Medical Therapeutics

Vivere Oncotherapies

Brief Description

Gene and cell therapies for cancer.

Inventors

Adam Schieferecke, John Dueber, David Schaffer, Juan Eduardo Hurtado, Hyun-Cheol Lee

Company Founders

Wanichaya Noiwangklang, Adam Schieferecke (UC Berkeley, Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy, Mollecular and Cellular Biology), Juan Hurtado, Hyuncheol Lee, David Schaffer, John Dueber

Timeline 2024. Company founded.

Avista Therapeutics

Brief Description

Avista Therapeutics develops innovative gene therapies for retinal diseases, including rare ophthalmic conditions that have a profound impact on quality of life. The company leverage a computationally guided scAAVengr platform to generate and validate a toolkit of proprietary AAV vectors. A quantitative, in vivo-based approach and clinical ophthalmology expertise allows Avista Therapeutics to rapidly translate new gene therapies to the clinic.

Inventors

Stephen Graf Brohawn, Hillel Adesnik, Madeline McCloud

Company Founders

Leah Byrne (UC Berkeley PhD, 2007...

DNA Nanobots, LLC

Brief Description

DNA Nanobots is focused on developing the next generation of targeted nanomedicines and reshaping gene therapy by delivering genes previously considered undeliverable. Utilizing precise DNA self-assembly (DNA origami), the company engineers nanobots designed to carry and release therapeutic payloads directly to diseased cells with unprecedented specificity, minimizing systemic toxicity, and maximizing treatment efficacy.

Inventors

Jennifer Doudna, Enrique Lin Shiao, Rachael Lew

Company Founders

Patrick Halley, Christopher Lucas, Carlos Castro, Adel Mikhail...

YourChoice Therapeutics

Brief Description

YourChoice Therapeutics is revolutionizing birth control options for women and men by developing hormone-free contraceptives and bringing them to market. Our technology is the result of a decade of research at the University of California, Berkeley and has been published in numerous high-impact journals.

Inventors

Yuriy Kirichok, Polina Lishko, Nadja Mannowetz, Melissa Miller

Company Founders

Nadja Mannowetz, Akash Bakshi

Timeline 2018. Company founded

Vicinitas Therapeutics

Brief Description

Vicinitas Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on targeted protein stabilizers known as Deubiquituinase Targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs). The company’s mission is to use this proprietary technology to solve critical problems in human health by developing next-generation disease therapies against an entire class of previously inaccessible disease-causing proteins. The company spun out of technology that was developed through an academic-industry collaboration between UC Berkeley researchers and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Inventors

Dan Nomura...

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.

Inventors

Matthew Banghart, Michael Hayden Berry, Katherine Borges, Johannes Broichhagen, John Flannery, Doris Fortin, Benjamin Gaub, Scott Franklin Geller, Pablo Gorostiza, Karen Isabelle Guerin, Amy Holt, Ehud Isacoff, Richard Kramer, Joshua Levitz, Katharine Munckton, Autoosa Salari, Dirk Trauner, Meike Visel, Matthew Volgraf...

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.

Inventors

Ehud Isaacoff, John Flannery, Amy Holt, Autoosa Salari, Benjamin Gaub, Dirk Trauner, Doris Fortin, Johannes Broichhagen, Joshua Levitz, Karen Isabelle Guerin, Katharine...

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...

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 was co-founded in 1991 by UC Berkeley Professor Robert Tjian. Amgen acquired Tularik for $1.3 billion in 2004.

Inventors

Lucio Comai, Brian D. Dynlact, Timothy...

Totality Biosciences

Brief Description

Totality Biosciences is producing plant-based human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), a high-value bioactive found in human breast milk. The breast milk substitute promises to improve nutrition in infant formula. The company also intends to supply complex HMOs for research and development of therapeutics.

Inventors

Patrick Shih, Collin Robert E. Barnum

Company Founders

Patrick Shih

Timeline

2025. Company founded