Tech Spotlight: Improved Micro Cryogenic Cooler

A cryogenic cooler is an instrument used to cool devices to very low temperatures to attain low thermal noise, high system bandwidth, or achieve a super conducting state. Micro cryogenic coolers (MCCs) have drawn a lot of attention recently due to their small volume and fast thermal response. A research group at the University of Colorado and NIST has developed a novel MCC concept that provides unparalleled advantages to current MCCs and thermoelectric coolers in high-sensitivity devices, such as sensors. Their design minimizes volume, increases the heat-exchanging surface, and enhances thermal isolation.

To learn more, please view a short, non-confidential summary of this technology, or go directly to the key scientific publication. For more CU technologies available for licensing, please visit our Tech Explorer site.

January 2012 Newsletter Now Available

Top stories from TTO's January newsletter:

CU Announces Annual Technology Transfer Awards
 
MediciNova and CU Collaborate on Potential Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury

Omni Bio to Conduct New Human Clinical Trials
CU licensee Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced its intention to commence new human clinical trials to test the efficacy of Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) as a treatment in Type 1 diabetes and graft versus host disease (GVHD). 

ARCA Receives Patent for Heart Drug
CU licensee ARCA biopharma received a new patent for its genetic targeting method to treat patients with its heart disease drug Gencaro. Now that it has the new patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Broomfield-based ARCA plans to raise new money to pay for a Phase 3 clinical trial to test the atrial fibrillation drug.

Clarimedix Secures Investment for Proof-of-Concept Study in Cerebral Vasospasm
Clarimedix, Inc., a CU licensee focused on the development of non-invasive therapeutics for the treatment of disorders associated with vascular dysfunction, announced that it has secured an investment from the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT). The funds will be used for a human proof-of-concept study to determine the viability of Clarimedix's product for cerebral vasospasm.

Read the full newsletter, or sign up to receive a monthly email update.

Tech Spotlight: Intra-Cardiac Camera System for Improved Cardiac Visualization in Humans and Animals

A collaboration between University of Colorado researchers Mark Rentschler (mechanical engineering) and Max Mitchell (cardiothoracic surgery) has resulted in the development of a novel cardiac camera that allows clinicians to rely on a direct video representation when monitoring for cardiac anomalies or proper device implantation. The camera provides unsurpassed visibility (particularly in smaller hearts, as in pediatrics or animal surgery) with minimal tissue invasion, and can also be outfitted with a number of tools for manipulation of the cardiac tissue. In particular, it could be used to precisely guide catheter-based instruments for interventions such as device placement, suturing, etc. The camera can also serve as a verification tool to ensure proper placement, operation, and effectiveness of cardiac intervention devices.

To learn more, please view a short, non-confidential summary of this collaboration. For more CU technologies available for licensing, please visit our Tech Explorer site.

CU Announces Annual Technology Transfer Awards

Researchers working on eye disease, chronic pain and cleantech among those honored for technology commercialization.

DENVER (Jan. 17, 2012)  – The University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office (TTO) will host its annual awards ceremony tonight, honoring several faculty researchers, two companies founded on university research, and several members of the local entrepreneurial community.

The TTO will present these awards during a banquet on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the historic Tivoli Turnhalle. The awards will follow a panel discussion offering faculty perspectives on the origins of university inventions.

In the last two decades, inventions by CU researchers have led to the formation of 114 new companies. Of these, 85 have operations in Colorado, seven have “gone public,” becoming publicly traded companies (either through an IPO or via a reverse merger), and 17 have been acquired by public companies. In total, companies created based on CU technology have attracted over $5.6 billion in financing.

“The University of Colorado is a primary driver for the Colorado economy in many ways – one way that is often less visible than our thousands of graduates, new buildings and faculty accolades is the commercialization of research,” said David Allen, associate vice president for technology transfer at CU. “This event recognizes excellence in the people and licensee companies that exemplify CU’s success in transforming research into real-world impact.”

The researchers and companies recognized this year represent all CU campuses, and are developing technologies ranging from novel treatments for chronic pain, eye disease and metabolic syndrome to new materials with applications in clean energy, and techniques for more efficient biofuels and solar power. This year’s award winners include:

Jeffrey L. Olson, Inventor of the Year, CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. Olson, an associate professor of ophthalmology, specializes in the medical and surgical management of retinal diseases like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinal detachment. One of his inventions, a  method for preserving eyesight through the use of nanotechnology, is licensed to a CU startup currently raising Series A financing. 

