UB CAT launches $900,000 in R&D projects, building on $262 million in economic impact

BUFFALO, N.Y. – More than $900,000 from the University at Buffalo Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data and Health Sciences (UB CAT) and company matching funds will back a new round of research and development (R&D) projects across New York State’s health sciences sector.

Ten companies will begin projects with UB researchers this year, while two additional collaborations will continue earlier work. The projects span new approaches to stroke care, artificial intelligence-enabled diagnostics, precision drug delivery, medical devices and other emerging health technologies.

The latest round brings UB CAT to 94 university-industry projects since its current 10-year designation began in 2017. During this time, the program has provided more than $4 million in funding and worked with 45 companies and 56 UB faculty members across an array of disciplines. Supported companies have reported to UB $262 million in economic impact and more than 700 new jobs.

This year, six of the 10 companies beginning new projects are working with UB CAT for the first time. More than 40% of this year’s awardees are based outside Western New York, including companies in New York City, Syracuse and Ithaca, as well as a Canadian startup establishing operations in Buffalo.

UB CAT is one of 15 Centers for Advanced Technology supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). Part of UB’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships (BEP), the cost-sharing program helps companies address specific R&D milestones as they move technologies toward market.

“UB CAT provides the only kind of non-dilutive funding available in Western New York to support biotech startups and university-industry collaborations focused on therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices and digital health,” says Per Stromhaug, PhD, UB senior associate vice president for economic development who leads Business & Entrepreneur Partnerships. “It gives companies a way to work with UB researchers on specific research and development needs they have.”

UB CAT’s work with this year’s awardees illustrates four broader outcomes of university-industry R&D:

• Regional business attraction: Sensible Vascular, founded by entrepreneurs from Hamilton, Ontario, is developing a device to remove stroke-causing brain clots. UB CAT helped connect the company with Buffalo-area researchers, testing facilities and medical device expertise. The company has since registered to operate in New York and established office and laboratory space at UB’s Incubator @ CBLS.
• Follow-on funding: POP Biotechnologies has received nearly $460,000 in UB CAT funding since 2019, helping the UB spinout generate preliminary data for ideas not yet positioned to compete for larger awards. Since beginning that work, the vaccine and immunotherapy developer has secured more than $8 million in federal small-business research funding and $11.2 million for vaccine development.
• Technology advancement: QAS.AI, a UB spinout developing artificial intelligence imaging software for neurovascular procedures, has participated in six consecutive UB CAT projects since 2021. That sustained collaboration has helped the company develop new intellectual property and expand its technology from applications in brain aneurysms and hemorrhagic stroke to ischemic stroke, which involves blocked blood flow to the brain.
• Statewide collaboration: DUB Therapeutics, a SUNY Upstate Medical University spinout in Syracuse, is developing an RNA treatment for eye disease. A complementary delivery device requires materials science expertise beyond the company’s in-house capabilities. Through UB CAT, the company will work with UB materials scientist Krishna Rajan to evaluate device materials, with Buffalo medical device incubator The Rookery supporting early prototyping.

“Each CAT project is meant to put a company in a stronger position to keep advancing its technology,” says Smitha James, senior associate director of life sciences programs for UB BEP. “That can mean reaching a larger source of capital, preparing for regulatory review, finding a commercial partner or moving closer to market.”

CaiSteth Global

Buffalo-based CaiSteth Global is developing the Direct Intra-Cardiac Imaging Catheter (DICI™), which uses fiber-optic imaging and a balloon-assisted tip to give physicians a direct, real-time view inside the heart during procedures to treat abnormal heart rhythms and structural heart conditions. Faculty: Ciprian Ionita, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

• Project: Advance DICI™ from prototype toward clinical use by developing a clinical-grade catheter that can be steered in two directions and conducting laboratory and animal testing, including comparisons with current ultrasound-based intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) imaging.

Cytocybernetics

Cytocybernetics is a UB spinout developing tools used to screen for dangerous cardiac side effects early in new drug development. Faculty: Randall Rasmusson, PhD, professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Jacobs School.

• Project: Incorporate artificial intelligence into real-time tests used to screen new drugs for potential effects on the heart.

