Commercialization of Innovative Treatments Aided by STAIR Plus Grants

Johnathon Anderson, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Otolaryngology, has developed a novel drug candidate platform that offers the beneficial aspects of stem-cell therapeutics with fewer hurdles to clinical development.

Johnathon Anderson, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Otolaryngology, has developed a novel drug candidate platform that offers the beneficial aspects of stem-cell therapeutics with fewer hurdles to clinical development.

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/commercialization-of-innovative-treatments-aided-by-stair-plus-grants

Three research teams at University of California, Davis, have received STAIR-Plus™ Grants to help demonstrate proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility for their innovations. Now in its second year, the Venture Catalyst STAIR-Plus Grant program is intended to offer additional support to Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR) Grant recipients who have successfully achieved their projected commercialization milestones and are poised for commercial impact pending the completion of specific targeted activities.

All three teams are working on commercializing novel compounds that address needs in human health, including a platform for therapeutics for inflammatory diseases, a drug candidate that increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for advanced bladder cancer and compounds that may be effective at treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The STAIR Grant program has been instrumental in supporting campus innovators by enabling proof-of-concept studies to advance their technologies toward commercialization,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of Venture Catalyst. “Through STAIR-Plus Grant awards, translational outcomes from successful STAIR-funded projects can be accelerated to reach advanced-stage commercialization milestones.”

Each recipient will receive up to $20,000 in funding over a one-year period. Funding for the STAIR-Plus program was made possible by the State of California’s Assembly Bill 2664.

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