PCI Startup Portfolio - Penn Center for Innovation

4MVac

Viral vectors for COVID vaccine

Penn Founder: Hansell Stedman, MD (Penn Medicine)

AbraxJapan

Enabling the commercialization of innovative and practical therapies with TSLP

Penn Founder: Taku Kambayashi, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Advac Therapeutics

Development of vaccines and therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancers

Penn Founder: Hao Shen, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Agni Semiconductor

Developing memory systems for extreme environments and low-power computing.

Penn Founders: Deep Jariwala, PhD, Roy Olsson, Eric Stach (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

AlloDx LLC

MicroRNA for diagnosis and anticipation of acute rejection

Penn Founder: Abraham Shaked, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

AlphaThera, LLC

Antibody labeling reagents

Penn Founder: Andrew Tsourkas, PhD (Penn Engineering)

AltruMed

Develops self-driven wearable medical drug delivery devices to combat substance use disorders

Penn Founder: Jacob Brenner, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Amyndas Pharmaceuticals, SA

The next generation of complement therapeutics

Penn Founder: John Lambris, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Developing treatments for a broad range of debilitating diseases by controlling a part of the immune system known as the complement cascade.

Penn Founder: John Lambris, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Ascidian Therapeutics, Inc.

Focuses its research, development and commercialization efforts on using RNA trans-splicing for gene therapies.

Penn Founder: Jean Bennett, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Avisi Technologies, Inc.

Creating a next-generation aqueous shunt to treat glaucoma.

Penn Founder: Igor Bargatin, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Avstera Therapeutics Corp.

Focus is to address the significant unmet need of advanced cancer patients who have limited or no treatment options.

Axonova Medical

Tech platform allowing the stretch growth of axon bundles for use as fully functional grafts to address peripheral and CNS neuropathies.

Penn Founders: D. Kacy Cullen, PhD & Douglas Smith, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Brainstorm Diagnostics LLC

Diagnosis and prognosis of sports-related concussion

Penn Founders: Doug Smith, MD (Penn Medicine)

Cabaletta Bio, Inc.

Development of engineered T cell therapies for patients with B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases

Penn Founders: Aimee Payne, MD, PhD & Michael Milone, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Calorint

Heat-based technology for wound healing

Penn Founders: Jonathan Isserow, MD (formerly Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Capstan Therapeutics, Inc.

mRNA-based CAR-T therapy.

Penn Founders: Carl June, MD, Bruce Levine, PhD, Drew Weissman, MD, PhD,

(continued) Hamideh Parhiz, PharmD, PhD, Steven Albelda, MD (Penn Medicine) & Ellen Pure, PhD (Penn Vet)

Carisma Therapeutics

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Carisma Therapeutics

Cellular immunotherapy for solid tumors.

Penn Founders: Saar Gill, MD, PhD & Michael Klichinksy, PharmD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Cartio

Developing CAR regulatory T cells to treat atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases.

Penn Founder: Robert Schwab, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Center for Breakthrough Medicines LLC

Development and manufacturing of advanced therapies

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Cerespectus

Catheters using real time anatomic video feedback and fluoroscopic assistance for precise gene therapy delivery and treatment of other disorders of the central nervous system

Penn Founder: Bryan Pukenas, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures UPadvisor

Cognomos

Registration platform in higher education

Penn Founder: Alexander Lamon (Wharton)

Cognotivo Bio 1, Inc.

Methods for Treating Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA)

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Cogwear

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Cogwear

Affordable, mobile, comfortable, sustained, research-grade, brain state monitoring on the go

Penn Founder: Michael Platt, PhD (Penn Arts & Sciences)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Confluence Therapeutics, Inc.

Focused on treatment for neuro degenerative disease by blocking TDP-43.

Penn Founder: James Shorter, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Curebiotech, Inc.

Developing an immune modulating compound designed to significantly enhance the efficacies associated with anti-PD1 and radiation therapies utilized in treating metastatic cancers.

