Drug Discovery Companies
7 | A | B | C | D | E | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | Z
7
7 Primus Biosciences, Inc.
President & CEO: Hahn-Jun Lee
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: 7 Primus is developing innovative small molecule therapeutics for severe and refractory cancers, particularly non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.
Affiliation with Emory: Xingming Deng, MD PhD (radiation oncology) is an inventor.
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Aderis Pharmaceuticals
Current Status: Aderis was acquired by Schwarz Pharma Ltd in 2005. Schwarz no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Aderis Pharmaceuticals was a biopharmaceutical company that developed, manufactured, and commercialized drugs for the therapeutic treatment of central nervous system, cardiovascular, and inflammatory diseases. It was best known for the development of Rotigotine, a dopamine agonist made for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It also developed indications for restless leg syndrome, cardiac image stress testing, atrial fibrillation and wound healing.
Affiliation with Emory: Juha P. Kokko, MD, PhD (nephrology) was a scientific advisor.
Aligos Therapeutics, Inc.
Address: 1 Corporate Drive, 2nd Floor, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Aligos Therapeutics Website
CEO: Lawrence Blatt
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Aligos Therapeutics is discovering and developing new classes of compounds that interact directly with disease causing molecules. These approaches are targeting viral nucleic acids and their encoded proteins, as well as oncogenes and their resultant proteins. The company is also pursuing novel therapeutic agents aimed at activation of the immune system to resolve diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality. They are primarily focused on hepatologic diseases and viral diseases, including chronic hepatitis B (CHN), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Affiliation with Emory: Sebastien Boucle, PhD (pediatrics), Franck Amblard, PhD (pediatrics), Ozkan Sari, PhD (pediatrics), Leda Bassit, PhD (pediatrics) and Raymond Schinazi, PhD (pediatrics) are inventors.
Allonix Therapeutics
Address: 201 East 5th St Suite 2505, Cincinnati, OH 45202
CEO: Peter Alff
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Allonix is developing drug candidates utilizing a small molecule agonist that changes the expression of the liver receptor homologue-1 (LRH-1) genes involved with lipid metabolism and inflammation as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Affiliation with Emory: Eric Ortlund, PhD, (biochemistry) and Nathan Jui, PhD (chemistry) are inventors.
Alliance Bioresearch LLC
Address: PO Box 663, Roswell, Georgia 30075
President: Roy Fields
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Alliance Bioresearch is focused on taking technologies that seem novel or against the grain of current market trends and finding value in shifting the market towards alternative opportunities.
Affiliation with Emory: David Weiss, PhD (medicine) is an inventor.
Altiris Therapeutics, Inc.
Current Status: Altiris is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Altiris Therapeutics, Inc. developed and commercialized orally administered small-molecule drug therapies. The company was developing drugs that inhibit CXCR4, a receptor on cells for SDF-1 (stromal cell derived factor 1) that acts as a mediator of cellular and chemical trafficking. These therapeutics could have been used for the treatment of metastatic cancers, HIV infection as well as enhancing stem cell mobility.
Affiliation with Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry), James Snyder, PhD (chemistry), and Hyunsuk Shim, PhD (radiation oncology) are inventors.
Angiopharma, Inc.
Current Status: Angiopharma is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Angiopharma was a pre-clinical stage company developing inhibitors to microRNAs as a potential treatment for atherosclerosis.
Affiliation with Emory: Hanjoong Jo, PhD (biomedical engineering) is an inventor.
AtheroGenics, Inc.
Current Status: AtheroGenics is no longer in business.
Company Profile: AtheroGenics was in the business of discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of certain chronic inflammatory diseases, including coronary heart disease, organ transplant rejection, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma, as well as diabetes treatment. The company's focus was its vascular protectant or V-protectant technology platform to discover drugs. The company's products included AGI-1067, a product that completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of atherosclerosis; AGI-1096, a Phase I clinical trial antioxidant and selective anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of transplant rejection.
Affiliation with Emory: R. Wayne Alexander, MD, PhD (cardiology) and Russell Medford, MD, PhD (cardiology) are inventors.
AxoGen, Inc.
