UCLA INVENTS
driving innovation to market.
News Bulletin - December, 2012  
WELCOME TO UCLA INVENTS, a monthly bulletin published by the Office of Intellectual Property (OIP) to highlight entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology commercialization at UCLA.
 
UCLA Licensee, AWAK Technologies, Develops Sorbent-Based Regeneration Technology for Hemodialysis
AWAK Technologies
Sorbent technology is key for next generation portable and battery-powered haemodialysis machines. 

AWAK Technologies announced today that it is extending its innovative sorbent technology platform to be used in haemodialysis systems. The technology is currently used in the company’s wearable dialysis product, the peritoneal dialysis-based Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK). The sorbent technology is a key component for dialysate regeneration used during dialysis session.

Conventional hemodialysis systems consume around 120 litres of ultra-pure water to make dialysate for a single dialysis session. The AWAK sorbent unit requires less than 6 litres of tap water and regenerates and reconstitutes spent dialysate into fresh dialysate. This unique feature eliminates the needs for expensive purification water system, thus, enabling dialysis to be performed in areas where such infrastructure is lacking. Lesser water equates to significantly lesser energy for heating the dialysate. AWAK new sorbent formulation also creates lesser flow resistance in comparison to current available sorbent cartridge, another energy saving feature that enables future battery-operated hemodialysis machine possible." 

READ FULL PRESS RELEASE; pdf ]
AWAK Technologies ]

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ArmaGen Technologies Announces $17 Million Series A Financing
ArmaGen technology has the potential to re-engineer recombinant proteins for the treatment of brain and spinal cord diseases.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- ArmaGen Technologies, Inc. today announced the closing of a $17 million Series A financing to support the development of brain-penetrating recombinant protein therapeutics. The lead investor is Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, joined by Shire plc, Takeda Ventures, Inc., and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Inc. This funding will allow for expansion of existing operations, and the clinical development of potentially first-in-class biopharmaceuticals targeting diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), which are engineered to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

"The ArmaGen investor syndicate is a unique group of Big Pharmas each with their own global impact. This is the first time such a diverse group from the pharmaceutical industry has come together to finance technology in the blood-brain barrier. I am very delighted at the trust our investors have placed in us," said William M. Pardridge, MD, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ArmaGen.

READ FULL PRESS RELEASE ]
ArmaGen Technologies ]

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SPOTLIGHT: New UCLA Technologies Available for Licensing
UCLA intellectual property is commercialized by entrepreneurs and established companies worldwide.

--  Improved Cardiac Imaging for Patients with Cardiac Devices
UCLA scientists have developed a technology for improving late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for assessing myocardial viability of patients with cardiac devices such as cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).

--  Ultrasound Assay System for Cell Stimulation
UCLA researchers at the UCLA Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering have developed an integrated ultrasound cell culture well plate system suitable for high throughput studies.

--  CeramicAsh™: Material and Method
Dr. Jenn-Ming Yang and colleagues in the UCLA Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed a method to make CeramicAsh, a chemically bonded ceramic, from an abundant industrial waste product.

--  Biodegradable Stent for Aneurysm Repair
UCLA researchers have developed a safe, degradable stent for the treatment of aneurysms and other vascular conditions.

--  Novel Anti-TfR Antibodies for Improved Cancer Treatment
Dr. Manuel Penichet and colleagues at the UCLA Departments of Surgery and Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics have developed a novel anti-human transferrin receptor (TfR) antibody for the treatment of incurable hematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma and aggressive lymphoma.

--  Dual Transgenic Mice for Endothelial Cell Research (Ve-Cadherin Cre-Recombinase - Rosa26r-YFP)
UCLA researchers have developed a dual transgenic animal that enables genetic tracing of endothelial cells and their derivatives.

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Dec. 7 Networking Event, First Fridays @OIP, Hosts StartEngine Co-founders
Kinross Building
Howard Marks and Paul Kessler of StartEngine share their ideas:  How UCLA can become more entrepreneurial. 

Join UCLA's licensing staff, inventors and entrepreneurs this Friday for bagels, coffee and networking.  Guest speakers, Howard Marks and Paul Kessler, will give a talk titled, "How can UCLA Become an Entrepreneurial School."

