Which Startups Got Grants from the CSIT Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program? Part 2, Drug Development
Last week, CSIT’s Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program awarded 27 early-stage startup companies a total of $2.6 million in funding through grants of up to $150,000 for life-science startups focusing on drug development and therapeutics, including up to $75,000 for R&D.
Emerging companies receiving awards for R&D are involved in technological innovation across the areas of manufacturing, transportation and logistics, film and digital media, life sciences, non-retail food and beverage, finance and professional services and technology sectors, all of which are identified as targeted industries in Governor Phil Murphy’s economic development plan.
Of those receiving awards from CSIT, 93 percent (25) have five or fewer employees, 44 percent (12) are certified as minority-owned businesses, and 33 percent (9) are certified women-owned. Additionally, 22 percent (6) awardees have licensed technology from a New Jersey university. You can find Part 1 of this article here.
Below are the companies who received awards to continue their drug development work:
Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program
Drug Development
Each listing below is structured as follows: Applicant name (funding awarded), location. Then a description, if available. (Most information is taken from company websites or other public sources, otherwise attributed):
- CSR Pharma Group ($150,000), Bridgewater. CSR Pharma Group is a diversified specialty healthcare pharmaceutical business in the trans-Pacific space. It’s developing and commercializing innovative therapies and healthcare-management solutions for those who have difficult-to-treat diseases and face unmet medical needs or limited patient options.
- DMK Pharmaceuticals ($150,000), Gladstone. DMK Pharmaceuticals is reimagining neurotherapies for central-nervous-system disorders with significant unmet needs. The company has a wholly owned library of high-value, first-in-class compounds and a differentiated pipeline that addresses the need for novel therapies that integrate with the body’s own efforts to regain balance in disrupted brain circuitry.
- InteguRx Therapeutics ($150,000), Califon. From Tracxn: “InteguRx provides a transdermal drug delivery system and a gel for preventing nausea and vomiting. The patented gel is used for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. The gel is administered through a transdermal patch. The administration also helps in the delivery of therapeutic concentrations of drugs with either poor oral absorption or significant intestinal or hepatic metabolism.”
- Kathera Bioscience ($150,000), Union. “Kathera Bioscience is developing therapies to treat fungal infections that are a major cause of human disease due to rising numbers of infections globally. KatheraBio aims to develop novel, broad-spectrum drugs to overcome the limitations of current treatment options.”
- Lactiga ($149,828), New Brunswick. Lactiga is an award-winning, venture-backed biotherapeutics company developing novel biologics to treat and prevent infections with a focus on improving the quality of life in patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases. They are unlocking the full therapeutic value of human milk to create the next generation of anti-infectives that can battle even the world’s most dangerous pathogens.
- NeuroPair ($150,000), Princeton. NeuroPair is a company focused on therapeutic drug research and development. Specifically, it has developed an approach that magnetically generates a scaffold in situ for the regeneration of neurons that were damaged due to a spinal cord injury.
- Plumeria Therapeutics ($150,000), Union. The Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE), at Kean University, has launched Plumeria Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage developer of non-opioid treatments for pain.
- Regenosine ($149,500), Jersey City. This company is harnessing the healing potential of adenosine for tissue regeneration
- Throne Biotechnologies ($150,000), Paramus. Throne is working on stem cell innovations for the practical cure of diabetes and autoimmune diseases.