Address: 13859 Progress Blvd., Suite 100, Alachua, FL 32615
AxoGen website
CEO: Karen Zaderej
Current Status: AxoGen no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: AxoGen focuses on improving peripheral nerve repair. Peripheral nerves provide the pathway for motor and sensory signals between the central nervous system and muscles or organs throughout the body. They process nerve tissue in a way that preserves the three dimensional matrix of the tissue. They utilize this technology to provide the first distributed peripheral nerve repair option that preserves the nerve's extra-cellular matrix.
Affiliation with Emory: Arthur English, PhD (rehabilitation medicine), Robert McKeon, PhD (cell biology), and Erica Werner, PhD (cell biology) are inventors.
AxoTect, Inc.
Current Status: AxoTect is no longer in business.
Company Profile: AxoTect, was an emerging biotech company focused on developing drugs to deal with axonal degeneration, a condition in which neurons to break down at their signaling processes. The company was developing these drugs as a new approach to treating chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a devastating side effect produced by many cancer treatments as well as other neurological disorders.
Affiliation with Emory: Jonathan Glass, MD (neurology) is an inventor.
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Brain Trust Bio, Inc.
Address: 1444 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Brain Trust Bio website
CEO: Chen Benkler
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Brain Trust Bio is focused on repurposing the FDA approved riluzole drug administered by intrathecal infusion (ITRil) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Riluzole is currently taken orally and is considered to increase survival of ALS patients by a modest two to three months. However, it does not halt or reverse disease progression. Brain Trust Bio developed and patented a novel intrathecal formulation in an attempt to dramatically improve the effectiveness of riluzole.
Affiliation with Emory: Nicholas Boulis MD (neurosurgery) is the scientific founder.
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Cambium Medical Technologies
Address: 2986 Greenwillow Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30345
Cambium Medical Technologies website
President and CEO: Terence Walts
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Cambium is founded on a proprietary method to manufacture a standardized allogeneic platelet lysate preparation. The company is developing novel blood-derived therapeutics that augments the body's natural regenerative capacity. Cambium's lead product is a topical solution for ophthalmologic indications associated with corneal disease, in particular Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) or dry eye syndrome.
Affiliation with Emory: Ian Copland, PhD (hematology and medical oncology), Jacques Galipeau, MD (microbiology and immunology), Edmund Waller, MD, PhD (hematology), and John Roback, MD, PhD (pathology) are scientific founders.
Cambium Oncology, LLC
Address: 890 Los Angeles Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30306
Cambium Oncology website
Managing Director: Bernard Parker
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Cambium Oncology is a pre-clinical start-up focused on the development and commercialization of novel immune-oncology therapeutics. Their lead compound has demonstrated significant improvement in survival rates in animal studies for pancreatic cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and lymphoma. This compound also has potential for viral infection and auto-immunity.
Affiliation with Emory: Edmund K. Waller, MD PhD (hematology), Mohammad S. Hossain, PhD (core labs), Jian-Ming Li, PhD (hematology), Cynthia R. Giver, PhD (hematology), Sravanti Rangaraju (hematology), Anna Morris (graduate student), Christopher Petersen (graduate student), Reema Panjwani (Emory alum), Jingxia Li, Yiwen Li (Emory alum), and Giacomo Waller (Emory alum) are inventors.
Chymia, LLC
Address: 4 Ross Road, Belmont, MA, 02478
CEO: Rima Kaddurah-Daouk
Current Status: In product development
Company Profile: The company aims to create spin-out companies that will commercialize therapeutics and biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disorders and diseases.
Affiliation with Emory: Boadie Dunlop, MD (psychology) and Edward Craighead, PhD (psychology) are inventors.
Colorado Cancer Therapeutics
Current Status: Colorado Cancer is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Colorado Cancer Therapeutics was focused on discovering drugs and compounds to help treat various forms of cancer, specifically small molecule compounds that treat metastatic prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and non-small-cell lung cancer.
Affiliation with Emory: Leland Chung, PhD, (hematology and medical oncology) is an inventor.
Cool-Bio, Inc.
Current Status: Cool-Bio is no longer in business.
Company Profile: COOL-BIO was a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing hypothermia-activated biologics. The company's lead product was a “platelet anesthetic” agent for use during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), which works to inhibit platelet function at temperatures lower than normal body temperature. The “anesthetic” itself is a fusion peptide, a combination of a temperature-controlled, elastin-mimetic peptide fused with a single-chain monoclonal antibody targeted against activated platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptors.
