Midwest Biotech Startup Showcase Spotlights 30+ Breakthrough Innovations from Leading Research Institutions
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Bringing breakthrough science to the forefront of innovation, the Midwest Biotech Startup Showcase will highlight more than 30 emerging life sciences and biotech ventures from leading research institutions across the Midwest, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Michigan.
Designed as an interactive, open-house style gathering, the showcase is ideal for investors and industry experts looking to explore new technologies and build meaningful connections. The Showcase will offer a unique forum for early-stage biotech innovators to present their work and meet stakeholders who may be interested in exploring partnerships, providing feedback, joining a founding team, pursuing additional research, or engaging further. Attendees will have the chance to engage directly with founders advancing solutions across therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, synthetic biology, and more — all rooted in the region’s world-class research ecosystem.
Ventures presenting at the Midwest Biotech Startup Showcase:
Northwestern University Startups:
- Angiotensin Therapeutics // Developing novel biologic therapeutics to modulate the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) to address multiple clinical indications.
- Flashpoint Therapeutics // Flashpoint Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company developing first-in-class structural nanomedicines based on a platform that enables co-delivery of therapeutic cargoes (e.g. CRISPR, mRNA, DNA, siRNA) to target cells.
- Grove Biopharma // Grove Biopharma is advancing its Bionic Biologics platform to drug intracellular protein-protein interactions, uniting biologic and synthetic design to reach well-validated but previously inaccessible disease targets.
- Ikaika Therapeutics Inc // At Ikaika Therapeutics we are expanding the frontier of fibrotic treatments through the power of genetics by developing first-in-class biologics (monoclonal antibodies, mAbs) that are mutation agnostic.
- ImmPro, Inc. // Precision protein biomarkers powered by a new data type.
- Juxta // An affordable, scalable, hardware-free GPS alternative.
- Melanyze // Melanyze Inc. is a Chicago-based preclinical biotech company developing patented synthetic melanin technology for skin regeneration and repair. Melanyze’s Super Melanin platform is inspired by nature and developed through biomimicry.
- Sibel Health // Sibel Health develops advanced wearable sensors for clinical trials to clinical care.
- Syenex // Precision delivery for genetic medicine drug developers.
- Temprian Oncology, Inc // Temprian Oncology develops nanoparticle “supercarrier” therapies that selectively target and destroy melanoma cells, offering a safer, more effective treatment for advanced skin and eye cancers.
Purdue University Startups:
- Amplified Sciences // Amplified Sciences is revolutionizing disease detection with a commercial stage test that helps physicians more accurately detect risk for pancreatic cancer built on an ultra-sensitive optical reporter platform.
- Neurava // Giving back control to patients with uncontrolled epilepsy.
University of Chicago Startups:
- 32 Biosciences, Inc. // 32 Biosciences is a company focused on gastrointestinal (GI) diseases initially centered on the colon, addressing high unmet medical needs in prevention and treatment with a first-in-class therapeutic and discovery platform.
- Alnair Therapeutics // Enhancing safety, increasing efficacy, and intensifying dose levels through a universal solid tumor targeting synthetic platform.
- DuPage Medical Technology, Inc. // Developing a novel dual anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory drug that has minimal risk of bleeding and that minimally affects bacteria clearance,. and high-loading peptide nanoparticle technology for peptide delivery.
- Ellis Bio // Empowering epigenomic innovation with research tools for research and clinical needs.
- Esya Labs // Direct-to-consumer ultra-sensitive blood tests that detect brain decline years before symptoms. Powered by proprietary proteomics and AI, Esya enables brain-health screening; making it as routine as screening any other organ.
- Exactics // Exactics develops fully at-home infectious disease diagnostics, with integration from initial diagnosis to telehealth treatment and care, making healthcare more accessible and affordable for patients and providers alike.
- Inomagen Therapeutics, Inc. // Inomagen is developing a non-viral gene therapy to more effectively treat atrial fibrillation by targeting its underlying molecular mechanisms
- MesoRNA LLC // MesoRNA’s sequencing platform, MSR-seq, is transforming cancer screening. MSR-seq opens a new world of biomarkers, small -non-coding RNAs for diagnostic and pharma applications.
- Signl // Tuning the Immune System.
- Slideflow Labs // Slideflow Labs is on a mission to revolutionize disease diagnostics through an innovative, AI-driven approach to biomarker discovery.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Startups:
- Cadenza Bio // Cadenza Bio is a biotechnology company developing novel oral small-molecule therapies for demyelinating and inflammatory diseases, aiming to halt progression, promote repair, and restore quality of life for patients.
- Keiji AI // Keiji AI gathers and transforms complex biomedical data into smarter, faster, safer trials.
- PhotoniCare // Optimizing treatment for the most common disease in children.
- Cayuga Biotech, Inc. // Addressing hemorrhage by harnessing the body’s innate ability to stop bleeding
University of Michigan Startups:
- Enexa Bio // Enexa Bio is engineering precision small molecules for autoimmune disease, led by a biomarker-driven lupus nephritis program. With compelling data and clear target engagement, Enexa Bio is building a scalable pipeline across systemic immunology.
- M3D // M3D’s real-time radiation cameras are designed and targeted exclusively for healthcare applications. They enable new capabilities for surgeons and other radiation personnel including real-time imaging and guidance in the operating room.
- MELD Health. Inc. // Bringing the clinic to pain patients with real-time, detailed symptom capture, treatment progress tracking and effortless clinical documentation – all supporting faster claim authorizations.
- Saros Therapeutics, Inc. // Saros Therapeutics is a preclinical oncology company focused on developing proprietary nanoparticle immunotherapies that precisely target innate immune cells and overcoming the limitations of previous approaches of targeting the STING pathway.
- Skeletalis // Skeletalis is developing the next generation of therapies for musculoskeletal diseases. The company’s first small molecule candidate is a first-in-class, bone-targeted osteoporosis treatment.
- SonoVascular, Inc. // SonoVascular is a clinical-stage company that has developed the SonoThrombectomy™ System, an ultrasound facilitated thrombectomy system that utilizes microbubble-mediated cavitation as a core mechanism of action to treat blood clots.