Carisma started the new year off by announcing a strategic collaboration agreement with Moderna Inc. to discover, develop and commercialize in vivo engineered chimeric antigen receptor monocyte (CAR-M) therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In late winter, Novartis announced an initial agreement with Carisma to manufacture the HER 2 targeted CAR-M cell therapy, which is tested in initial trials for the treatment of solid tumors.

This fall Carisma Therapeutics and Sesen Bio announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine the companies in an all-stock transaction. “The proposed merger represents an exciting opportunity for shareholders of each company, and we believe it gets us one step closer to our goal of revolutionizing the field of immunotherapy,” said Steven Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carisma. 

The company wrapped up the year with the exciting news that GlassView, the leading independent video advertising distribution and performance platform, announced its strategic investment in Cogwear to advance a new neuromarketing headband.  The patent-pending device will sense emotions and other physiological feedback directly from the brain in real time.  As part of the strategic investment agreement, Glassview will outfit thousands of volunteers with Cogwear’s patented headbands in the coming 12-36 months.  The investment will also support the company’s research and commercialization in its core markets while expanding into this new segment.  In the year ahead, Cogwear will pursue FDA clearance for use of its headband as a clinical diagnostic tool for anxiety, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.   

EpiVario made a splash this summer as the company was recognized as a finalist for the Falling Walls’ Science Start-ups (Falling Walls Ventures) category. This category recognizes innovative start-ups that have translated breakthrough scientific thinking into promising business models. The company also highlighted preclinical research findings that could lead to a treatment approach for PTSD. In September, EpiVario announced it had been awarded a grant of nearly $260,000 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to advance research on its proprietary small molecule inhibitors designed to reduce alcohol craving responses and help people with alcohol use disorder prevent relapse.  

“Innervace is taking a radically different approach by attempting to replace the primary pathway lost in patients with Parkinson’s, thus reinnervating the dopamine circuit lost in this devastating disease, said Nader Halim, CEO Innervace. “We are extremely excited to build on the science developed in Kacy’s lab and translate it into a potentially new regenerative medicine therapy.” 

Neuralert’s stroke detection device was recognized by Time as one of the Best Inventions 2022 (Best Inventions of 2022 | TIME), and the company was included as one of Philly’s top 20 standout tech companies of 2022 by Technical.ly Philly (RealLIST Startups). Eric Corkhill shared “This has been a remarkable year for Neuralert, and we are excited so many organizations have recognized the significant value a wearable stroke detection product can have. We are proud of the progress we made this past year in getting a device to market that can help so many people avoid the devastation caused when a stroke isn’t identified and treated in time”.

In May, the company received FDA Clearance for its novel endovascular retrieval technology. The ŌNŌ is designed to receive, align, compress, and remove suboptimal or embolized devices and other materials from the vascular system. In August, ŌNŌCOR announced the first-in-human use of the ŌNŌ endovascular retrieval system for removal of an intracardiac tumor.  Intracardiac tumors affect thousands of patients around the world annually, but prior to ŌNŌ, open-heart surgery was required for removal. “We are delighted that ŌNŌ was able to help the team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,” said Mark Piper, CEO of ŌNŌCOR. “ŌNŌ was designed to help safely remove material from the vascular system, so it’s rewarding to hear that the patient in Los Angeles has done well and recovered nicely from this procedure.” 

Peroxitech’s CEO Thomas Han shared his excitement for the future, stating “The data generated to date for PIP-2 represents a potential breakthrough in the prevention and treatment of ALI”. In addition to the lead program, the company is evaluating PIP-2 for other high unmet need areas. Peroxitech was awarded an NIH STTR Phase I grant in spring 2022 to evaluate PIP-2 as a treatment to improve the storage and viability of donor lungs for transplantation.

In August, the company announced the FDA clearance of its Recon Steerable Sheath, a steerable endobronchial tool that offers articulation at the distal tip to enable physicians to access difficult-to-reach areas of the lung anatomy.  Shortly after its first clearance, Serpex announced the FDA Clearance of its Steerable Endobronchial Instrument Platform.  The Compass Steerable Needles are steerable biopsy needles that enable precise access to lung nodules in the intrapulmonary region.  Sasha Schrode, President and CEO of Serpex Medical, says the company is “excited to deliver another innovative product that empowers clinicians to more successfully diagnose lung cancer at an earlier stage.” 

Vital Start was among the four companies selected to receive funding from Drexel University and the University City Science Center’s Raynier Seed Fund for Underrepresented Entrepreneurs.  The company received several awards throughout 2022, including Citizen Bank’s Small Business Champion Award, 1Philadelphia CBKVentures Pitch Competition winner, and Health & Human Services’ Racial Equity in Postpartum Challenge 2022 Phase 1 Award.  Reflecting on the successful year, Kirthika Parmeswaran, CEO of Vital Start said, “We are excited to close out 2022 with this momentum, as we continue to grow and impact reproductive and maternal mental health!”