Emory’s Office of Technology Transfer hosted its Third Annual Celebration of Technology and Innovation on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at the Emory Conference Center. The master of ceremonies was OTT's own Todd Sherer and the program opened with keynote speaker Jerry Thursby, PhD, Georgia Tech Professor and Ernest Scheller, Jr., Chair in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Commercialization. The evening also featured remarks by Vice President of Research Administration David Wynes, PhD, and Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD Executive Vice President for Health Affairs. To complete the event, Emory University President James Wagner congratulated the talented individuals and offices that contribute to Emory’s success in bringing new devices, discoveries and technologies to market.
Each speaker discussed a different aspect of the role and the importance of research and innovation in academia and the business community, particularly in a changing economy. Wynes was especially pleased to announce that despite Emory’s rising economic concerns, the college had continued to produce more research opportunities than ever, attributing part of the success to the “ripple effect” of Emory’s technology transfer program. Sanfilippo spoke of the synergistic relationship between the business and academic communities.
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Todd Sherer, Master of Ceremonies and
Director of OTT |
Keynote Speaker Jerry Thursby, Georgia Tech professor and Ernest Scheller Jr. Chair in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Commercialization |
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| Speaker Fred Sanfilippo, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs |
Concluding Remarks James Wagner, President |
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| State of Research at Emory Speaker David Wynes, VP for Research Administration |
Audience |
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Innovation
Novel PET Imaging Agents
This year’s “Innovation” went to Mark Goodman, PhD, for Novel Tumor PET Imaging Agents, an imaging technology used to detect and monitor various cancers, including prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among men. In 2007, 220,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed and 27,000 deaths resulted from the disease in the United States. While the accurate staging of prostate cancer is essential in order to effectively treat patients, no effective diagnostic imaging agent is available. The diagnostic imaging field of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is poised for rapid growth with the market in the United States being anticipated to reach $1.0 billion by 2011. Dr. Mark Goodman in Emory’s Department of Radiology has developed unique PET imaging agents to detect and monitor the progression of prostate cancer and other cancers. Rapidly proliferating cells, such as cancerous tumor cells, require high levels of amino acids to divide and grow. The PET imaging agents developed at Emory consist of radiolabeled analogs of amino acids that, when introduced systemically, are more readily taken up by the rapidly dividing cells of a prostate tumor compared to neighboring, non-tumorgenic cells. These compounds have been designed to have high uptake in the prostate with low excretion from the bladder in order to reduce background signal in the groin area.
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| Fred Sanfilippo, Exec VP Health Affairs; Mark Goodman, inventor; Cale Lennon, Emory case manager; David Wynes, VP Research Admin |
The imaging agents can also detect prostate cancer that has metastasized to other regions of the body. Dr. Goodman and a clinician collaborator are planning to conduct a first-in-man study involving these PET imaging agents at Emory. The study will utilize the exploratory IND (eIND) approval route with the FDA, which is available for microdosing studies in humans where no pharmacological effect from the compound is anticipated (<100 micrograms administered to the subject). The objective of the study will be to gather whole body radiation dosimetry and safety data in healthy volunteers. Distribution of the imaging agent will also be assessed in patients with stages I-IV prostate cancer. GRA, GCC and a private donor have provided $200,000 in seed funding to produce clinical grade compound, perform the required single mammalian species toxicology studies in primates and to perform the first-in-man studies.
Deal of the Year
Idenix Pharmaceuticals
Raymond Schinazi, PhD was awarded the “Deal of the Year” for Idenix Pharmacueticals, from which Emory received a settlement agreement that is expected to total at least $6 million by 2018.
In July 2008, Massachusetts-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. settled a long-standing dispute with Emory University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham related to the anti-viral compound, telbivudine, now sold as Tyzeka®/Sebivo® for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Upon execution of the settlement agreement, Idenix was obligated to pay the universities $4 million dollars, with additional ongoing royalty and minimum payment obligations related to telbivudine-containing products. Emory’s 40% share of payments under this settlement agreement is expected to total at least $6 million dollars by the year 2018.