Affiliation with Emory: Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD (surgery) is an inventor.
CorAmi, LLC
Address: 611 Auburn Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30312
CEO: Gary Altman
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: CorAmi is an early stage therapeutics company developing a combination platform drug delivery device and therapeutic hydrogels. The company's initial focus is on cardiac applications, leading with a therapeutic intervention for atrial fibrillation. Their platform device for targeted delivery of cardiac therapeutics has the potential to minimize the risk for off-target effects seen with systemic drug delivery. Their therapeutic hydrogels are designed to be positioned directly on the surface of the heart and hold drugs in the desired location longer. .
Affiliation with Emory: Rebecca Levit MD (cardiology) is the scientific founder.
Cougar Biotechnology, Inc.
Current Status: Cougar was aquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2009. J&J no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Cougar Biotechnology focused on oncology. Cougar's oncology portfolio included CB7630, which had been tested in a Phase III clinical trial in prostate cancer and a Phase I/II trial in breast cancer. It also had two drugs in the earlier stages of the development process: CB3304 in a Phase I trial in multiple myeloma and CB1089 which had been clinically tested in a number of solid tumor types.
Affiliation to Emory: Harish Joshi, PhD, (cell biology) and David Archer (pediatrics) are inventors.
Curry Pharmaceuticals
Current Status: Curry is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Curry Pharmaceuticals was developing drugs for cancer and inflammatory diseases based on the natural product curcumin. The goal was to exploit the broad pharmacological potential demonstrated for native curcumin extract by developing a synthetic curcumin for selected clinical indications and by creating and optimizing curcumin derivatives for multiple pharmacological pathways and for multiple clinical indications.
Affiliation with Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry), Mamoru Shoji, MD (hematology), and Jim Snyder, PhD (chemistry) were scientific founders.
CytRx Corporation
Current Status: CytRx no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: CytRx is a biopharmaceutical research and development company that specializes in oncology. The company's drug development pipeline includes multiple programs in various stages of clinical development for cancers.
Affiliation with Emory: Virinder Nohria, MD (medicine) was a board member. Michael Benatar, MBChB, MS, DPhil, (neurology) is an inventor.
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Da Zen Theranostics, Inc.
Address: 637 Arrowhead Drive, San Jose, CA 95123
CEO: Yu-Ping Cheng
Current Status: Is filing an IND application
Company Profile: Da Zen THeranostics is focused on cancer drugs that effectively “cure” or delay cancer progression in all stages, including improving the quality of life in patients living with metastatic cancer. Da Zen is developing a targeted drug delivery system and therapeutics for various cancers that work by affecting several different targets and pathways. This targeted system is intended to maximize therapeutic effectiveness while minimizing unwanted side effects from damaging normal cells.
Affiliation with Emory: Leland Chung, PhD (urology) is the scientific co-founder.
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Effigene Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Current Status: Effigene is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Effigene Pharmaceuticals was a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the utilization of RNA interference (RNAi) technology, which is a system in living cells that helps control which proteins are produced from a gene. The company also worked on the development of small interference RNA (siRNA) based therapeutics to treat various diseases.
Affiliation to Emory: Peng Jin, PhD, (genetics) and Allan Levey, MD, PhD, (neurology) were scientific founders.
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GeoVax, Inc.
Address: 1900 Lake Park Drive, Suite 380, Smyrna, GA 30080
GeoVax website
President and CEO: David Dodd
Current Status: In clinical testing
Company Profile: GeoVax develops vaccines for diseases caused by HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus - AIDS). The company aims to be the first to develop an effective AIDS vaccine and then distribute it globally. GeoVax's vaccines are unique in that they express nonpathogenic virus like particles that in turn display glycoproteins found on the exterior of the native virus.
Affiliation to Emory: Harriet Robinson, PhD (microbiology and immunology) is an inventor.
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Hangzhou Junrui Biotechnology Co., LTD.
Address: 1-705 Heda Pharma Valley, 291 Fucheng Road, Qiantang New District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310000
CEO: Yi Jiang
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Hangzhou Junrui Biotechnology is developing drugs for the treatment of various cancers. The company's first potential drug candidate is a uracil analog 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) prodrug that acts as antimetabolite against cancer progression. In principle, prodrugs that generate 5-Fluorodeoxyuridine Monophosphate (5FdUMP) without generating 5-FU have the potential to limit toxicity by reducing the generation of promiscuous triphosphate metabolites. This strategy is even more promising if they can target tumor tissue directly, thereby increasing the fraction of orally administered prodrug that converts to 5FdUMP in tumors.
