The National Cancer Institute Small Business Innovation Research Program (NCI SBIR) is hosting an Investor Forum

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at:

Agilent Technologies
Aristotle Room
5301 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95051

With $110 million in funding annually, the NCI SBIR is one of the largest sources of early stage funding for small businesses in the cancer space. We prospect for companies on the leading edge of innovation and provide them with the funding necessary to advance their technologies through development and towards commercialization.  The Investor Forum is an exclusive event designed to connect the strongest and most promising NCI SBIR companies with life science investors and strategic partners.

The 2012 NCI SBIR Investor Forum is an exclusive event designed to connect the strongest and most promising NCI SBIR companies with life science investors and strategic partners. This is a rare opportunity for attendees to get a first look at some of the best emerging companies focused on innovative cancer-related technologies, and to establish new collaborations that will expedite the commercialization of these products. For more information and event updates, please visit: http://sbir.cancer.gov/investorforum/.

Highlights of this full-day conference include:

• Get a sneak preview of the top early-stage oncology companies currently funded by the NCI and learn about some of the latest cancer technology and therapeutic developments.
• Connect with 200 investors, venture capitalists, deal-makers, scientists, and small business leaders from the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
• Engage in private breakout sessions and a networking reception with featured companies.
• Meet one-on-one with NCI leadership to gain new insights on funding and partnership opportunities and hear updates on new programs to accelerate promising cancer-related technologies to commercialization.

Registration is free, but limited. Investors and venture capitalists are invited to register today to reserve a space.

• Forum UPDATE

  NCI SBIR has just announced the 18 NCI SBIR-funded companies with leading innovations in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices selected to present at this year’s Forum.  The companies selected to present at this year’s meeting include:

  Therapeutics

  • A&G Pharmaceutical – Developing an oncology theranostic product pipeline around its proprietary biomarker GP88, particularly for use in breast and lung cancers.
  • AcuityBio – Developing a unique biocompatible, biodegradable drug delivery platform technology to prevent post-surgical tumor recurrence in early-stage lung cancer patients.
  • Altor BioScience Corporation –Commercializing novel immunotherapeutics based on three novel technology platforms. Altor’s lead molecule is based on its revolutionary STAR™ technology and is currently in two Phase II trials for cancer indications.
  • Celek Pharmaceuticals – Developing the first targeted drug for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
  • Centrose – Developing a novel antibody-drug conjugation (ADC) technology that targets a wide variety of diseased cells, to work together with its first-ever synergistic drug targeting system, called the Extracellular Drug Conjugate System (EDC). The specificity of EDCs to diseased cells may increase safety and efficacy.
  • NovoMedix – Developing first-in-class small molecule inhibitors of translation initiation as targeted therapies, with an initial focus on breast cancer.
  • Omniox – Developing a new biotherapeutics platform to eliminate tumor hypoxia. Lead candidates substantially reduce tumor hypoxia and enhance the effects of radiation in models of human brain cancer.
  • Thermedical – Developing SERF™ Ablation to rapidly and completely ablate large solid tumors, holding the promise of a more effective therapy for liver cancer patients.

  Diagnostics, Imaging Technologies, and Research Tools

  • ApoCell – Commercializing ApoStream™, an antibody independent technology for the capture of rare, viable circulating tumor cells from blood.
  • Arbor Vita Corporation – Using technology that stems from its proprietary PDZ proteomics platform, allowing for the development of novel paired diagnostics and therapeutics.
  • BioMarker Strategies – Developing the SnapPath™ biomarker testing system, an automated live tumor cell processing platform that enables next-generation biomarker tests to help guide targeted drug therapy selection.
  • Firefly BioWorks – Introducing a universal biomarker detection platform that scales from exploratory discovery to bedside diagnostics, starting with multiplexed microRNA detection to diagnose cancer and other diseases.
  • Gamma Medica – Developing state-of-the-art, solid-state digital gamma photon detection technology that is applied to both clinical and preclinical medical imaging. The FDA-approved LumaGEM® molecular breast imaging scanner detects cancer where mammography often misses it.
  • Guided Therapeutics – Developing a rapid and painless testing platform for the early detection of disease at the cellular level. The company’s first planned product is a non-invasive device used to detect cervical cancer instantly and at the point of care.
  • Metabolomx – Developing a breath test for lung cancer, based on the metabolomic fingerprint present in exhaled breath.
  • Nortis – Developing ”body-on-a-chip” in vitro assays that utilize tissues and organs grown from human-derived cells in disposable, chip-like devices to improve drug development and testing.
  • Oncoscope – Developing diagnostic medical devices that use proprietary optical technologies for non-invasive real-time in vivo identification of pre-cancerous epithelial tissue.
  • Vala Sciences – Applying cutting edge high-content microscope technology, custom image analysis software, and multiplex biomarker imaging to enable quantitative medical diagnostics.

  The Investor Forum provides a chance to learn more about upcoming initiatives from NCI. With $115 million in funding annually, NCI SBIR is one of the largest sources of early stage funding for small businesses in the cancer space. We prospect for companies on the leading edge of innovation and provide them with the funding necessary to advance their technologies through development and towards commercialization.

  For more details about the 2012 NCI SBIR Investor Forum presenting companies, please visit: http://sbir.cancer.gov/investorforum/.