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| Fred Sanfilippo, Exec VP Health Affairs; Mary Severson, Emory case manager; Raymond Schinazi, inventor; David Wynes, VP Research Admin |
Chronic hepatitis B is a serious global health problem and many people are not aware that they are infected. WHO reports that approximately 350 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, including, according to the CDC, approximately 1.25 million people in the United States. Approximately 5,000 people in the United States die each year from chronic liver disease related to HBV infection. In the United States, about half of the chronic HBV carriers have been diagnosed, and about 300,000 of these are under a physician’s care. It is estimated that only 30,000 of these patients are currently prescribed oral HBV drugs and thus, there exists an unmet medical need in the treatment of HBV that perhaps can be partially fulfilled by telbivudine.
Start-up of the Year
Neuronetics, Inc.
The award for “Start-up of the Year” went to Charles Epstein, MD, for Neuronectics Inc., a noninvasive treatment that uses electro magnetic stimulation to activate the areas of the brain linked to mood for the treatment of depression.
Neuronetics, Inc. (Malvern, PA) was founded in 2003 within The Innovation Factory, an Atlanta-based medical technology incubator, and develops non-invasive therapies for the treatment of severe, chronic psychiatric and neurological disorders. Major depression is a common and serious medical illness affecting more than 13 million Americans, or approximately 6.6 percent of the population, in a given year. It is persistent and can significantly interfere with an individual's thoughts, behavior, mood, and physical health. More than half of the millions being treated for clinical depression, often with complex and sometimes unproven combinations of medications, fail to achieve wellness. Neuronetics’ NeuroStar® TMS Therapy provides new hope for patients with major depressive disorder and is based on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) technology invented by neurologist Dr. Charles M. Epstein, MD, PhD of Emory University. On October 8, 2008, Neuronetics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared its NeuroStar® TMS Therapy system for the treatment of depression.
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| Fred Sanfilippo, Exec VP Health Affairs; Jennifer Moore, Emory case manager; Charles Epstein, inventor; David Wynes, VP Research Admin |
NeuroStar® TMS Therapy is specifically indicated for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adult patients who have failed to achieve satisfactory improvement from one prior antidepressant medication at or above the minimal effective dose and duration in the current episode. The NeuroStar® TMS Therapy system is the first and only TMS Therapy® device cleared by the FDA for the treatment of depression. TMS Therapy® is a non-systemic (does not circulate in the bloodstream throughout the body) and non-invasive (does not involve surgery) form of neuromodulation which stimulates nerve cells in an area of the brain that is linked to depression, by delivering highly focused MRI-strength magnetic pulses. Patients being treated by TMS Therapy® do not require anesthesia or sedation and remain awake and alert. It is a 40-minute outpatient procedure and is typically administered daily for 4-6 weeks.
Significant Event
Pharmasset, Inc.
The final award of the evening was “Significant Event” which went to Schinazi, once again, and Dennis Liotta, PhD, for the founding of Pharmasset Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to the creation of drugs for the treatment of viral infections.
Pharmasset, Inc., founded in 1998 by Emory researchers Dennis Liotta and Raymond Schinazi, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing and commercializing novel drugs to treat viral infections. Pharmasset's primary focus is on the development of oral therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The company is currently developing three product candidates. Clevudine, for the treatment of chronic HBV infection, is enrolling Phase 3 clinical trials for registration in North, Central and South America and Europe. Clevudine is already approved for HBV in South Korea and marketed by Bukwang Pharmaceuticals in South Korea under the brand name Levovir. R7128, an oral treatment for chronic HCV infection, is in a 4-week Phase 1 clinical trial in combination with Pegasys® plus Copegus® through a strategic collaboration with Roche. Racivir, which is being developed for the treatment of HIV in combination with other approved HIV drugs, has completed a Phase 2 clinical trial.
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| David Wynes, VP Research Admin; Dennis Liotta, inventor; Raymond Schinazi, inventor; Fred Sanfilippo, Exec VP Health Affairs; Kevin Lei, Emory presentor |
In May 2007, the company completed an initial public offering of 5,050,000 shares of common stock at price of $9 a share, resulting in net cash proceeds of $40.7 million. The shares are currently trading above the IPO price at $12.89 (closing price Feb. 19, 2009), in an otherwise difficult market for pharmaceutical companies. Pharmasset reached several milestones in 2008 when it joined the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index on May 19th and the broad-market Russell 3000® Index on June 27th. The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is the basis for the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index Fund, which seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. In addition, options based on the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index and the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index Fund trade on various exchanges. Pharmasset's membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies currently applied to $4.4 trillion in assets.
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