Penn Founder: George Xu, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Cyclemer

Developing cyclic conjugated polymers for industrial applications.

Penn Founders: Daniel Mindiola, PhD, John Russell, PhD (Arts and Sciences)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Daimroc Imaging

Using Argentavue, a silver nanoparticle contrast agent for breast cancer imaging

Penn Founder: David Cormode, DPhil (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Definitive Biotechnologies, LLC

Developing healthcare technology intended to bring new updates and changes for improved care for patients.

Penn Founder: Haim Bau, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Dispatch Bio

Developer of cancer therapies designed to harness the immune system.

Penn Founders: Carl June, MD & Andy Minn, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Elaeis Therapeutics

Targeting protein palmitoylation to confront unmet challenges in human disease.

Penn Founders: Eric Witze, PhD & George Burslem, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

EmboVent

Removing the embolic load from the heart during open heart surgery with a novel heart vent catheter.

Penn Founder: William Vernick, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

EnaChip

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EnaChip

Developing magnetic materials, processes, and device designs that enable integration of magnetic components with silicon semiconductor devices

Penn Founder: Mark Allen, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Enteropass

Developing novel enteric bypass solutions to change the paradigm of enterocutaneous fistula management

Penn Founder: Daniel Holena, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

EpiVario

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EpiVario

Novel epigenetic therapeutics to treat complex psychiatric disorders

Penn Founder: Shelley Berger, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Evinacel

Developing a variety of technologies that enable improved gamma delta T-cell therapy, a novel DR5 CAR construct, and an exosome therapy platform

Penn Founder: George Xu, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Exyn Technologies, Inc.

Collect impossible to reach data with breakthrough AI-powered industrial drones & robots.

Penn Founder: Vijay Kumar, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

FloBio

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FloBio

Analyzes dynamic blood flow as a diagnostic technique in trauma, ER, and clinical settings

Penn Founder: Scott Diamond, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

FluidiSpec

Developing microfluidic systems for proteomic analysis of small samples for research tools and clinical analyses.

Penn Founder: Aaron Timperman, PhD, and Lumala Nelum Perera, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Fluorosurgical Biosciences

Developing precision-medicine tools to increase intraoperative cancer detection for improved tumor resection.

Penn Founders: Jim Delikatny, PhD & Sofya Osharovich, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Foretell Med, LLC

Developing machine learning models in medicine.

Penn Founder: Gilmer Valdes, PhD, Timothy Solberg, PhD, & Alon Witztum, PhD (formerly Penn Medicine)

Forsagen

Developing biomaterial directed tissue sealing approaches for the long-term health and preservation of orthopaedic tissues.

Penn Founder: Robert Mauck, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

G2 Bio Management Company, Inc.

Provider of funding and development services to potential next-generation gene therapy candidates from Penn’s Gene Therapy Program.

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Galileo CDS

Clinical decision support tool based on Machine Learning to be used in Radiology.

Penn Founder: R. Nick Bryan, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

GastroVationX

Portable medical device to be used in endoscopy to make procedures economical and efficient

Penn Founder: Ricardo Morgenstern, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Ghost Robotics

Building customizable robotic machines highly adept at perceiving tactile sensations

Penn Founder: Gavin Kenneally, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

GraphWear Technologies Inc.

Sensor technology to detect biometric data in real-time.

Penn Founders: Rajatesh Gudibande & Alan Charlie Johnson, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Inc.

Provider of environmental services intended to use carbon mineralization for a cost-effective direct air capture system.

Penn Founder: Jennifer Wilcox, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Hollow Tree Bioscience LLC

Method and device for treating osteoarthritis and cartilage diseases, defects, and injuries.

Penn Founder: Carl Brighton, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Hydropore

Hydropore is a clean technology start-up developing hydrogen fuel pellets for drones.