DUB Therapeutics

DUB Therapeutics, a SUNY Upstate Medical University spinout based in Syracuse, is developing a therapeutic for tissue regeneration. Their lead clinical program will interrogate the proprietary siRNA treatment intended to reduce vision loss from corneal injuries, trauma, or non-healing corneal wounds. Faculty: Krishna Rajan, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, SEAS.

• Project: Develop and evaluate an early medical-device approach for containing the company’s RNA treatment to the cornea. The treatment regimen for this drug-device combination is called Pharmaceutical Honing of Corneal Healing in the US (PHoCUS).

Empath Medical

Empath Medical Innovations is a UB spinout developing a telehealth intervention model designed to integrate hepatitis C treatment directly into rural primary care sites and substance use treatment programs to reach patients who face barriers to healthcare access. Faculty: Andrew Talal, MD, professor of medicine, Jacobs School.

• Project: Validate the telemedicine platform’s effectiveness in integrating hepatitis C treatment into a rural primary care setting through pilot studies.

Manta Pharma

Manta Pharma develops precision drug-delivery technology for chronic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, diabetes, drug addiction, and HIV/AIDS and is located at UB’s Incubator @ Baird in Amherst, NY. Faculty: Mark Swihart, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS; and Dhaval Shah, PhD, professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

• Project: Develop and evaluate concentrated drug formulations designed to remain stable at body temperature and be delivered by injection under the skin.

MiTeGen

Ithaca-based MiTeGen, a Cornell University spinout, develops advanced sample handling and cryopreservation technologies for structural biology, drug discovery, and reproductive medicine. Faculty: Sarah Bowman, PhD, associate professor, Department of Biochemistry, Jacobs School.

• Project: Validate high-throughput X-ray crystallography devices for accelerated drug discovery.

Neurovascular Diagnostics

Neurovascular Diagnostics is a UB spinout developing a blood test to detect unruptured brain aneurysms, which often go undetected until they rupture. A low-cost, accessible early-warning tool has public health value. Faculty: Vincent Tutino, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, Jacobs School.

• Project: Evaluate AI-driven blood tests designed to detect brain aneurysms and assess their risk.

POP Biotechnologies (POP BIO)

POP BIO is a UB spinout at BEP’s Incubator @ Baird developing nanotechnology platforms for vaccines, immunotherapies and drug delivery. Faculty: Jonathan Lovell, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, SEAS, Jacobs School.

• Project: Test the company’s CoPoP platform to target messenger RNA-carrying nanoparticles to T cells, a type of immune cell.

QAS.AI

QAS.AI is a UB spinout located in BEP’s Incubator @ CBLS developing artificial intelligence tools for image-guided neurovascular procedures. Faculty: Swetadri Vasan Setlur Nagesh, PhD, research scientist and research assistant professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School.

• Project: Advance software that reconstructs 3D blood-flow information in the brain from limited X-ray images taken during stroke clot-removal procedures.

Sensible Vascular

Sensible Vascular is a preclinical-stage medical device startup in Buffalo founded by entrepreneurs from Hamilton, Ontario. Located at BEP’s Incubator @ CBLS, the company is developing a thrombectomy system for stroke, designed to remove brain clots more reliably on the first attempt. Faculty: Kenneth Snyder, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School.

• Project: Conduct preclinical testing of the company’s thrombectomy system to assess how well it restores blood flow on the first attempt and generate safety and performance data for regulatory review.

Sharper Sense

New York-based Sharper Sense, a spinout of Columbia and Cornell Universities, develops wearable, noninvasive neural-interface patches that deliver targeted electrical stimulation to improve sensory and cognitive performance. Faculty: Wenyao Xu, PhD, Carl V. Granger Endowed Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SEAS, and director of the UB Center for Translational AI and Digital Health. 

• Project: Advance the company’s technology into a bidirectional neural-interface platform capable of capturing multiple physiological signals during active nerve stimulation. By overcoming stimulation interference and integrating signals related to cardiovascular activity, breathing, movement, muscle activity, and autonomic state, the project will lay the foundation for real-time measures of fatigue and user state.

TETmedical

Ithaca-based TETmedical is a Cornell University spinout developing a rapid blood test to help diagnose acute ischemic stroke. Faculty: Rosalind Lai, MD, assistant professor, and Elad Levy, MD, Distinguished Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School.

• Project: Continue clinical research on the company’s NSE-FAST blood test following its FDA Breakthrough Device Designation.