Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
BlinkTBI, a US-based eye reflex testing device spinout of Medical University of South Carolina and military college The Citadel, has closed a $6m round with undisclosed investors, the Post and Courier has reported. Founded in 2017, BlinkTBI markets a medical device called EyeStat that evaluates the patient’s blink reflex by applying image recognition to video footage of the eye as it is impacted with a small dose of carbon dioxide. The funding will go toward the costs of manufacturing the EyeStat device, following a reported $5m round for BlinkTBI in 2017 backed by undisclosed investors.
Hula Immune, a Japan-based spinout of Osaka University developing autoimmune disease treatments, has obtained ¥400m ($3.8m) from university venturing fund Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC) and financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. OUVC provided $1.9m of funding, while Mitsubishi UFJ participated through Life Science Fund, part of its investment arm Mitsubishi UFJ Capital. The round is expected to drive Hula’s research pipeline and help strike collaborations with pharmaceutical firms and academic institutions. OUVC previously invested $882,000 in a series A round of undisclosed size for Hula in 2018 that also included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, which later supplied follow-on funding in July 2019.
GyreOx Therapeutics, a UK-based intracellular mechanism-targeting treatment developer based on University of Oxford research, has raised an undisclosed seed sum from investors including the university’s Challenge Seed Fund. The round was filled out by medical research charity LifeArc and the government-backed UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund. GyreOx Therapeutics is developing a therapeutic platform called Macro to generate modified macrocyclic peptides capable of influencing protein-to-protein interactions inside biological cells. GyreOx estimates the capital will fund two years of development focused on using Macro to identify candidates for indications such as cancer and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Medical University of Vienna has launched an Austria-based viral therapeutics spinout called G.ST Antivirals focused on treating the rhinovirus subtype of the common cold. G.ST Antivirals’ lead candidate is a compound called 2-Deoxyglucose that is thought to impede the metabolism of rhinovirus pathogens by restricting their access to sugar nutrients produced within cells. The spinout, due to commence a clinical trial later in 2020, builds on research conducted by Guido Gualdoni and Johannes Stöckl, researchers at Medical University of Vienna’s Department of Medicine III and Institute of Immunology respectively.
US-based adhesive material developer Mussel Polymers was officially launched on Tuesday to exploit research from Purdue University. The startup, founded by commercialisation firm Wardenclyffe Chemicals, will manufacture an adhesive inspired by how mussels grip onto surrounding surfaces such as sand, gravel and silt. The concept is the invention of Jonathan Wilker, professor of chemistry and materials engineering at Purdue University.
