Success Story

Penn ICorps Graduate and President’s Innovation Prize Winner Strella Biotech Raises $8 Million in Series A Funding Round

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Strella Biotechnology, a Philadelphia-based agricultural biotech startup, Penn ICorps graduate, and President’s Innovation Prize (PIP) winner, recently raised $8 million in a Series A funding round, led by Millennium New Horizons.

The equity financing also included participation from Google Ventures and Rich Products Ventures. “Shark Tank” celebrity and entrepreneur Mark Cuban, an early investor in Strella, and previous investors Yamaha Motor Ventures, Catapult Ventures, and Union Labs took part as well.

Strella, founded and led by Katherine Sizov, plans to use the funds to support its national grocery chain expansion by employing novel IoT biosensors and real-time data streaming to measure the ripeness of fruit produce. By monitoring freshness from harvest to the grocery store shelf, Strella aims to help solve the food waste problem and improve produce quality.

The now four-year old company has expanded since its early days at Penn. Last year, Strella moved from Pennovation Works to a larger space at Pennovation Lab in West Philadelphia. They recently established an additional office in Seattle to better support the apple-growing industry, while their research and development team continues to be based in Philadelphia.

Read the full story here.

Five Years of Data Show Long-term Promise for Penn and Novartis’ Car-T Pioneer Kymriah

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Five years after Penn and Novartis made history with the FDA approval of Kymriah, the first Car-T cell therapy, a recent study has shown the long-term impact of the medication on patient remission rates. 

According to Novartis, over the past five years, Kymriah has yielded a five-year relapse-free survival rate of 44% for patients who previously faced a five-year survival rate of less than 10%. These data provide profound hope to children and young adults affected by relapsed or refractory B-cell Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as relapse after a five year period is rare. 

Read the full article using the following link:

Novartis may still be grappling with Kymriah sales, but historic CAR-T promise still shines through 5-year data

Penn Partners with PaxeraHealth to Build AI Algorithms for Ultrasound Research

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On May 27, 2022, it was announced that Penn will be using PaxeraHealth’s zero-coding authoring algorithm platform, Ark, to assist with the university’s work on new imaging artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms within their ultrasound research lab.

The collaboration between Penn and PaxeraHealth will concentrate on developing imaging algorithms to detect liver cancer in addition to covid detection via lung ultrasounds. This partnership will allow Penn to bring new algorithms to market quickly and make them accessible to PaxeraHealth’s worldwide user base.  

Read the full article using the following link: 

https://www.itnonline.com/content/paxerahealth-announces-ark-ai-algorithm-collaboration-upenn

Tribeca Film Festival Documentary Features CAR-T Journey

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On June 12th, 2022, the documentary “Of Medicine and Miracles” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Created by Oscar-winning director Ross Kauffman and Oscar-nominated producer Robin Honan, the film follows the journey of Emily Whitehead, the first pediatric patient to receive the revolutionary CAR-T cell therapy developed and tested at Penn and CHOP. 

Tribeca Film Festival Director Cara Cusumano described the film as “a tear-jerking, heart-racing record of medical history that honors its subjects and their trauma while empowering future generations to attempt the impossible.” To learn more about the film, read the Penn Medicine news release here or download the full documentary here.

AI the Focus of Philly Tech Week Program hosted by PCI and PACT 

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PCI, along with Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), hosted an AI-focused event called “AI Nexus: Shaping Tomorrow’s Intelligence” at the CIC in University City during Philly Tech Week.

Jacob Gardner, PhD, Assistant Professor, Computer and Information Science, Penn Engineering, began the event by giving an insightful presentation on AI and machine learning.

Jacob then moderated a panel of experts in the field, which included Mingyao Li, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics and Digital Pathology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Sasha Schrode, MBA, CEO of Medical Devices at Maverix Medical & Partner at Robin Hood Ventures, and Walter Witschey, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine.

The panelists discussed the benefits and challenges of bringing AI into the healthcare space, and offered a wide range of future applications to leverage AI to improve patient outcomes.

