TEDCO’s Latest Investments Through the Maryland Innovation Initiative Include Portable Diagnostic, Computational Covalent Drug Discovery Technologies
By Alex Keown
March 30, 2023
Through its Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) program, TEDCO invested $600,000 into three Baltimore-based companies, ComputChem, Prompt Diagnostics, LLC and Blue and Green Energy Solutions.
The companies were selected to receive the financial awards due to the “exceptional research and innovation” demonstrated by the recipients. The division of the $600,000 awards was not disclosed.
“For the last 10 years, MII has shown the impact it can have on the entrepreneurial community in Maryland,” Renee Winsky, chairperson of the MII board of directors said in a statement. “The last round of funding is a great example of the innovative minds we have in the state. We’re committed to supporting these innovators through their next stages of development.”
The MII program was a partnership between the state of Maryland and five of the state’s academic research institutions: Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of Maryland, College Park. The mission of the program, which was established in 2012, is to “accelerate and support the commercialization of promising technologies from bench to market through investments in innovation, entrepreneurship and venture creation.”
Alexander Trick, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of Prompt Diagnostics said the MII investment will be indispensable for expanding and accelerating the company’s development programs as it eyes potential commercialization. The early-stage diagnostics company is focused on the development of a portable and automated infectious disease diagnostics platform for use in multiple healthcare settings, including rural hospitals in the United States and abroad.
“The TEDCO MII investment in Prompt Diagnostics has been indispensable for developing and licensing our technology from academic labs. This funding brings us one step closer to helping patients get the testing and treatment they need by supporting our engineering and assay design efforts towards eventual manufacturing and clinical validation,” Trick told BioBuzz.
ComputChem, also based in Baltimore, is developing next-generation platform solutions for in silico covalent drug discovery design and lead optimization. ComputChem is developing the local/cloud software applications, iTitrate and iKa. iTitrate is designed to provide accurate prediction and physical rationalization of protein pKa values and targetable nucleophilic amino acid locations in proteins to assist covalent drug design.
iKa is based on artificial intelligence and large databases. The program is designed to be an accurate small molecule pKa predictor. Together with iTitrate, the new tools are expected to improve the accuracy and outcome of computer-aided lead discovery and optimization, according to company data.
“Funding from TEDCO has led to the development of ComputChem’s market and revenue for drug discovery. In addition to making our first sale, the funds have greatly reduced the cost of our technology,” said Julie Harris, PhD, Manager of Product Development, Drug Design.
Blue and Green Energy Solutions developed the EnergyMaster system, which is a floating hybrid tidal/wave/wind energy harvesting system.
Startup companies receiving financial support from MII have access to a variety of TEDCO resources, including mentor opportunities as well as CEO roundtables and loaned executives. In addition to the three individual companies, MII also invested $1.6 million from its technology assessment grant to support 12 other programs. MII said each of the projects “reflects the technological excellence and diversity” that can be found in Maryland.
The MII program has invested more than $47 million since its foundation. The program created and supported approximately 144 startups that provided about 300 jobs in Maryland. Those 144 companies have gone on to raise more than $692.7 million in follow-on funding.
Since the turn of the year, TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, has made multiple investments supporting the state’s life sciences and technology ecosystems. In February, TEDCO invested $250,000 into NasaClip, a woman-led company that developed a device to assist in a painless, hands-free method for stopping nosebleeds. Also in February, TEDCO invested $150,000 into JuneBrain Inc., which is focused on creating new ways for physicians to remotely monitor their patients.
TEDCO closed out 2022 with a combined $1.5 million investment into Warrior Centric Health, Linshom Medical and VirgilHR.
***This article was edited on 3/31/23 to add a quote from Dr. Julie Harris.
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Alex Keown is a freelance journalist who writes about a variety of subjects including the pharma, biotech, and life science industries. Prior to freelancing, Alex has served as a staff writer and editor for several publications.