Linda R. Watkins, Inventor of the Year, CU-Boulder. Watkins, a distinguished professor of psychology, has developed both novel drugs and new uses of known drugs targeting various disorders with unmet medical needs, including chronic and neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, ALS and addiction. Her inventions have led to numerous industry collaborations and licenses, as well as the formation of a new company, Xalud Therapeutics.

Richard J. Johnson, New Inventor of the Year, CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. Johnson is chief of the division of renal diseases and hypertension; his research has focused on the mechanisms of renal injury and progression, including in diabetes and hypertension. Recent work has also examined the role of uric acid and fructose in obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and hypertension.

Wei Zhang, New Inventor of the Year, CU-Boulder. Zhang, an assistant professor of chemistry & biochemistry, is developing novel materials with potential applications in solar energy conversion, gas separation and storage, chemical sensing and catalysis.

Anatoliy O. Pinchuk, New Inventor of the Year, CU-Colorado Springs. Pinchuk is an assistant professor of physics and energy science; his research focuses on nano-materials for intracellular imaging and optical bio-chemical sensors.

OPX Biotechnologies, Bioscience Company of the Year. OPXBIO (Boulder, CO) is a venture-backed company making renewable bio-based chemicals and fuels that are lower cost, higher return and more sustainable than existing petroleum-based products.

Phobos Energy, Physical Sciences/Engineering/IT Company of the Year. Phobos Energy (Menlo Park, CA; Lafayette, CO) is focused on increasing energy production, decreasing costs, and opening up new applications for solar photovoltaic power production.

S. Gail Eckhardt, Business Advisor of the Year. Eckhardt is chief of the division of medical oncology at the Anschutz Medical Campus. As an advisor to TTO on drug discovery and development projects, she has been critically important in facilitating industry collaborations involving not just her lab, but labs of her CU collaborators.

Michael R. Bristow, Serial University Start-up Entrepreneur Award. Bristow, a professor of medicine (division of cardiology) at the Anschutz Medical Campus, was a founder and former chief science and medical officer of Myogen, Inc. (acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc. in 2006). He is the President and CEO of ARCA biopharma (Broomfield, CO), a company he founded in 2003 with the goal of developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure. In 2007 he co‐founded miRagen Therapeutics, (Boulder, CO), a company dedicated to utilizing the biologic properties of microRNAs in developing therapies for cardiovascular diseases. 

Additionally, two CU researchers were inducted into the Pinnacles of Inventorship, an all-stars group recognizing continuous commitment to best practices in technology transfer: Kristi S. Anseth (Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, CU-Boulder) and Charles A. Dinarello (Professor of Medicine and Immunology, Anschutz Medical Campus).

MediciNova and CU Collaborate on Potential Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury

San Diego, Calif., January 16, 2012 – MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market (Trading Symbol: MNOV) and the Jasdaq Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange (Code Number: 4875), and the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder disclosed a license agreement for the use of ibudilast (MN-166/AV411) for the treatment of post-traumatic brain injury (TBI). Led by the research of Daniel Barth, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at CU-Boulder, ibudilast demonstrated significant efficacy in a model of post-TBI anxiety, one of the most common disorders caused by TBI.

Dr. Barth and colleague, Krista Rodgers, discovered that a short course of systemic ibudilast administered over a month after concussion injury reversed post-TBI anxiety in rats for a 3 month measurement period following treatment. “While we had initially observed impressive reduction of anxiety behavior when ibudilast was administered just prior to head injury, we were, frankly, surprised that a few days of treatment so long after injury could provide notable efficacy for up to three months thereafter. This finding suggests that post-traumatic anxiety in humans may have a strong physiological basis in neuro-inflammation and that the ongoing neuropathy may be treatable with drugs like ibudilast that attenuate and perhaps interrupt the brain’s inflammatory response,” commented Dr. Barth.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health concern, with approximately 1.7 million people in the United States alone sustaining a TBI each year. The long-term consequences of TBI include neuropsychiatric disorders, of which anxiety disorders are the most prevalent. Little is known about the neural mechanisms of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) including anxiety and effective pharmacotherapy options for individuals suffering such a disorder are limited. Dr. Barth and colleagues have hypothesized that unchecked activation of glial cells in the brain may contribute to some of the post-TBI disorders. Ibudilast is a selective inhibitor of macrophage-migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and certain phosphodiesterases with well-recognized activity as an attenuator of glial cell activation.

