The BAAC Academy, a partnership between Albany Medical College and Siena College and an extension of the Biomedical Accelerator and Commercialization Center at Albany Med, awarded four startup biotech companies with $40,000 in cash and services.
In December 2017, companies presented business plans as part of a 13-week BAAC Academy program. On the last day of the program, students presented their business plans to a panel of judges who determined the award.
James Barba, Albany Med president and chief executive officer, said in a statement that the business plan competition "is giving some of the best and brightest in our region a way to take their ideas to the next level or levels—great ideas that might have languished in the lab or on a computer but now are well on the road to helping make this region a center for biomedical innovation and fueling a growing sector of our economy."
The awards went to:
1. Preventide
Founded by two researchers at Albany Medical Group, Preventide is working on developing a drug for breast cancer. The researchers, Thomas Andersen and James Bennett, received $15,000 in cash and a $2,500 scholarship toward BACC membership.
2. Ellipses
Founded by Kristen Shaughnessy, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s biomedical engineering program, Ellipses is developing a feminine hygiene product to assist in using menstrual cups. Ellipses received $7,000.
3. Emblok
Emblok was founded by two anesthesiologists at Albany Med, Sridhar Musuku and Elliott Greene. The company is working to develop technology to prevent complications from embolism caused by surgery. The company received $5,000 in legal services from Hoffman Warnick LLC, a law firm in Albany.
4. FluoroFibril
This company was founded by Anthony Bishop, an Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute doctoral candidate. FluroFibril is developing a biomarker diagnostic test for amyloid-based diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. The company received a $10,000 scholarship toward a BACC membership.
BACC was founded in September 2014 with the intention of promoting biotechnologies. As a regionally inclusive ecosystem, it is made up of entrepreneurs, inventors, doctors, scientists, academics, business professionals, investors, students and administrators. It recently received StartUp NY designation, which means businesses in the program have tax-free status for 10 years.
BACC also has 3,000-square feet of web lab space, use of common facilities and services, office space, a video conference board room, prototyping facilities, access to medical and diagnostic equipment and access to a lead-lined radiological suite. It includes a venture capital roundtable, a speaker series and access to industry executives and healthcare professionals.
The program was designed to grow the New York Capital Region’s biotechnology sector.
The Times Union notes, "Innovate 518, a program hosted at the University at Albany, connects start-ups and local business owners with programs and services to help them scale up and find funding. The university manages the program and directs it in partnership with the Center for Economic Growth, IgniteU NY, NYSTEC, and SUNY Adirondack. In December, the program received $1.25 million in the state’s Regional Economic Development Council awards."
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