Founded with the support of UI Ventures, Viewpoint Molecular Targeting was selected by a competitive application process to receive grant support for entrepreneurial training, mentorship, and collaborations that will assist them in translating research ideas into market ready products. The program kicks off with a three-day workshop in Boston in early February.
The I-Corps program was developed by the National Science Foundation and adopted by select National Institutes of Health, including the NCI. The program helps SBIR-funded companies accelerate the development and commercialization of new products and services that benefit society. The eight-week training program is designed to provide scientists with real world, hands-on entrepreneurial training, facilitated by experts in the biotech sector.
“This is an intense program that will no doubt help us to validate our business model assumptions and accelerate Viewpoint’s growth,” says Viewpoint CEO Heyward Coleman. “We are geared up for an enthusiastic participation.”
Viewpoint, located in the UI BioVentures Center, is developing pharmaceutical drugs for therapy and diagnostic imaging of cancer, with a focus on metastatic melanoma. Viewpoint has secured more than $1.2 million in external funding; more than half of this amount has come from NIH SBIR grants and contracts. The company is poised to begin clinical testing for its lead product and has other products in the development pipeline.
“Our technology has the potential to save lives,” says Viewpoint co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Frances Johnson. “The NCI's selection of Viewpoint to participate in the I-Corps program validates that potential and gives us another great opportunity to make targeted radiotherapy for melanoma a reality.”
UI Ventures, part of the University of Iowa Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPR&ED), offers information and resources to help companies find funding they qualify for, including federal grants, state funding, the UI commercialization GAP fund, loans, angel investment, and venture capital. For more information, visit http://uiventures.uiowa.edu/.
The BioVentures Center in the UI Research Park is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, which provides resources and support to researchers and scholars at the University of Iowa and to businesses across Iowa with the goal of forging new frontiers of discovery and innovation and promoting a culture of creativity that benefits the campus, the state, and the world. More at http://research.uiowa.edu, and on Twitter: @DaretoDiscover.