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This R&D work will change the way that autonomous vehicles plan their motions, particularly in challenging urban driving scenarios.  Realtime Robotics is working on a special-purpose computer processor that can plan thousands of times faster than existing solutions, and this speed will enable it to make many plans at a time, each of which considers a different possible set of behaviors from the other agents—cars, bicycles, pedestrians—in the environment.  This technology will enable risk-aware, normal speed driving, which is critical for widespread adoption by the general public.

“The National Science Foundation supports small businesses with the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to become great commercial successes and make huge societal impacts,” said Barry Johnson, Director of the NSF’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships. “We hope that this seed funding will spark solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time across all areas of science and technology.”

As explained by Peter Howard, CEO of Boston-based Realtime Robotics, “The new technology is a game-changer for autonomous vehicles, which currently look impressive on the freeway, but drive slowly and haltingly in urban environments.  Our technology will make autonomous cars drive like humans—in that they drive at normal speeds and plan for unpredictable behaviors—just much better.  Computer processors don’t get distracted by their phones or drowsy after long hours of driving.”

Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $225,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $750,000). Small businesses with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.

NSF accepts Phase I proposals from small businesses twice annually in June and December. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program undergo a rigorous merit-based review process.

To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

The basis for the Element Genomics platform is the comprehensive mapping of gene function and regulation. This includes technology developed at Duke using the CRISPR/Cas9 platform, a genetic editing technique that allows researchers to make changes to targeted sequences of DNA. Typically, researchers will use the platform to make specific, permanent edits to a genome by cutting the DNA. But rather than permanently change the DNA sequence, Element Genomics’ technology alters how a portion of the DNA is regulated, allowing them to study how genes and pathways of interest interact by turning the targeted sections of the genome on or off.

“We were using these tools to characterize the non-coding genome, which includes the 98 percent of the human genome. We don’t really understand how most of it works, but it is clear that it plays a large role in drug response and disease susceptibility,” said Gersbach. “We were developing tools for perturbing that portion of the genome, and that opened up a whole new class of drug targets for common diseases. We quickly realized the technology was something that could go beyond our academic lab.”

In August of 2015, Gersbach and his colleagues approached Barry Myers in the Duke-Coulter Translational Partnership, which had supported Gersbach’s research at Duke, for help to form a start-up. The team received further support from John Oxaal, who was then working as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Duke BME. Oxaal, an alumnus of Duke Engineering and a serial entrepreneur himself, worked with the team to finalize licenses and find space in an incubator in Durham, and currently serves as CEO of the company.

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Cereius is working on solutions to solid tumor brain metastasis developed from cancer cells growing in other parts of the body, such as breast cancer.  30% of advanced solid tumor patients developing brain metastasis represents between 100,000-170,000 patients/year in the US.

“We’re honored by this award, which affirms our focus on making real business impact with machine learning,” Robbie Allen, CEO at Infinia ML said to PRNewswire. “We’re especially grateful to our clients, whose data and domain expertise make our work possible. Their trust empowers us to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and achieve new breakthroughs.”

AI Breakthrough Awards was started in order to recognize the excellence in innovation for top companies and technologies within the AI industry. This year, over 2,500 nominations came in from 15+ different countries worldwide.

Machine learning is the science of teaching a computer to think as humans do while improving over time with the addition of more data and information. Machine learning algorithms have been around for a long time.  In fact, Arthur Samuel coined the phase in 1959.  However, the big leap forward is being able to quickly apply difficult mathematical calculations to big data.

About Infinia ML

Infinia ML is a team of advanced machine learning experts focused on making business impact. The company helps enterprise clients reduce costs, increase efficiency, and achieve breakthroughs with data science. Infinia ML serves industries from manufacturing and healthcare to marketing and human resources. The company’s capabilities include natural language processing, recommendation engines, object detection, 3D image modeling, and anomaly detection.

The Durham, North Carolina company is led by CEO Robbie Allen, an experienced AI entrepreneur, Chief Scientist Lawrence Carin, Ph.D., one of the world’s most published machine learning experts and Duke University’s Vice Provost for Research, and Executive Chairman and Carrick Capital Partners Managing Director Mike Salvino. Together, the Infinia ML team has produced 31 patents, 11 books, 7 Ph.D.s, and more than 575 published papers.