Penn Founder: Eric Detsi, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Hysplex

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Hysplex

Developing small molecule PARP inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and neurological disorders.

Penn Founder: Ben Black, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Iecure, Inc.

Developer of gene editing therapies intended to cure diseases with unmet needs.

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Infini – Fluidics

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Infini – Fluidics

Industry 4.0 in pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing processes

Penn Founders: Daeyeon Lee, PhD, Dave Issadore, PhD & Sagar Yadavali, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Innervace

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Innervace

Implantable tissue engineered brain pathways for neurodegenerative disorders.

Penn Founder: D. Kacy Cullen, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Instanosis

Developed sophisticated technology to further advance the field of diagnostics.

Ping Wang, PhD, DABCC, FAACC (Penn Engineering)

Interius BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Platform for In Vivo Cell and Gene Therapy

Penn Founder: Saar Gill, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

JT Me-Sh Diagnostics

Developing a novel point-of-care device to evaluate an individual’s exposure to radiation.

Penn Founder: Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, PhD & Shampa Chatterjee, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Kira Pharmaceuticals

Advancing transformative therapies for patients with complement-mediated diseases.

Penn Founder: Wenchao Song, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Leden

Developing a self-powered tissue healing dental implant system to treat and prevent peri-implant diseases

Penn Founder: Geelsu Hwang, PhD (Penn Dental Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

LignaMed

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LignaMed

Targeted therapeutics from flaxseed derivatives

Penn Founder: Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Limbsalv

Advanced technology for limb salvage and reconstruction

Penn Founders: Scott Levin, MD & Edward Cantu, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Linnaeus

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Linnaeus

Developing a G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) agonist with applicability across a range of cancers.

Penn Founders: Todd Ridky, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine) & Chris Natale, PhD (Penn Arts & Sciences)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Liquid BioDx

Diagnostic blood test for sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells.

Penn Founders: Jay Dorsey, MD, PhD & Gary Kao, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Luminosity Wearables

Enabling non-invasive glucose monitoring using off the shelf wearable devices.

Penn Founder: Amanda Watson, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

LuxFiat Therapeutics

Developing gene therapies to treat genetic causes of blindness.

Penn Founders: William Beltran, DVM, PhD & Gus Aguirre, VMD, PhD (Penn Veterinary Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Mechano Therapeutics

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Mechano Therapeutics

Therapeutic delivery platform using mechanically-activated microcapsule technology

Penn Founders: George Dodge, PhD & Robert Mauck, PhD (Penn Medicine)

(continued) Daeyeon Lee, PhD & Bhavana Mohanraj, PhD (Penn Engineering). PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Metal Light, Inc.

Developing reliable and sustainable distributed energy-generating solutions, fueled by metal-harvesting technology.

Penn Founder: James Pikul, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Mindprint Learning

Scalable K12 educational solution that uses objective cognitive data to teach students how they learn best and provide strategies personalized to students’ learning strengths and needs.

Penn Founder: Ruben Gur, PhD (Penn Medicine)

NeoNeur LLC

Developing neonatal feeding assessment tools.

Penn Founder: Jay Zemel, PhD (Penn Engineering)

Neuralert

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Neuralert

Robust wearable monitors to rapidly identify critically important neurological events such as stroke

Penn Founders: Steven Messe, MD (Penn Medicine), James Weimer, PhD (formerly Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Neurokappa Therapeutics

Treatments for cerebral vascular spasm using salvia divinosum

Penn Founder: Renyu Liu, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Neurostorative

Developing nerve fusion technology for immediate axonal reconnection and electrical restoration after injury.

Penn Founders: Justin Burrell, PhD & D. Kacy Cullen, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

NewBreathz

Respiratory-based diagnostics for metabolic disorders.

Penn Founder: Steve Solga, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Nia Therapeutics

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Nia Therapeutics

Developing responsive neurostimulation therapies for patients with dementia and other memory disorders.