MediciNova is developing ibudilast (MN-166) for several neurological disorders. Recognizing both the unmet need and potential strategic fit with the University of Colorado, Yuichi Iwaki, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MediciNova commented, “we are excited to participate in research aimed at better understanding the traumatic brain injury disease process and in further exploring the potential for MN-166 as a pharmacotherapy.”

December 2011 Newsletter Now Available

Top stories from TTO's December newsletter:

Xeris Pharma to Develop CU Diabetes Management Drug
Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Austin, Texas) and CU recently completed an exclusive license agreement for a jointly-developed method of treating the low blood sugar that is a common side effect of the insulin therapy used to treat many types of diabetes. Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) can be treated by taking glucose orally, but when a hypoglycemic individual is confused or unconscious, oral glucose may not be an option. In these cases, glucagon (a hormone secreted by the pancreas, like insulin) can be given by injection to quickly raise blood glucose levels; however, glucagon is not stable when dissolved in water, so current injection methods require many extra steps for reconstitution with water before administration. The patent-pending drug reformulation technique developed by CU and Xeris (by a team of researchers led by John Carpenter, a professor at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and John Kinzell, CEO of Xeris) provides formulations of glucagon that are shelf-stable and do not require refrigeration, making them faster and more convenient to administer.

Podcast: Colorado Technology Infrastructure and BioFrontiers Institute
W3W3 radio interviewed Jim Linfield, Managing Partner at Cooley LLP and the recipient of TTO's Colorado Technology Infrastructure Leadership Award in 2011. Speaking about CU's newly-launched BioFrontiers Institute (an interdisciplinary center designed to advance transformational biotechnologies), Linfield said: "I think that will solidify CU's position as one of the leading institutions for interdisciplinary research in the life sciences area, covering both therapeutics and diagnostics but also bio fuels, so I think it will be a remarkable institution." Listen to the podcast, or view an archive of all TTO podcasts.

Report Examines Value, Opportunities from Gap Funding of University Technology
Mind the Gap 2011: The University Gap Funding Report examines the role that university-driven gap funding programs play in advancing major innovations. The report begins with an updated version of the university, or early-stage, technology funding landscape. Next, the report looks in-depth at the functionality of 63 gap funding programs across 40 organizations (including CU's proof-of-concept grant program), creating a roadmap for tech transfer managers to develop gap funding programs and presenting benchmarks for policymakers to support these initiatives.

Gilead Strikes Deal with GlobeImmune on Hepatitis B Vaccine

Python Could Help Treat Heart Disease

Read the full newsletter, or sign up to receive a monthly email update.

Xeris Pharma to Develop CU Diabetes Management Drug

Drug reformulation allows faster, more accurate administration of glucagon, helping diabetics to manage their blood sugar levels. 

AURORA, Colo., December 12, 2011 – Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Austin, Texas) and the University of Colorado recently completed an exclusive license agreement for a jointly-developed method of treating the low blood sugar that is a common side effect of the insulin therapy used to treat many types of diabetes.

Insulin therapy is used in the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to lower blood glucose levels, since diabetes sufferers do not produce enough of this hormone (or do not react to the insulin produced naturally in their bodies). Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) is a dangerous complication of insulin therapy, and can cause vomiting, seizures, or even death. Hypoglycemia can be treated by taking glucose orally, but when a hypoglycemic individual is confused or unconscious, oral glucose may not be an option. In these cases, glucagon (a hormone secreted by the pancreas, like insulin) can be given by injection to quickly raise blood glucose levels; however, glucagon is not stable when dissolved in water, so current injection methods require many extra steps for reconstitution with water before administration.

The patent-pending drug reformulation technique developed by CU and Xeris (by a team of researchers led by John Carpenter, a professor at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and John Kinzell, CEO of Xeris) provides paste and suspension formulations of glucagon that are shelf-stable and do not require refrigeration, making them faster and more convenient to administer. Like other commercially-available glucagon products, these stabilized formulations can be given using a disposable injection kit that can be carried by diabetics in case of emergency. Additionally, since these formulations significantly reduce the injection volume as compared to conventional glucagon injections, they allow for simple and rapid administration.

“We were excited to team with John and his lab on advancing this novel formulation technology platform for delivery of biologics,” said Dr. Kinzell, Xeris’ CEO. “Dr. Carpenter’s program is a nationally-recognized academic center of excellence in this space and the primary reason we sought John out as technical partner for our first NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. Besides providing small companies like Xeris with non-dilutive funding for early-stage drug development, it also provides early peer-reviewed validation of a technology. We were very pleased with the outcome of project, as was NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).”

