“We're elated to see Amgen promoting the importance of diversity, inclusion, and belonging at their company and in industry, and honored to have received the award,” says Radar CEO and co-founder Sophia Lugo, a first-generation immigrant from Mexico. Sophia co-founded Radar with CSO Eerik Kaseniit, a Stanford bioengineer originally from Estonia.
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“I grew up in Silicon Valley, around this energy that a company is a great vehicle to build something of value,” said Katy. “I want to build things that need to exist in the world, and at Minutia, we’re doing this in two ways: cell therapy and the cell based sensors that can help ensure safety and improve efficacy of cell therapies.”
Minutia’s cell therapy is a functional cure for type 1 diabetes that involves transplanting insulin producing cells just underneath the skin. Not only is this safer and less invasive compared to some existing cell therapies, which require surgically implanting cells into the liver, but Minutia’s cells are paired with nanosensors that bring the medical marvels of science fiction to real life.
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During the Nic’s On Beverly portion of the show, restaurant owner Nic Adler cooks two recipes: Vegan Lamb Bolognese featuring Black Sheep Foods’ vegan lamb and a Lion’s Mane Asada Detroit-Style Pizza.
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Xeno Cell Innovations won an award in the "Applications" program for "extraordinary social contribution." Xeno is a subsidiary of Sampling Human, which CEO Daniel Georgiev co-founded in the Czech Republic in 2016.
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There’s nothing quite like a crispy piece of bacon. But the pork industry releases more greenhouse gases than the entire country of Germany each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. While some companies make plant-based bacon, the start-up Umaro Foods says existing products lack the key characteristic that makes bacon delicious: crispiness.
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The funding will advance development of Ray Therapeutics’ optogenetics technology platform. The company will advance RTx-021 for the treatment of geographic atrophy age-related macular degeneration.
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Umaro Foods will leverage advancements in HOPO Therapeutics' chelator technology to efficiently extract rare earth elements and platinum group metals from seaweeds. They will be applying advanced metal chelator molecules to selectively extract metals in a non-destructive manner from process streams producing valuable food-grade seaweed proteins and commodities such as agar, alginate, and carrageenan.
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Matharu, an Assistant Professor at UC San Francisco, is studying genetic disorders that have high unmet needs, and developing non-editing forms of CRISPR-based therapeutics. Matharu cofounded Regel Therapeutics, a Bakar Labs tenant, in 2021.
“This is an extremely meaningful award from the HS Chau Foundation,” says Matharu.” This funding will enable us to utilize our foundational technology to diversify and expand the therapeutic development pipelines at Regel.”
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"We look forward to evaluating VNT-101 in the clinic," said Don Ganem MD, Co-Founder and CEO of Via Nova Therapeutics. "This is an important step to developing a flu antiviral with a novel mechanism of action, and a milestone for Via Nova Therapeutics as we advance our first compound into the clinic."
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Since joining Bakar Labs, 16 tenant companies have brought in $284 million from a network of 72 funds, including angel, corporate, and VC firms, including a16z, Bessemer Venture Partners, Deerfield Management, GV, J&J Innovation, Morningside, MRL Ventures, Novartis, Novo Holdings, S32, and venBio.
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"Within a year, we have been honored to receive two innovation grants from the NIH to develop therapies for both Netherton Syndrome, an orphan disease, and severe atopic dermatitis through our topical cell therapy approach," Dr. Zargar stated. "This is in addition to our Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for Netherton Syndrome from the FDA, setting the stage for the entry of our therapy into the clinic in 2025."
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Roughly 190 million women suffer from endometriosis worldwide. In endometriosis, the tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing debilitating pelvic pain and infertility. The chronic pain can last for almost a lifetime - but despite the severity of the pain, many women don’t even realize they have a disease. And it can be difficult for doctors to tell, too.
As the CEO and founder of Bakar Labs tenant Endometrics, Dr. Aznavour is dedicated to bridging the gap between patients and easy, painless diagnosis.
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“One of the best pieces of advice we can give them is that no one person can do it all,” says Mimi Hancock, who directs the executive mentorship program at Bakar Labs. “You need a great team.” Incubators can support biotech startups in hiring and staffing through networking, tapping into readily available talent pools and helping them fill executive roles and boards of directors.
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Clinical trials have begun on a promising drug designed to remove radioactive particles from the body. Here’s how it works.
The drug, HOPO 14-1, a heavy metal chelator, is being commercialized by Bakar Labs tenant HOPO Therapeutics.
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Gene therapy is usually delivered aboard a harmless virus that can be taken up by cells. However, the immune system may see the introduced gene or the viral carrier as foreign or unfamiliar and react to protect the body, causing an unwanted immune response.
To make delivery safer, Nosis is using AI and deep learning — an AI technique that teaches computers to process data in a way similar to the human brain — to design new molecular carriers to get gene therapy directly into specific lung cells.
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“L’Oréal has been a pioneer of 3D reconstructed skin for over 25 years, establishing alternative solutions for a world without animal testing. Today, we are pleased to power Bakar Labs at UC Berkeley with this L’Oréal proprietary skintech platform to support Bakar’s best-in-class startup ecosystem in their quest for new discoveries. With a fully integrated production of 3D reconstructed skin, we will provide Bakar startups with whatever is needed to achieve their goals,” said Barbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology at L'Oréal.
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The startup said in its business license application that the move to 3100 San Pablo would enhance Berkeley’s reputation as “a center for scientific innovation,” something the city has been working to cement over the last year or so. Berkeley City Councilmembers last fall signaled their unanimous interest in the Keep Innovation in Berkeley initiative, which outlined strategies to grow Berkeley’s biotech industry.
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