Penn Founder: Mike Kahana, PhD (Penn Arts & Sciences)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

OmicPath AI

Developing an end-to-end workflow to predict spatial gene expression and characterize tissue architecture with single-cell resolution.

Penn Founders: Mingyao Li, PhD, Daiwei Zhang, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Onocor

Catheter based retrieval systems designed to recovered malposition cardiovascular devices

Penn Founders: Joseph Gorman, MD, Robert Gorman, MD & Matthew Gillespie, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Opus Genetics, Inc.

Gene therapy for the treatment of inherited retinal degenerative diseases caused by defects in RDH12 and LCA5.

Penn Founder: Jean Bennett, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Osciflex

Developing medical devices for the prevention of thrombosis

Penn Founders: Mark Kahn, MD (Penn Medicine) & John Welsh, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Osetomics

Diagnostic and prognostic tools for the treatment of acute musculoskeletal injuries, chronic orthopedic pathologies, and bone implant complications

Penn Founders: Annamarie Horan, MPA, PhD & Samir Mehta, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Ostiio

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Ostiio

A novel approach to correct skeletal deformities and deficiencies using a fully implantable, magnetically-driven, bony distraction device

Penn Founders: Ari Wes, MD & Jesse Taylor, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Paradigm Surgical

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Paradigm Surgical

Prophylactic mesh augmentation systems for fascial reinforcement

Penn Founder: John Fischer, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Passage Bio, Inc.

Gene therapy for treatment of rare monogenic central nervous system disorders.

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Peroxitech

Novel therapeutic to prevent acute lung injury, the major cause of death with sepsis.

Penn Founders: Aron Fisher, MD & Sheldon Feinstein, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Prohibix LLC

Developing injectable therapeutics that stop the progression of tissue degenerative diseases and preserve quality of life

Penn Founder: Jason Burdick, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Prolifagen

Developing microRNA therapies to treat myocardial infarction, prevent remodeling, and regenerate tissue

Penn Founder: Edward Morrisey, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisor)

Quantaras

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Quantaras

Advanced body-wide analysis of medical imagery for clinical and research purposes

Penn Founders: Jayaram Udupa, PhD & Drew Torigian, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Radix Therapeutics

Developer of targeting drugs to treat cancer.

Penn Founder: Yi Fan, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Rafias

Novel therapeutics to treat cocaine and other substance abuse disorders.

Penn Founder: Elizabeth Heller, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Recupero Robotics

Robotics for improved physical therapy

Penn Founder: Michelle Johnson, PhD (Penn Engineering)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

RheoTek Medical LLC

Electromagnetic needle-free drug delivery system with improved dispersion

Penn Founder: Daniel Mazzaferro, MD, MBA (Penn Medicine)

Ribogenics Inc

RNA-focused drug discovery startup with a pioneering proprietary suite of platform technologies that identify small molecule modulators of mRNA processing and protein levels

Penn Founder: Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD (Penn Medicine)

RightAir

Wearable device for respiratory assistance in COPD patients

Penn Founder: Jake Brenner, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Sapience Leadership

Consulting services on curricula, operational issues, and strategic planning

Penn Founder: Michael Johanek, EdD (Penn Graduate School of Education)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Satellite Biosciences

Offers breakthrough new approach to delivering living cells into the body where they can repair or even replace critical organ function.

Penn Founder: Christopher Chen, PhD (Penn Engineering)

SchoolSims

Technology-enhanced immersive learning solutions to leadership development for educational and other organizations

Penn Founder: Michael Johanek, EdD (Penn Graduate School of Education)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Scout Bio Inc.

Developing one-time gene therapies for chronic major pet health conditions.

Penn Founder: James Wilson, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

SightPath VR

Developing a virtual reality navigation test for assessment of functional vision.

Penn Founder: Jean Bennett, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Spyridon Biotech

Developing modulators that enhance exercise motivation by stimulating transmission of signals to the brain.

