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About the Office of Technology TransferSuccessesEarly success was achieved with the 1983 founding of Praxis Biologics by David Smith, M.D., former chairman of the URMC Department of Pediatrics. Praxis was created to commercialize a Haemophilus influenza vaccine developed by Dr. Smith and Porter Anderson, M.D. In 1989, Praxis sold to American Cyanamid for $220 million. The vaccine is currently licensed to Wyeth. Vaccinex , Inc. was founded in 1997 by URMC scientists Maurice Zauderer, Ph.D. and Deepak Sahasrabudhe, M.D. Vaccinex is developing immune system-based treatments to fight cancer and other diseases. The company's proprietary technology offers diverse applications including antigen identification, human monoclonal antibody selection, and functional gene discovery. Vaccinex has raised more than $26 million in venture funding and federal grants. It has 48 employees and is located in a 33,000 sq. ft. facility in Rochester, NY. VirtualScopics was founded in 1999 as a result of collaborative research between URMC’s Saara Totterman, M.D. Ph.D. and Kevin Parker, Ph.D. of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. With technology that turns ordinary CT or MRI scans into 3-D color images, VirtualScopics has created a suite of image tools used to detect and analyze specific body structures, and to follow changes in tumors over time. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, the company has more than 40 full- and part-time employees. Socratech LLC was founded in 2001 by Berislav Zlokovic, M.D. to address vascular aging and its relationship to neurodegenerative diseases by identifying critical vascular genes and developing drugs or diagnostics for those genes. The company has raised $7 million of private financing. Koning Corporation is attempting to commercialize the patented 3-D Cone Beam Volume Computed Tomography technologies that have arisen in the labs of Ruola Ning, Ph.D. Dr. Ning's work is being developed to provide significant improvements in the early detection of breast cancer, and to provide noninvasive diagnosis and treatment planning. The technology can also be used to visualize tiny lung tumors and to provide accurate 3-D images of vessels. In 2005, the National Institutes of Health provided Koning Corporation a grant of $2.5 million to build a prototype instrument and the company plans to initiate clinical trials in the near future. Cerebral Assessment Systems L.L.C. (CAS) is a clinical research organization (CRO) and medical evaluation service specializing in clinical trials of new therapies for Alzheimer's and other neuro-degenerative diseases. Based upon the patented work of Charles Duffy, M.D., Ph.D., the CAS approach quickly collects and reliably analyzes data to chart the progression of Alzheimer's Disease in patients. This will lead to more accurate and less costly clinical trials in the field of Alzheimer's research. Pathologics, LLC provides point-of-care rapid diagnostic sensors for bacterial infection of the ear, nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract. Pathologics has a prototype sensor for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common cause of outer-ear infections and a persistent problem in the lungs of those afflicted with cystic fibrosis, and is developing other diagnostic sensors. Founded in 2003, Pathologics is based upon the research of Benjamin Miller, Ph.D. from the Department of Dermatology and Lewis Rothberg, Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry on the River Campus. The company has been awarded a Phase I Small Business and Innovation Research development grant from the United States Air Force/Department of Defense and has been invited to apply for a Phase II grant. Pathologics currently employs eight people in Rochester, NY. LAGeT, Inc. was formed in 2001, based upon the work of Edward Schwarz, Ph.D. and a team of researchers at the Medical Center. LAGeT intends to utilize a novel approach to the delivery of gene therapy for the treatment of articular cartilage defects and the resulting osteoarthritis. The first round of financing has recently closed, and LAGeT is developing the prototype gene activation system. Oyagen, Inc. was formed in 2003 with the goals of discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments to slow or halt the advance of HIV. Harold Smith, Ph.D. has discovered qualities in DNA editing- and RNA editing enzymes that will make it possible to overcome the virus's resistance to current treatment. Oyagen has raised $1.5 million in financing, and is currently raising another $15 million to fund the company through Phase II trials scheduled in 2007. Several more exciting start-ups are poised to launch based upon cutting edge research at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
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