About AI Breakthrough

Part of the Tech Breakthrough Awards organization, the AI Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Artificial Intelligence technologies, services, companies and products. The AI Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of AI companies and products in categories including AI Platforms, Robotics, Business Intelligence, AI Hardware, NLP, Vision, Biometrics, industry vertical AI applications and more. For more information visit www.AIBreakthroughAwards.com

The financing was led by ArrowMark Partners and was joined by new investors Franklin Templeton Investments, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Brace Pharma Capital, Pontifax AgTech, OCV Partners, Adage Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Gilead Sciences, Vivo Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Ridgeback Capital, Agent Capital, and entities affiliated with Leerink Partners. Existing investors venBio, F-Prime, RA Capital Management, Amgen Ventures, Osage University Partners, DUMAC, and the Longevity Fund also participated in the financing.

Precision intends to expand applications of its ARCUS genome editing platform in the areas of immuno-oncology, genetic disease, and food on its way to building a fully integrated biotechnology company. ARCUS is Precision’s proprietary, homing endonuclease-derived genome editing platform that leverages the small size and high specificity of a natural genome editing system. During 2018, Precision plans to utilize the proceeds from this financing to accelerate and expand its product portfolio. Specifically, Precision targets taking its lead, off-the-shelf CAR-T product into the clinic while advancing both its lead in vivo gene therapy program into IND-enabling studies and its flagship food program into field trials.

“We are thrilled to have such strong support from these leading healthcare investors who share in our vision for the future of human health through innovations in food and medicine,” said Matt Kane, CEO of Precision. “This financing provides us with a strong foundation from which we can advance our translational genome editing programs in multiple sectors.”

In conjunction with the Series B financing, Tony Yao of ArrowMark Partners has joined the Precision Board of Directors alongside existing directors Matt Kane, Derek Jantz, CSO of Precision, and Robert Adelman of venBio.

“We believe that Precision’s core gene editing technology represents a new way to alter the genome, and we are utilizing this technology to address several areas of great unmet need,” said Tony Yao, M.D., Ph.D. “I look forward to working with the team as we advance our programs.”

About Precision BioSciences

At Precision, we utilize a proprietary genome editing method we call ARCUS combined with a team made up of some of the leading minds and pioneers in genome editing in an effort to overcome cancers, cure genetic diseases, and enable the development of safer, more productive food sources.

The enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), developed using foundational research from Duke, was heralded as a breakthrough for an orphan disease in 2006, and was dramatized in the major motion picture “Extraordinary Measures.”

“But not everyone responds to this treatment,” Koeberl said. “Many patients make some antibodies, and this can really interfere with treatment. Some infants still die from Pompe disease. Others have to add immune suppression to their treatment, which can lead to other complications. Gene therapy could help these patients.”

In the research published in 2017, the Duke-led research team found that a single small dose of gene therapy was as effective as ERT in clearing the buildup of glycogen from the muscles in mice. A larger dose offered superior results to ERT.

A single treatment spurred the liver to continuously produce GAA without additional treatment, the study authors said. Enzyme therapy requires infusions two to four times a month to lower glycogen levels in the muscles.

Unlike ERT, the gene therapy doesn’t trigger an immune response, a reaction that can limit successful treatment in about half of babies with Pompe. In fact, the gene therapy appeared to reverse immune responses in mice that had previously developed antibodies in response to enzyme replacement, Koeberl said.

The gene therapy uses an inactivated form of adeno-associated virus, which does not cause illness and has been used as a delivery system for hemophilia B and muscular dystrophy treatments, among others, Koeberl said.

Under Rob Hallford, Duke New Ventures developed several new strategies to vet faculty and staff inventions and support their development into spinoff companies.  One of those new strategies was hiring five MIRs—seasoned entrepreneurs who have successfully raised capital for, built, sold, or invested in start-up companies.

“What we’ve recruited for in our MIRs is a diverse set of experiences and expertise to help our faculty across multiple technology and industry sectors.  But more than that, we’ve been able to find entrepreneurs with an energy for engaging with and building out Duke’s entrepreneurial community,” Hallford said.

MIRs have spent their careers building deep industry relationships. As such, they are matched with innovators within the same industry to help them move their ideas to the market.  An MIR not only helps the faculty or staff member develop their company plan such that introductions can be made to potential investors, management and partners, but they also help cultivate those connections.

“As a clinician and scientist, I’m adept at thinking about how products we develop may fit in the lives of patients and their caregivers.  But an important gap in my knowledge and comfort is understanding product/market fit from a business development perspective,” said Arif Kamal, Associate Professor of Medicine and co-founder of the mobile health platform Prepped Health.