Thank you to everyone who participated and attended! It was a wonderful event and we look forward to hosting another one next year.

New Technology Video: An Inside Look at Marc Miskin’s New Technology for Reflective Displays  

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Marc Miskin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at Penn Engineering, and David Gonzalez-Medrano, a PhD candidate in Electrical and Systems Engineering at Penn Engineering, have developed an invention that improves the user experience of reflective display devices, such as smartwatches, e-readers, and various IoT devices, where battery life is a critical factor.  

The invention consists of an array of individually addressable microscale optical resonators and arrangements of optical components which allow a beam of light to circulate more efficiently. The optical resonators offer reflective displays with higher resolution combined with lower power consumption, extremely rich color tones, and a unique manufacturing path. They also make reflective display devices easier to operate outdoors. Learn more about the technology here.

This new, state-of-the-art video of the technology features a high-level interview with Miskin, showcases his laboratory and offers a device demonstration. Watch it below:

PCI and Philadelphia Are Highlighted as Innovation Hubsat SXSW  

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This March, PCI attended SXSW Interactive, an annual Austin-based conference focused on technology, innovation and startups, and supported the Amplify Philly team along with multiple other economic development partners to position Philadelphia as a center for innovation and creativity. 

The conference allowed PCI team members to meet a global network of investors and tech innovators. Unsurprisingly, a major focus of the conference was the broad impact of AI but there was also a notable presence of companies developing elder-tech, technologies designed to help caretakers monitor and provide care to the elderly.

2023 President’s Prize Winners: Where They Are Now?

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The 2023 President’s Innovation Prize (PIP) and President’s Engagement Prize (PEP) winners have each made significant strides over the course of the past year. Every year, the President’s Innovation Prize, supported by PCI, is awarded to teams to develop impactful post-graduation projects, with the winners each receiving $100,000 towards their work and a $50,000 living stipend per team member. 

Last year’s winning projects included Act First, which provides emergency response training to Philadelphia high schools, Communities for Childbirth, addressing maternal mortality in Uganda, and the Penn I-Corps graduate team Sonura, which developed a noise-shielding beanie for infants in NICUs. 

Over the past year, Act First has successfully taught emergency response lessons at multiple schools and collaborated with medical programs. Communities for Childbirth has established a referral system in Uganda and now plans to transfer this service over to a hospital. Sonura has collaborated with NICU teams nationwide and is progressing towards FDA regulatory clearance for their product. 

PCI congratulates all of the teams on their innovative work and substantial progress over the past year! Read more here. 

LNP Research from the Mitchell Lab is Highlighted in the Philadelphia Inquirer  

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Mike Mitchell, PhD, Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Penn, was interviewed recently by the Philadelphia Inquirer about his cutting-edge research in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are crucial for delivering mRNA into the body’s cells.   
 
LNPs, for example, were instrumental in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and are now being tailored by Mitchell and his research team to develop innovative treatments for cancer and other diseases.  
 
In the interview, Mitchell explains how LNPs are made, how he is designing them to target different organs, and what steps he is taking to improve their efficiency. 
 
Mitchell also notes that in a recent study, he and his team successfully delivered mRNA to the lungs of mice. The team achieved this by creating a library LNPs composed of different lipids, and subsequently identified the formulation that selectively delivered its payload to the lungs. This type of organ targeting may have applications in cancer treatment, where it may be advantageous to target the specific organ where the tumor resides, while avoiding the healthy organs.  
 
Read the full interview with Mitchell to learn more about his research here. 

Penn Vet Announces mRNA Research Initiative for Veterinary Vaccine Science

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The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has launched an mRNA Research Initiative to advance the development of veterinary mRNA-based vaccines and therapies. Led by Christopher Hunter, PhD, founding director of Penn Vet’s Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases (IIZD) and the Mindy Halikman Heyer Distinguished Professor of Pathobiology, the Initiative aims to leverage Penn Vet’s expertise along with funding from the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, which is supported by 2023 Nobel Prize winner Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. 
 