Penn Founders: John Nicholas Betley, PhD (Arts and Sciences), Christoph Thaiss (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Stage One Immunotherapeutics

Developing small molecules that target retinoic acid signaling pathways to treat solid tumors.

Penn Founder: Malay Haldar, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

StrongHolt Therapeutics

Gene therapy technology to address Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and related diseases.

Penn Founder: Hansell Stedman, MD (Penn Medicine)

SyzOnc

Developing cancer therapies that target untapped biological pathways and the tumor microenvironment, beginning with the Hippo pathway in soft-tissue sarcomas.

Penn Founder: Tzipora Sarah Karin Eizinger, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

TAIRIS

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TAIRIS

Improving neurosurgery and neurosurgeons through anatomical pattern recognition assistance

Penn Founders: Vivek Buch, MD, Peter Madsen, MD & Tejvir S. Khurana, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Tarna Therapeutics

Developing precision therapeutics for patients suffering from kidney disease.

Penn Founder: Katalin Susztak, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Tau Scientific Instruments LLC

Developing innovative biological research technologies with an initial focus on tools for C. elegans research.

Penn Founder: Christopher Fang-Yen, PhD (Penn Engineering)

TheraVal

Novel liver-derived organoid platform that enables the company to develop and validate potential therapeutics for NASH and other hepatic diseases.

Penn Founder: Tobias Raabe, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

TrevaRx Biomedical, Inc.

Developing a paradigm-changing small molecule radiopharmaceutical platform that identifies and kills PARP-1 tumors at the sub-cellular level to beat cancer at its core.

Penn Founder: Robert Mach, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Vasowatch

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Vasowatch

Decision support technology for obstetrics to improve outcomes for all mothers

Penn Founder: Stefanie Modri, MSN, RN, C-MNN (Penn Nursing)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Vellum Biosciences

Non-invasive imaging diagnostic to differentiate cancer, inflammation, and infection

Penn Founder: Mark Sellmyer, MD, PhD & Robert Mach, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Veltion Therapeutics

Novel approaches for cancer treatment by targeting the Integrated Stress Response and its role in tumor as well as stroma adaptation to stress

Penn Founder: Costas Koumenis, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

Ventru

Aims to improve the safety and efficacy of neurosurgical procedures through surgical instrument innovation

Penn Founders: Rachel Blue, MD & Michael Spadola, MD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Verismo Therapeutics, Inc

New generation of CAR-T treatment using a Killer-Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (“KIR-CAR”)

Penn Founder: Michael Milone, MD, PhD (Penn Medicine)

Versatilis Therapeutics

DOTA-based universal immune receptor for cancer cell therapy.

Penn Founder: Daniel Powell, PhD (Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Vetigenics

Using novel phage-display techniques to develop reagents and therapeutics for veterinary medicine

Penn Founder: Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD (Penn Veterinary Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPstart)

Vital Start Health

Empowering clinicians and caregivers by giving them a digital platform to improve neonatal care

Penn Founder: Carrie Hufnal, MD (formerly Penn Medicine)

PCI Ventures (UPadvisors)

ViTToria Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Expanding the applications for CAR-based therapeutics using Novel Cell Engineering Technologies.

Penn Founder: Marco Ruella, MD (Penn Medicine)

Vivodyne, Inc.

Organ or tissue models on a chip (including eye, placenta, lung, and cervix tissue simulations).

Penn Founders: Dan Huh, PhD & Andrei Georgescu, PhD (Penn Engineering)

VOC Health, Inc.

Focused on early disease detection to increase survivability and lower healthcare costs.

Penn Founder: Alan Charlie Johnson, PhD (School of Arts and Sciences)

Xerothera, Inc.

Developing breakthrough technologies for tissue engineering and the controlled and targeted delivery of drugs and biological molecules.

Penn Founder: Paul Ducheyne, PhD (Penn Engineering)