Affiliation with Emory: Eric Miller, PhD (chemistry), Madhuri Dasari, PhD (chemistry), Stephen Pelly, PhD (chemistry), and Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) are inventors.
Hemoletix, LLC
Address: 20384 Center Brook Square, Sterling, VA 20165
President: Chester Li
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Over 30% of stored platelets go to waste without being used. The short shelf-life creates a severe supply shortage, leading to longer wait in hospitals and higher healthcare cost. Hemoletix's technology can not only significantly extend the shelf-life of stored platelets but also preserve their function during storage. Hemoletix has developed a first-in-its-class monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific site in a platelet receptor and slows down platelet clearance.
Affiliation to Emory: Renhao Li, PhD (pediatrics) is the scientific co-founder.
I
Incysus, LTD.
Address: Clarendon House, 2 Church Street, Hamilton, HM11 Bermuda
President & CEO: William Ho
Current Status: In clinical development
Company Profile: Incysus brings a new approach to immunotherapy that offers the flexibility to address both solid and liquid tumors. The company seeks to develop immunotherapy targeting both the innate and adaptive immune systems using T cells that are bio-engineered to withstand drug induced toxicities, thus allowing for the combined use of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is expected to be the company's first solid tumor market. The company's liquid tumor market is defined broadly as in the post-transplant setting for hematological malignancies.
Affiliation with Emory: H. Trent Spencer, PhD (pediatrics) is a scientific co-founder.
Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc.
Current Status: Inhibikase no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Inhibikase was founded on technology focused on host-targeted antiviral therapies. Compounds that can be used to target a variety of diseases based on a common mechanism: the inhibition of certain cellular kinase pathways.
Affiliation with Emory: Daniel Kalman, PhD (pathology and laboratory medicine) is a scientific founder.
Intrabiotics, Inc.
Current Status: Ardea Biosciences (formerly IntraBiotics) was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2012. AstraZeneca no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Ardea Biosciences was a biotechnology company focused on the development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases, specifically gout and cancer.
Affiliation to Emory: Jan Pohl, PhD (hematology and medical oncology) and William Shafer, PhD (infectious disease) are inventors.
Invasc Therapeutics, Inc.
Current Status: InVasc is no longer in business.
Company Profile: InVasc was focused on chronic kidney disease as well as atherosclerosis, stroke, and vascular events.
Affiliation with Emory: Bobby V. Khan, MD, PhD (cardiology) and W. Virgil Brown, MD (endocrinology) were scientific founders.
Ithemba Pharmaceuticals (PTY), LTD.
Current Status: Ithemba is no longer in business.
Company Profile: iThemba was developing new treatments for neglected infectious diseases including HIV/Aids, Malaria, and Tuberculosis (TB). Its drug collection includes a range of substituted building blocks, each functionalized with a selection of synthetically useful reactive groups.
Affiliation to Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) was a scientific founder.
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Karis Bio Inc.
Address: Avison Biomedical Research Center, Room 525, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-Ro 50-1, Seodaemun-Ku, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Karis Bio Website
CEO: Young-sup Yoon
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: The goal of the company is a therapy using hiPSC-ECs for treating critical limb ischemia (CLI).
Affiliation with Emory: Sang-Ho Lee, PhD (cardiology), Changwon Park, PhD (cardiology), and Ji Woong Han, PhD (cardiology) are inventors.
Ketal Biomedical, Inc.
Current Status: Ketal is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Ketal Biomedical was working to commercialize their novel polyketal drug delivery technology. The method was to not trigger an inflammatory response, which other polymer delivery systems can cause, due to its biodegradable nature. These attributes also lend to many advantages in drug delivery, including but not limited to controlled dosage release of drugs, targeted release to particular areas, and assisting in the up-take of the drugs by targeted cells.
Affiliation with Emory: Michael Davis, PhD (cardiology) is an inventor.
Kodikaz Therapeutic Solutions, Inc.
