News
Nynex Therapeutics, a new oncology startup, launches to target oncogenic proteins
3/16/2017BioMotiv, a drug development accelerator associated with The Harrington Project, and the University of Michigan have launched a new startup, Nynex Therapeutics, to develop breakthrough drugs that inhibit deubiquitinases as a novel mechanism for therapeutic intervention in multiple difficult-to-treat cancers. Nynex’s innovative work builds on the substantial progress over the...
HistoSonics gains new leaders, turns focus to oncology
3/13/2017HistoSonics Inc., an Ann Arbor-based maker of ultrasonic medical devices aimed at shrinking or destroying cancer tumors, has a new CEO, a new chief medical officer and a new $8.2 million round of venture-capital funding to pay for upcoming human trials. Mike Blue, a veteran executive at oncology-device companies, has...
Accelerator Open House followed by Meet the Xconomists
3/3/2017U-M Innovation Partnerships hosted an Xconomy Detroit/Ann Arbor networking event in January for members of the tech communities of southeast Michigan. This “Meet the Xconomists” event, a regular offering from Xconomy in each of their eleven national Xconomy hubs, provides an opportunity to strengthen the ties between Detroit and Ann...
New Products Launched: FlexDex and Mastermind
3/3/2017Two new products entering the market illustrate the continuing impact of U-M innovation. The FlexDex Needle Driver FlexDex Surgical, a Brighton, Michigan-based developer of surgical tools, has begun shipping its first product, a simple, ergonomic and intuitive “needle driver” for stitching inside the body. The commercial launch of the device...
Rubicon Genomics Acquired by Takara Bio USA
3/3/2017U-M start-up Rubicon Genomics , a producer of genomic analysis kits, was sold in January to Mountain View, California-based Takara Bio USA Holdings, a subsidiary of the Japanese company Takara Bio, for a reported $75 million. “This acquisition builds on Takara Bio’s commitment to provide our customers with a broader...
U-M Startup Ripple Addresses Clinical Trial Bottleneck
3/3/2017Created from technology developed at the University of Michigan, Ripple Science Corporation is focused on addressing a common pain point in research labs: recruiting and managing participants for clinical trials and translational research. Ripple co-founder Jacob Bonenberger explained, “Ripple isn’t tackling an uncommon problem — all researchers struggle with poor...
Venture Accelerator: Mekanistic Therapeutics
3/3/2017Mekanistic Therapeutics, a startup company focused on the development of cancer therapeutics, will soon move into the U-M Innovation Partnerships Venture Accelerator, where company founders Drs. Judith Sebolt-Leopold and Christopher Whitehead will progress with their clinical trial development and fundraising efforts. In their University of Michigan lab, Sebolt-Leopold and Whitehead,...
3-D Printed Orthotics
3/3/2017Researchers at the U-M Orthotics and Prosthetics Center have developed a new cyber manufacturing system to design and produce custom orthotics and prosthetics. The system, which incorporates both optical scanners and 3D printers, has been shown to produce better-fitting, lighter assistive devices in a fraction of the time it takes...
New Talent Joining Our Innovation Partnerships Licensing Team
3/3/2017To better serve our faculty and business clients, U-M Innovation Partnerships received funding to augment our staff with 3 new positions. We have recruited some exciting new talent to these and three other positions and we are pleased to introduce you to the newest members of our licensing team. Janani...
FlexDex begins shipping low-cost surgical tool designed to replace robotic system
3/1/2017New applications for robots seem to be in the news every day, but Ann Arbor-based FlexDex Surgical’s new surgical tool increases surgeons’ flexibility and reduces costs by taking a robot out of the equation. The mechanical platform, which allows surgeons to more easily make sutures inside the body during minimally...
New low-cost surgical instrument moves like a surgeon’s hand
2/22/2017In an era of spiraling healthcare cost concerns, a new $500 surgical instrument developed at the University of Michigan is vying to take the place of a $2 million robot for certain minimally invasive procedures. U-M startup FlexDex Surgical’s first product—a simple, ergonomic and intuitive “needle driver” for stitching inside...
Ann Arbor tech startup launches cancer diagnosis tool cataloging 3.3 million medical articles
2/22/2017Ann Arbor health-tech startup Genomenon has launched a new, first-of-its-kind software to help medical professionals and geneticists research millions of medical publications more quickly for faster diagnoses. Launched last week, Genomenon CEO Mike Klein says Mastermind automates searching and sorting through articles on genetic variants, so pathologists and research laboratories...