IPIRA Startups

IPIRA Startups

Ventria Biosciences (formerly known as Applied Phytologics Inc.)

Brief Description

Ventria Bioscience is a privately held biopharmaceutical company with a product pipeline enabled by ExpressTec. ExpressTec is a patented, plant-based recombinant protein manufacturing technology that delivers a ten-fold higher recombinant protein yield than other plant-based systems. Ventria Bioscience's platform technology delivers meaningful and sustainable economic advantages by enabling new product opportunities that were not previously available. It can be used to develop new biotherapeutics, novel vaccines, reagents for biomanufacturing, and industrial and biofuel...

Vedere Bio II

Brief Description

Vedere Bio II is pioneering beyond traditional gene therapy to not just slow vision loss from inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) or dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) with geographic atrophy (GA), but actually restore it.

Timeline 2021. Vedere Bio II launches as the successor to the first Vedere Bio, which was acquired by Novartis in September 2020 Inventors

Matthew Banghart, Michael Hayden Berry, Katherine Borges, Johannes Broichhagen, John Flannery, Doris Fortin, Benjamin Gaub, Scott Franklin Geller, Pablo Gorostiza, Karen...

Vedere

Brief Description

Vedere Bio, Inc. was developing gene therapy products to restore functional vision to patients who have suffered vision loss from inherited retinal degenerations, as well as other causes of both genetic and non-genetic vision loss. Vedere aimed to restore lost vision regardless of a patient's underlying genetics or their stage of disease.

Vedere was acquired by Novartis in 2020.

Timeline 2019. Company founded 2020. Vedere acquired by Novartis Inventors

Ehud Isaacoff, John Flannery, Amy Holt, Autoosa Salari, Benjamin Gaub,...

Valitor Inc.

Brief Description

Valitor, Inc. has developed novel methods of modifying therapeutic proteins to achieve substantial control over their pharmacokinetics, target specificity, and bioactivity. The company's technology platform can be broadly applied to improve the pharmacological properties of many protein drugs that are currently approved or under development. The lead product will be used to improve the treatment of diseases in ophthalmology. The company also has development pipelines for oncology and orthopedics products.

The company was incubated at Berkeley Skydeck, UC Berkeley's...

Two Blades Foundation

Brief Description

2Blades was established as a 501(c)3 charitable organization to implement practical uses of important innovations in plant science that address the rising incidence of crop disease. Working together with world leading scientists in plant-pathogen interactions, 2Blades has scouted and supported the most significant advances in the understanding of plant disease and immunity, as well as enabling technologies to develop disease resistant crops.

Remarkable advances have been realized in plant science over the past twenty years, including genome sequencing,...

Tularik Inc.

Brief Description

Tularik, Inc. engages in the discovery and development of orally available medicines that act through the regulation of gene expression. The company’s drugs include T67, T607, T131, T71, and T487. The T67 is an anti-cancer drug. The T607 would be used for treating gastric cancer and esophageal cancer. The T131 would be used for treating diabetes. The T71 would be used for treating obesity.

Tularik Inc. was acquired by Amgen Inc. for approximately $1.3 billion in 2004.

Timeline 1991. Company founded 1999. Initial public offering...

TTech Systems, Inc.

Brief Description

TTech Systems, Inc. developed a proprietary, software-based road traffic monitoring system.

As principal programmer analyst for UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, founder/inventor Randall Cayford developed TTech's foundational patent-protected software and technologies that turn mobile phone signals and GPS locations into real-time traffic speed information. Cayford was CEO of TTech, until it merged with IntelliOne Technologies in 2004. At IntelliOne, which was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Cayford served as Chief Technology Officer.

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Tilden Bio

Brief Description

Development of photosynthetic bioproducts including natural plant essential oils, cannabinoids, and biopharmaceutical proteins. The technology has been applied to enhance yields of high-value photosynthetic bioproducts in the UC Berkeley Melis Laboratory.

Formerly known as Tabletop Energy.

Timeline 2019. Company incorporated Inventors

Nico Betterle, Fiona Davies, Cinzia Formighieri, Diego Hidalgo Martinez, Henning Kirst, Andrew Saphire, Hsu Ching Wintz, Andreas Zurbriggen, Anastasios Melis

Thuris Corporation

Brief Description

Thuris Corporation was a biopharmaceutical company focused on medical device solutions to aid in drug development and diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) disorders including mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Thuris was also developing pharmaceuticals for select CNS orphan and niche indications ranging from ischemia-related conditions, brain inflammation and Huntington's disease. Thuris received 510k FDA clearance for a non-invasive medical device, the NeuroGraph, for diagnosis of neurological and psychiatric disorders over a broad range of brain-...

Tenaya Therapeutics

Brief Description

Tenaya Therapeutics is shaping the future of heart disease treatment driven by a mission to discover, develop, and deliver curative therapies that address the underlying drivers of heart disease. Tenaya is developing therapies for rare genetic disorders as well as for more prevalent heart conditions through three platforms: Gene Therapy, Cellular Regeneration, and Precision Medicine. The company was founded by leading cardiology researchers at the Gladstone Institutes and UT Southwestern, and backed by a top-tier syndicate of investors.

Timeline 2016...