Address: 428 Lakefront Blvd, Buffalo, NY 14202
Kodikaz Therapeutic website
CEO & Co-Founder: Anthony Johnson
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Kodikaz is founded to translate previously unknown cell-recognition and genomic integration mechanisms into curative therapies. The Kodikaz Zip-code transfer platform represents a paradigm shift from traditional approaches to gene therapy in that it does not require viral delivery vectors, has a high degree of cell and tissue specificity, and has a large payload capacity. Kodikaz is conducting pre-clinical studies in oncology, including pancreatic, myeloma, colorectal and NSCLC.
Affiliation with Emory: Leon Bernal-Mizrachi (hematology and medical oncology) is the scientific founder.
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Marpe Therapeutics, LLC.
Address: 2447 Hurndon Rd SW, Snellville, GA 30078
Marpe Therapeutics website
CEO: Gary Altman
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Marpe Therapeutics is developing broad-spectrum anti-viral peptides to combat Avian & Human Influenza, Zika, and Dengue viruses. The company's technology portfolio leverages the use of synthesized peptides modified from amphibian host defense peptides. Due to the peptides' unique mechanism of action, they may overcome the drug resistance challenges seen in currently marketed therapies.
Affiliation with Emory: Joshy Jacob PhD (microbiology and immunology) is the scientific founder and inventor.
Meissa Vaccines, Inc.
Address: 1919 Alameda de las Pulgas, #37, San Mateo, CA 94403
Meissa Vaccines website
President & CEO: Marty Moore
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Meissa Vaccines is focused on developing vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus. The challenging obstacles in vaccine development include suboptimal immune responses, vaccine stability, and the lack of broad protection. Meissa Vaccines is applying synthetic biology and genetic engineering to respiratory viruses for the rational design of vaccine strains that overcome these obstacles.
Affiliation with Emory: Martin Moore, Ph.D. (pediatrics) is the scientific founder and inventor.
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Naturopathic Pharmacy, Inc.
Current Status: Naturopathic is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Naturopathic Pharmacy is focused on utilizing honokiol, a compound found in the cones, leaves and bark of the Magnolia tree, has antitumor properties. Therefore, honokiol, which has traditionally been used in Chinese herbal medicine, could potentially help individuals who have inoperable or incurable cancers.
Affiliation with Emory: Jack Arbiser, MD, PhD (dermatology) is an inventor.
Nephrodi Therapeutics, Inc.
Address: 2324 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
NephroDI Therapeutics website
President & CEO: Rachael Hagan
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: NephroDI Therapeutics is focused on concentration disorders of the kidney. The initial clinical indication for the company's orally administered lead small molecule is for Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus in children, a pediatric orphan indication. Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus (NDI) often causes severe dehydration in children and they end up with mental retardation, which can be prevented with adequate water intake. Congenital NDI manifests at birth and is a life-long condition with a normal life expectancy. Currently there is no effective therapy for NDI.
Affiliation with Emory: Jeff Sands (nephrology), MD and Janet Klein, PhD (nephrology) are the scientific co-founders.
Neodel Pharma Private Limited
Current Status: Neodel Pharma no longer has a license to Emory technology.Company Profile: NeoDel Pharma Private Limited iwas developing a unique COVID-19 vaccine combining Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) platform with nano technology resulting in high safety and long-lasting immunity. The company's prototype vaccine candidate generated a much higher level of neutralizing antibodies in mice compared to the current vaccines, which raises the possibility of a single dose vaccination.
Affiliation with Emory: Rama Rao Amara, PhD (microbiology and immunology) and Sailaja Gangadhara, PhD (microbiology and immunology) are inventors.
Neuronomix-TBI, LLC
Current Status: Neuronomix is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Neuronomix-TBI was developing pharmacotherapies for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion. Neuronomix-TBI utilized blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) contrast functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuro-informatics tools for CNS drug discovery and validation.
Affiliation with Emory: Donald Stein, PhD (neurology), David Wright, MD (emergency medicine), and Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) are inventors.
Neurotrauma Sciences, LLC
Address: 2655 Northwinds Parkway, Suite 5C, Alpharetta, GA 30009
Neurotrauma Sciences website
CEO: Carl Long
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: NeuroTrauma Sciences (NTS) is focused on developing neuroprotective and neurorestorative agents to treat brain injury including stroke, concussion, and the complications of traumatic brain injury (TBI). When someone suffers a serious brain injury there are currently no drugs available to alleviate the cognitive, functional, and neurobehavioral effects. NTS is developing a portfolio of products designed to address these life impairing damages.