“The University of Colorado is very pleased to continue its partnership with Xeris Pharmaceuticals,” added Paul Tabor of the CU Technology Transfer Office. “Our combined advances in formulation science have the potential to dramatically improve drug delivery, and we believe Xeris is ideally suited to advance the technology and provide much needed solutions for diabetics and other at-risk patients.”

Xeris is in the process of optimizing its glucagon formulation technology and will select the best candidate formulation in the second quarter of 2012 to move into the clinical phase of its program.

About Xeris Pharmaceuticals: 
XERIS develops patient-friendly injectables based on its XeriJect™ and XeriSol™ formulation and delivery platforms. The company’s products are ultra-low-volume, injectable bio-pharmaceuticals packaged in an auto-injector pen which patients and their caregivers can use at home or work. Bio-pharmaceuticals are the fastest growing category of therapeutics and are forecasted to be 6 of the top 10 drugs by 2014. The current paradigm of delivery requires nearly all of these drugs to be administered by injection or infusion, often in a clinical setting, decreasing compliance, increasing cost and providing a terrible patient experience. Xeris aspires to change this paradigm by developing ultra-low volume, ready-to-use bio-pharmaceuticals delivered through patient-friendly injectable devices, many of which would be self-administered in the comfort of the patient’s home. Products built on Xeris’ technologies would simplify administration and ease the pain of injections, improving the experience for hundreds of millions of patients. www.xerispharma.com

Tech Spotlight: 3D Control of Polymerization via Photofixation of Diels-Alder Networks

Researchers at the University of Colorado led by Christopher Bowman have combined the facile formation of a Diels-Alder molecular scaffold with spatially and temporally selective photopolymerization. Their invention provides a method for “fixation” (photo-fixation, when light-activated) of otherwise reversible DA crosslinks in a polymer network.

These photofixed materials and the photolithographic strategy employed to make them have far reaching implications in the field of photopolymerization. Any application that can benefit from spatial and temporal control of polymerization reactions will be greatly enhanced by the simplicity of this fixation technology. Just a few of the many possible applications of this type of 3D polymerization control include 3D prototyping and printing, microfabrication, and flexographic printing.

To learn more, please view a short, non-confidential summary of this research work. For more CU technologies available for licensing, please visit our Tech Explorer site.

Podcast: Colorado Technology Infrastructure and BioFrontiers Institute

W3W3 radio interviewed Jim Linfield, Managing Partner at Cooley LLP and the recipient of TTO’s Colorado Technology Infrastructure Leadership Award in 2011. Speaking about CU’s newly-launched BioFrontiers Institute (an interdisciplinary center designed to advance transformational biotechnologies), Linfield said: "I think that will solidify CU's position as one of the leading institutions for interdisciplinary research in the life sciences area, covering both therapeutics and diagnostics but also bio fuels, so I think it will be a remarkable institution."

Listen to the podcast, or view an archive of all TTO podcasts.

Tech Spotlight: Enhancement of Radiotherapy and Prevention of Tumor Repopulation, Metastasis, and Recurrence

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the current standards of care for most cancers. While these treatment methods eradicate the tumor, they also initiate a process called “accelerated repopulation.” In this process, surviving tumor cells rapidly proliferate, repopulating the irradiated area at an accelerated pace. Further complicating cancer treatment, radiation and chemotherapy regimens incorporate necessary intervals in treatment, allowing for the recovery, survival, and repopulation of normal cellular tissue. Unfortunately, these breaks in treatment, paired with “accelerated repopulation,” allow for rapid growth of tumor cells. In fact, this issue of repopulation is a common cause of cancer treatment failure.

Dr. Chuan-Yuan Li, at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, has discovered a molecular signaling pathway integral in the process of “accelerated repopulation.” In a recent publication, Dr. Li has shown that apoptotic cells release growth signals that stimulate the proliferation of progenitor cells, and he has identified Caspase-3 as a key factor in this signaling event. With this scientific finding, Dr. Li has developed an approach to prevent tumor repopulation and metastasis, enhancing the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

To learn more, please view a short, non-confidential summary of Dr. Li's work, or go directly to the key scientific publication. For more CU technologies available for licensing, please visit our Tech Explorer site.