Oakland startup wants to battle the invasion of the superbugs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette logo
KRIS B. MAMULA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
kmamula@post-gazette.com
6:30 AM DEC 18, 2017
The conversation went something like this a couple years back when Jonathan Steckbeck met Dietrich Stephan at a Tuesday morning networking event:
“We think we have the cure for the looming superbug epidemic,” Mr. Stephan recalled the 41-year-old entrepreneur saying. “I said, ‘Oh, really. Send us all your stuff.’”
The introduction paid off. Mr. Steckbeck’s company, Oakland-based Peptilogics Inc., recently closed on a $5.5 million Series A financing round led by Facebook Inc.’s first major investor Peter Thiel. Mr. Stephan, a serial entrepreneur and chair of the department of human genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, has become Peptilogics chairman.
Moreover, Peptilogics is among 10 startup companies that will have work space in Pitt’s new business accelerator that is planned for the Strip District — all things that happened after a chance meeting over coffee.
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Peptilogics, which now employs 15 people, is preparing for clinical trials of its first product by mid-2018, a medicine to treat the toughest infections. Marketing of its first product will hinge on how well the clinical trials go.
“The company is developing a set of products — new antibiotics — that work in a way that no other antibiotics work,” Mr. Stephan said. “They kill every type of bacteria we have exposed our products to. This is a looming global epidemic and we feel like we’ve got the answer to that, and I think the market agrees.”
A World Health Organization report in September identified 51 new biologicals and antibiotics in clinical development to treat priority antibiotic-resistant organisms, but only eight of those were classed by WHO as innovative treatments that will add value to current treatments.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency that will severely jeopardize progress in modern medicine,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a prepared statement.
Peptilogics’ secret, licensed from the University of Pittsburgh, kills bacteria by creating weak spots in cell membranes, leading to cell death. That’s a shift from having to get inside the cell to disrupt the inner workings, which is how antibiotics have worked for decades.
The 5-year-old company, which also has an office in San Jose, does not yet have revenue.
Mr. Steckbeck, a native of Lebanon, Pa., and Peptilogics president and chief scientific officer, received an MBA as well as an PhD in biochemistry, at Pitt. He became interested in how amino acid chains, called peptides, interact with membranes during his doctoral work, then focused on how peptides can be harnessed to weaken bacteria cell membrane as a post-doc.
Mr. Steckbeck also was deeply affected by the death of his father-in-law 13 years ago from a bacterial infection despite care in “one of the best hospitals in the world.”
“Unless you have a very clear, personal demonstration, you understand on a theoretical level that these things are possible,” he said. “At that point, in 2004, it wasn’t theoretical any more.”
Peptilogics’ target is bacteria that inevitably find ways to resist antibiotics and cause life threatening diseases.
More than 2 million people are sickened each year by antibiotic resistant infections, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed medications, but up to half of the prescriptions are not needed or effective — setting the stage for drug resistance.
Among the organisms that Peptilogics’ first product will target are so-called Gram-negative bacteria. Pneumonia and bloodstream infections are among the problems caused by the bacteria.
New drug development can be a costly venture. Not so long ago, pharma startups needed a partner, a much larger drugmaker, for example, to bring a new medicine to market.
But Peptilogics has held down overhead and operating costs and may not need big capital infusions to see the company through its early stages, including proof-of-concept clinical trials, said 50-year-old Sanjay Kakkar, a physician and entrepreneur and Peptilogics CEO. “We are very well positioned in the early- to mid-stages as an independent company.”
Kris B. Mamula: kmamula@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699
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http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-invests-in-video-and-augmentedvirtual-reality-leader-c360-technologies-300498564.html
C360 Technologies, a startup working in 360-degree video, receives $3.5 million in funding
COURTNEY LINDER
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
clinder@post-gazette.com
3:28 PM AUG 2, 2017
A startup in Pine is the first Pittsburgh-area company and the fourth overall to receive funding from Boeing’s new venture capital arm, HorizonX Ventures.
C360 Technologies Inc. creates 360-degree video solutions for broadcast, and has been in operation since 2008.