Affiliation with Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry), Iqbal Sayeed, PhD (emergency medicine), Donald Stein, PhD (emergency medicine), David Guthrie, PhD (chemistry), Mark Lockwood, PhD (chemistry), and Michael Natchus, PhD MBA (chemistry) are inventors.
Neurop, INC.
Address: 58 Edgewood Avenue, NE, First Floor, Suite 122, Atlanta, GA 30303
NeurOp website
President and CEO: Jim McNamara
Current Status: In clinical trials
Company Profile: NeurOp is focused on novel therapeutics to treat patients who have or are at high risk for serious diseases and disorders of the central nervous system including depression, ischemia subarachnoid hemorrhage, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and other conditions. NeurOp is developing a new generation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists that are efficacious while offering a better safety profile compare to previous NMDA antagonists. NeurOp’s lead drug candidate, NP10679, is in clinical trials, orally available, and has pharmacokinetic properties that are compatible with once-a-day dosing.
Affiliation to Emory: Raymond Dingledine, PhD (pharmacology) and Stephen Traynelis, PhD (pharmacology) are inventors. Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) serves on the Board of Directors.
NovAb, Inc.
Address: 1860 Montreal Road, Tucker, GA 30084
CEO: Ed Cannon
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: NovAb is focused on developing and commercializing a new class of monoclonal antibodies (“mAbs”) termed variable lymphocyte receptors (“VLRs”). VLRs are the antigen receptors utilized by the adaptive immune system of jawless vertebrates (lamprey and hagfish) comprise a single polypeptide structure with distinctive binding site geometry versus conventional mAbs. This combination of single polypeptide structure, evolutionary distance, and distinctive binding site geometry has enabled discovery of VLR mAbs with novel specificities and functions not accessed by conventional mAbs and promises to extend the benefits of mAbs to new therapeutic and reagent products. NovAb’s lead therapeutic products have demonstrated potent and specific anti-tumor activity for multiple myeloma.
Affiliation to Emory: Max Cooper, MD (pathology) is the scientific co-founder.
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Octagen Corporation
Current Status: Octagen sold all its assets to Ipsen in 2008, subsequently the technology is licensed to Baxalta. Products on the market
Company Profile: Octagen previously was developing drugs for the treatment of hemophilia. Octagen developed a product to treat patients with hemophilia A, which results from the lack of functional clotting factor VIII. Known as OBI-1, this drug is based on the structure of factor VIII found in pigs and therefore, can be used to treat hemophilia A patients who have developed antibody inhibitors to human factor VIII.
Affiliation to Emory: John S. (Pete) Lollar, MD (pediatrics) is an inventor.
Omios Biologics
Address: 1065 57th Street, Oakland, CA 94608
CEO: Aldo Pourchet
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Omios is developing a Recombinant Murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) for Oncolytic Immunotherapy.
Affiliation to Emory: Ed Mocarski, PhD (microbiology and immunology) and Pratyusha Mandal, PhD (microbiology and immunology) are inventors.
Oncospherix, Inc.
Address: 7935 Fawndale Way, Atlanta, Georgia 30350
OncoSpherix website
CEO: Margaret Offermann
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: OncoSpherix is focused on advancing a novel, diversified, and risk-mitigated proprietary platform of small molecule therapeutics designed to treat cancers displaying regions of hypoxia, where tumor cells are starved for oxygen. Most advanced solid tumors have regions of hypoxia and may benefit from the small molecule therapeutics that attack these regions. OncoSpherix's therapeutic candidates are designed to be given in combination with other treatments to improve cancer control and prolong survival in patients with a variety of advanced cancers.
Affiliation to Emory: Erwin Van Meir, PhD (neurosurgery) is a scientific founder.
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Pamlico Biopharma, Inc.
Current Status: Pamlico is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Pamlico Biopharma was focused on human monoclonal antibody therapeutics for human pathogens, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Pamlico focused on antibody therapeutics for pneumonia caused by S pneumoniae (SPN).
Affiliation with Emory: Rafi Ahmed, PhD (microbiology and immunology) is an inventor.
Phaeno, Inc.