Operating under Penn Vet’s Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases, the Initiative will focus on generating enduring T cell-mediated immunity in veterinary species and developing mRNA vaccines for diseases like avian influenza and viral swine infections. Additionally, the Initiative will fund multi-investigator research projects and host annual symposiums to advance mRNA science at Penn Vet. Read more here. 

Penn’s CAR-T Treatment Shrank Brain Tumors in Patients in Clinical Trial  

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In a new early-stage clinical trial, a Penn-invented CAR-T treatment shrank brain tumors in seven patients with glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain cancer that can prove fatal in as little as 12-18 months following diagnosis.  Doctors delivered the CAR-T treatment to the patients by injecting genetically modified white blood cells into the spinal fluid through an intracerebral port. 
 
The results of the study show significant promise, despite previous challenges seen with other CAR-T treatments for solid tumors.  Researchers are continuing with this trial to determine if the treatment can reliably prevent further tumor growth for at least six months.

Read more here: 

PA as an Innovation Leader: Challenges and Solutions in the face of a Growing Industry  

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Pennsylvania legislators are working on new ways to retain young residents who too often leave the region for opportunities after receiving their education within the state. The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee recently held a public hearing regarding “PA as an Innovation Leader”. 

During the hearing, a new proposal that includes offering $5,000 scholarships to college students who agree to stay in Pennsylvania, and providing in-state tuition rates to out-of-state students who choose to do the same was highlighted. Scott Nissenbaum, president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Philadelphia, also pitched legislators to support an $80 million tech hub proposal that could help position Philadelphia similarly to Silicon Valley in terms of entrepreneurial and scientific innovation.   

John Swartley, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer at Penn, provided testimony and offered his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges Pennsylvania faces with its growing life sciences industry.  

“In spite of success, the path from academic research to commercial success and society impact continues to be fraught with significant hurdles and challenges,” said Swartley. “The gap between early and promising research findings, and the many different steps and investments required to ensure their full development to market ready projects — that continues to be a significant barrier to establishing [the full range of] academic-industrial partnerships.”  Read more here: 

New Proposed Federal Guidelines Could Threaten Innovation

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Recently proposed guidance to federal agencies that potentially expand the application of “march-in rights” under the Bayh-Dole Act could significantly impact the development of new products based on inventions resulting from federally funded research. In a WHYY PBS by NPR story, John Swartley, PhD, MBA, Chief Innovation Officer at Penn, cautions against the use of expanded march-in rights to lower drug costs, highlighting concerns about discouraging private sector investment and hindering new product developments based on technologies developed by researchers at institutions such as Penn.  

“It’ll discourage the private sector from wanting to invest,” said Swartley in the article. “The overarching goal of making sure patients are able to afford and access the health care they need is 100% in our mission, and we’re completely supportive of that. But using march-in rights for this particular purpose to reduce the cost of therapeutic drugs simply won’t work. And it will negatively affect industrial partner interest in not just drugs, but potentially any discovery that’s made using federal funds.” 

As discussions continue to unfold, Penn and many other public and private sector stakeholders are emphasizing the importance of balancing innovation incentives with ensuring fair access to life-saving medications for all. Read more here:

Novel Therapeutics Forum Brings Together Investors and Innovators at Penn 

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PCI and Penn Medicine partnered with Citizens JMP for the inaugural ‘Novel Therapeutics Forum’ at Penn.  The Forum brought together innovative Penn faculty and regional startups to present before an audience of national investors seeking to learn more about Philadelphia’s biotech innovators. Faculty and startups participating included Sara Cherry, PhD, John W. Eckman Professor of Medical Science, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Norbert Pardi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology; Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine & Associate Professor of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Benjamin Prosser, PhD, Associate Professor of Physiology; Saar Gill, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and co-founder, Carisma Therapeutics Inc. & Interius BioTherapeutics, Inc.; and Opus Genetics among others. 
 
Securing investment capital to the Philadelphia region from new sources represents a critical component in building the burgeoning our local life sciences industry and PCI was gratified to help support this inaugural effort.

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