Good Day BIO: Calling all biotech innovators

While waiting to see who will win Speaker of the House, you can apply for the Start-Up Stadium at this year’s BIO International Convention, and check out a new down coat made with sugarcane and biotechnology. (540 words, 2 minutes, 42 seconds)

Start-up Stadium introduces biotech innovators to investors

Biotech start-ups: apply to pitch your science at the Start-up Stadium during the BIO International Convention, the largest annual gathering of the biotech community, June 5-8 in Boston.

The pitch to start-ups: Apply by Feb. 15 for the chance to gain exposure and access to acceleration programs and funding. Finalists pitch live at the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest biotech partnering event teeming with investors.

The pitch to investors: Start-up Stadium provides an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the latest innovations.

The contest has two categories: companies that have raised less than $1 million and are seeking seed funding and emerging companies that have already raised between $1-$10 million.

Last year’s winners both developed unique ways to deliver treatments, such as gene therapies, to counter cancer or other conditions:

• Emerging Start-Up Winner:SiVEC Biotechnologies uses specialized bacteria to deliver therapeutic payloads (mRNA, siRNA, proteins/nanobodies, and CRISPR/Cas) to targeted tissues, including “tissues that cannot be targeted by viral vectors and lipid nanoparticles.”
• Seed-Stage Winner:OncoXome delivers gene therapy by producing exosomes, the extracellular vesicles cancer cells use to “communicate” with each other.

Why you want to be there: Last year’s Start-up Stadium set records in the number of applicants and audience size for the competition, which started in 2015. This year’s event promises to be even bigger. 

Apply for Start-up Stadium.

Learn more about the BIO International Convention.

Sweet new down coat uses bio-material instead of petroleum

Louisiana sugar cane will replace crude oil in a down hoody coat that keeps you warm while reducing your environmental footprint.

The deal: Patagonia, the major clothing retailer with a mission to protect the environment, will work with Virent to make a biobased material from renewable feedstock, thereby reducing the use of petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions in production.

The innovator: BIO member Virent “converts bio-based sugar feedstocks into products molecularly identical to those made from petroleum.” Along with drop-in sustainable aviation fuel, their 100% plant-based paraxylene has been used to make Coca-Cola bottles.

The material: Combining Virent’s paraxylene with sugar-based ethylene glycol gives Patagonia “a petroleum-free version of PET (polyester) that’s virtually identical to its virgin petroleum-based counterpart,” produced with lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The coat: The sugarcane shell material is complemented by trims made from castor oil and other plant-based nylons and responsible down. It’s lightweight but warm enough to handle subfreezing weather.

The future: Patagonia plans to expand in biobased materials, and Virent President Dave Kettner says to expect more applications soon from the company’s platform for converting plant-based feedstocks into low-carbon renewable chemicals.

President Biden’s Wednesday: Making a rare joint appearance with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in Hebron, Ky., to promote a new bridge over the Ohio River. The bridge will be built with funding from the infrastructure spending bill passed in 2021.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: After three unsuccessful votes yesterday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will again seek election as Speaker of the House, and he promises to keep calling for votes until he’s chosen, The Washington Post reports. The Senate is not in session.