Address: 8 Martins Rd, Baltimore, MD 21218
Phaeno website
President: William Agnew
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Phaeno is developing a novel, proprietary advance in DNA sequencing technology. Their innovations aim to move genomic medicine beyond the genome itself – toward definitive molecular analysis of biological function. Phaeno's technical innovations are aimed to increase the information yield to grant access to the definitive molecular phenotypes of cells and tissues. Phaeno's early intention is to exploit molecular phenotypic technology to set powerful new standards of precision diagnostics for cancer, infectious, and progressive diseases.
Affiliation with Emory: William Agnew, PhD (physiology) and Mark Emerick, PhD (physiology) are scientific co-founders.
Pharmasset, Inc.
Current Status: Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2012. Gilead no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Pharmasset was a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes novel drugs to treat viral infections. Its primary focus is on the development of drugs for the treatment of the hepatitis C virus ("HCV").
Affiliation to Emory: Raymond Schinazi, PhD (pediatrics) and Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) were founders.
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Qrono, Inc.
Address: 4551 Forbes Ave., Suite 301, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Qrono website
CEO: Sam Rothstein
Current Status: In product development
Company Profile: Immunotherapy using antigen presenting cells.
Affiliation with Emory: Rafi Ahmed, PhD (microbiology and immunology), Christian Larsen, MD (surgery), and Koichi Araki PhD (microbiology) are inventors.
Que Oncology, Inc.
Address: 2870 Peachtree Rd, #466, Atlanta, GA 30305
QUE Oncology website
President & CEO: John Richard
Current Status: In clinical trials
Company Profile: QUE Oncology is developing novel drug candidates to treat cancer and its consequences, from an early development stage to the end of Phase II clinical trials, at which point a partnering global pharmaceutical company can complete their path to market.
Affiliation with Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) is an inventor.
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RFS Pharma, LLC
Current Status: RFS Pharma was in a reverse merger with Cocrystal Pharma in 2014. Cocrystal no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: RFS Pharma was a biopharmaceutical company in-licensed a series of anti-HIV drugs including Amdoxovir (AMDX, DAPD). In addition to Amdoxovir, they focused on developing new molecules for treatment of hepatitis viruses, and in particular hepatitis C (HCV) as well as other infections such as noroviruses.
Affiliation to Emory: Raymond F. Schinazi, PhD (pediatrics) was the founder and director.
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Shanghai Braegen Pharmaceutical Company, LTD.
Address: Room 713, No. 780 Cailun Road, Shanghai Zhang-Jiang Hi-Tech Park, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201203, P. R. China
Founder and Director: Jie Zhang
Current Status: In preclinical development
Company Profile: Shanghai Braegen Pharmaceutical is developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. Their focus is on a TrkB receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a growth factor that has important roles in the survival and function of neurons in the central nervous system. Recent studies have indicated that TrkB receptor is associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Affiliation to Emory: Keqiang Ye, PhD (pathology and laboratory medicine) is the scientific founder.
Slainte Bioceuticals, Inc.
Current Status: Slainte is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Slainte was an early-stage drug discovery and development company whose mission is to initially identify, develop, and optimize proprietary, clinically-relevant anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory compounds which have either a preventative or therapeutic effect. The core platform technology is based on a group of naturally-occurring compounds known as sphingolipids.
Affiliation to Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) founder and inventor.
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Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Current Status: Triangle Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Gilead in 2002. Gilead no longer has a license to Emory technology.
Company Profile: Triangle Pharmaceuticals developed solutions for serious viral diseases, with a particular focus on therapies for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), including the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the hepatitis B virus. The company developed a portfolio of antiviral drug candidates in advanced stages of development including Coviracil (emtricitabine) for HIV and HBV, amdoxovir for HIV and clevudine for HBV. Triangle also developed immunotherapies for HIV.
Affiliation to Emory: Dennis Liotta, PhD (chemistry) and Raymond Schinazi, PhD (pediatrics) were founders and inventors.
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Zetra Biologicals, LLC
Former President: Jadranka Bozja
Current Status: Zetra is no longer in business.
Company Profile: Zetra Biologicals was developing innovative vaccines against pandemic influenza and other infectious diseases, including HIV andRespiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). They were formed around the novel virus-like particle (VLP) technology. The VLP technology has the potential to considerably simplify the vaccine manufacturing process and at the same time reduce the time to market.
Affiliation with Emory: Richard Compans, PhD (microbiology and immunology) was the scientific founder.