D from a uniformly fatal disease with a life expectancy of months to one that could be carefully managed for decades through multiple daily blood glucose measurements and insulin injections. However, insulin injections are not a cure and patients face a lifetime of difficult disease management and serious complications including kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage. Despite nearly a century passing since the discovery of insulin, insulin injection remains the only treatment available to patients. Semma Therapeutics was founded to develop transformative therapies for patients who currently depend on insulin injections. Recent work in the laboratory of Professor Douglas Melton led to the discovery of a method to generate billions of functional, insulin-producing beta cells in the laboratory. These cells develop in islet-like clusters grown from stem cells. Initial preclinical work in animal models of diabetes has shown that transplantation of these cells are sufficient to control blood glucose levels. This breakthrough technology has been exclusively licensed to Semma Therapeutics for the development of a cell-based therapy for diabetes. Ongoing research at Semma Therapeutics is focused on combining these proprietary cells with a state-of-the-art cell delivery and immune protection strategy that can protect these cells from the patient`s immune system and allow the beta cells to function as they do in non-diabetic individuals. Implantation of the beta cell-filled device has the potential to provide a true replacement for the missing beta cells in a diabetic patient and would not require patient immunosuppression. Semma Therapeutics is working to bring this new therapeutic option to the clinic and improve the lives of patients with diabetes.
BioLuminate is a Dublin, CA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
Regulus is focused on the discovery and development of microRNA therapeutics. microRNAs are members of a large class of non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides in length that regulate most genes in the genome. A single microRNA can target and regulate up to hundreds of genes, and these genes are involved in biological networks or pathways. Dysregulated microRNA expression is involved in the initiation of many complex multi-factoral diseases, including cancer, inflammatory disease, fibrosis, and metabolic disease. microRNA therapeutics are oligonucleotide medicines that modulate the function of microRNAs, correcting the imbalance of gene expression and associated cellular pathways to treat human disease. Regulus was formed in September 2007 by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) and Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS). Regulus benefits substantially from the collective therapeutic RNA expertise of its founding companies, including established proprietary oligonucleotide-based technologies, and broad and dominant intellectual property estates specific to chemically modified oligonucleotides. Regulus has access to over 900 patents and patent applications pertaining to oligonucleotide technologies useful for targeting microRNA therapeutics, and over 170 patents and patent applications directed to microRNA specific technologies. Regulus is located in La Jolla, California and is led by a seasoned executive team and board of directors, with proven expertise in corporate management, business operations, drug discovery and drug development. Regulus’ scientific advisory board consists of world-class scientists and several of the foremost authorities in the field of microRNA research.
BIOCiS is a Cambridge, MA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.