C360 reported $3.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round Wednesday afternoon, led by HorizonX and Wexford-based BlueTree Capital Group. An oversubscribed round includes more investment than was originally projected.
The company originally projected $2.5 million, according to a spokesperson.
HorizonX and BlueTree are also accompanied by investments from York, Penn.-based MI-12 Ventures and Pasadena Angels in California.
The company’s proprietary processes have earned it relationships with Fox Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, TNT, NASCAR, the National Football League and the National Hockey League, among others.
Fox Sports used a camera from C360 for its Super Bowl LI coverage in February.
C360 develops 360-degree video and virtual reality content that does not require multi-headed cameras or “stitching,” which involves arranging multiple photos into one cohesive image.
The company also credits itself for having the “industry’s smallest pro-grade immersive camera,” according to its website. An immersive camera can shoot 360-degree video for use in virtual reality applications.
Investment from this round will be used to develop advanced features like C360 replay applications, additional camera controls and video insertion for virtual reality and augmented animation.
Boeing’s presence through HorizonX extends C360’s reach in future advancements in streaming virtual reality to second screen devices in the aeronautical industry. A second screen experience revolves around one device, such as a mobile phone, being used to enhance the experience on another device, like a television or monitor.
Potential aerospace applications of C360’s innovative video technology include more capable autonomous systems and other advanced platforms.
In the past few months, HorizonX has invested in an Austin, Texas-based artificial intelligence company, an aircraft manufacturing startup based in Kirkland, Washington and a Herndon, Virginia-based wearable technology firm.
“Boeing’s support for the growth of C360 Technologies is a testament to the capabilities of the company’s platform technology and founding team, said Catherine Mott of BlueTree Capital Group in a release. “We are very pleased with this partnership.”
Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG.
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BlueTree Venture Fund, a Pittsburgh-based venture capital firm, recently invested in Alung, a developer of advanced medical devices for treating respiratory failure. Based in Pittsburgh, many of ALung’s products, including the Hemolung Respiratory Assist System (RAS), were originally developed out of the University of Pittsburgh.
ALung is an investor and innovator of new respiratory technologies. Founded in 1997 by William Federspiel, PhD and the late Brack Hattler, MD, ALung committed itself to enhancing the quality of life, improving the health, and reducing the cost of care for respiratory failure patients by developing revolutionary respiratory assistance products and services. Their aim is to create value for both their customers and their shareholders.
One of the most successful developments is the Hemolung RAS. It is the first fully integrated respiratory dialysis system. The Hemolung works to remove carbon dioxide and deliver oxygen directly into the blood of a patient, allowing their lungs to rest and heal without being intubated. The Hemolung RAS comes with easy to use features, making the machine patient friendly.
ALung has a strong partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM). Dr. Federspiel continues to create new technologies to better treat respiratory failure and advance their already abundant knowledge. ALung has revolutionized its medical field and hopes to continue to do so with the help of the BlueTree Venture Fund.
To learn more about ALung, visit their website.
BlueTree Venture Fund, a Pittsburgh-based venture capital firm recently invested in Gemmus Pharma, a San Francisco-based company focused on the innovative development of pharmaceuticals for influenza and other viral infectious diseases.
Founded in 2007, Gemmus is a privately held biotechnology company that uses a host-directed approach and is committed to developing “best in class” products to meet major medical needs. They target the underlying causes of debilitating symptoms associated with influenza and similar illnesses by regulated the body’s natural response to the disease.
Gemmus is a member of the QB3 network (California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences), a Biotech incubator firm. They have also applied and received a SBIR(NIH) and a QTDP competitive grant. Most recently, Gemmus made plans to file an investigational new drug application targeting influenza symptoms with the FDA.
Gemmus’ lead candidate is GP1681. It plays a role in the anti-inflammatory response and has been shown to reduce the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines from activated white blood cells. Studies for GP1681 have been conducted at Utah State University as a part of their National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease program. They have used both H5N1 and H1N1 strains to study the effects of the medicine.
To learn more about Gemmus Pharma, visit their website.