No sharks in these waters! Harvard's Office of Technology Development and LabCentral invite you to the latest event in the Guppy Tank series, where two teams of Harvard life-science innovators will pitch their super-early-stage concepts to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors for constructive, in-depth feedback.

Register Here

Please join us on February 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. to learn from experts on startup formation and participate in giving audience feedback. The event is accompanied by a networking reception.

Presenters

Traversing the Great Barrier
Prof. Samir Mitragotri, Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University

Oral delivery of proteins is a holy grail of drug delivery and is becoming more relevant as the number of biologics-based therapies keeps increasing. The intestinal epithelium represents an insurmountable and formidable obstacle for systemic absorption after oral delivery. Using insulin as a representative and efficacious example, we describe an ionic-liquid based approach to deliver biologics across this great barrier. The tunable nature of our delivery system allows us to extend this to other biologics including larger proteins and antibodies.

The team is seeking feedback regarding application/indication priorities and strategies, commercial strategy, and potential partnerships.

Neurobiotics - Blocking Nerves to Treat Infection
Prof. Isaac Chiu, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School

Based on our exciting finding that the nervous system plays a key role in regulating the immune response during bacterial infection, we are developing two novel therapeutic strategies to selectively target the relevant nerves to enhance host defense and synergize with antimicrobial treatments. Targeting nerves can enable treatment of a broad range of pathogens through a mechanism that is not subject to antibiotic resistance.

The team is seeking input regarding the relative value of various target clinical indications, product strategy, and potential partnership priorities.