Date: December, 07, 2012
Time: 9am-10:30am
Place: Suite 210, The Kinross Building

Space is limited. RSVP is recommended!  [ REG & INFO  ]

  

Speaker Bio's

Howard Marks is the founder and co-chair of StartEngine, Los Angeles' largest startup accelerator, determined to make LA a top tech entrepreneurial city. Marks was the founder and CEO of Acclaim Games (now owned by Disney), and the co-Founder of Activision and Chairman of Activision Studios (1991-1997). In 1991, Marks and a partner transformed ailing video game giant Activision into a $14B market cap video game industry leader. Marks has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, is bilingual and is a triple national of the U.S., United Kingdom, and France, and has over 30 years of experience as a veteran of the technology industry.

Paul Kessler is Co-Chair of Start Engine and is Principal and Founder of Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC. Mr. Kessler has extensive experience in all aspects of financing emerging growth public/private technology and bio technology companies. Mr. Kessler is recognized as a prolific investor, financier, venture capitalist and operator having completed over 500+ investments. Companies that he has directed investments in, founded, or provided early seed capital to include Allis Chalmers, Contango, Cheniere Energy, Derycz Scientific, The Los Angeles Film School, Genesis Biopharma, Miller Energy, Gamzee, and Filter Foundry.

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Q&A - Forming a Startup as a UCLA Entrepreneur 

Entrepreneur FAQ
Q.   Is it necessary to have a business plan in order to obtain a license from UCLA to the underlying intellectual property?

A.  No. However it is often a good idea to develop at least an initial development plan and budget prior to entering into a license agreement for the underlying patents/copyrights as this can help inform your company’s negotiations on the license deal terms.

Q.  Do I need to get a license from UCLA to the underlying intellectual property in order to attract investors and/or corporate partners?

A.  Not necessarily. A simple cost-effective “letter of intent” with the University with an attached license term sheet is often enough to attract potential investors and partners. We can then implement a full license agreement once the company is ready to do so.

Q.  How do I obtain a license for the underlying intellectual property from UCLA?

A.  We try to keep the process for startup licenses simple and efficient. All you need to do is let our office know which technologies you are interested in and connect us with a non-UC person who will lead the license negotiation with the University. If there is a hard deadline that the license needs to be done by (e.g. to meet an investor deadline) let us know and we will prioritize accordingly.

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Los Angeles Entrepreneurs in the News:   Accelerators, Incubators & Events
LA is one of the nation's leading entrepreneurial and entertainment tech hubs. News, events, and opportunities from the LA region are featured in this section.

  • Santa Monica-based Cross-Campus is like a college campus for entrepreneurs.  Read more about Dan Dato's startup accelerator in Forbes:   Where Education and Entrepreneurs Meet.  [ Forbes  ] [ Cross Campus  ]
  • What are LA incubators and accelerators looking for... and why?   View a video of the panel from the recent Silicon Beach Fest.


Amplify, Mucker Lab, Launchpad,
IO/LA and StartEngine

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FEATURED
EVENTS
FIRST
FRIDAY'S
@ OIP


Dec. 7, 2012 
9am-10:30am
Kinross Bldg., Suite 210

Guest Speakers:
Howard Marks 
Co-founder, StartEngine

Paul Kessler
Co-Chair, StartEngine; Founder, Bristol Capital

Theme:
"How UCLA can become more entrepreneurial."

  RSVP:  [ registration ]



Did you Know?

466 active startups are affiliated with 634 UCLA alumni.


Source:  AngelList



Los Angeles is ranked
#3 behind San Francisco and Tel Aviv as the best place to form a startup.

Source:  Startup Genome

UCLA PATENTS

Patent Image
Latest UCLA patents issued by the USPTO:

8,318,182  Vault compositions for immunization against Chlamydia genital infection | Leonard Rome, et al.

8,314,245  Preparation of functionalized zeolitic frameworks | Omar Yaghi, et al.

8,309,525  Treatment of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, myocardial injury and neurodegeneration with humanin and analogs thereof | Pinchas Cohen, et al.

8,298,798  Production of C5-C8 alcohols using evolved enzymes and metabolically engineered microorganisms | James Liao, et al.

8,297,983  Multimodal ultrasound training system | Eric Savitsky, et al.

8,295,381  Signal decoder with general purpose calculation engine | Babak Daneshrad, et al.

8,283,308  Copolymer-stabilized emulsions | Thomas Mason, et al.

8,222,293  Treating learning deficits with inhibitors of Hmg CoA reductase |  Alcino Silva, et al.

8,216,796  Methods for treating and diagnosing fibrotic and fibroproliferative diseases |  John Belperio, et al.

8,216,594  Proteins with repetitive Bacterial-Ig-like (Big) domains present in... |  David Haake, et al.

FEATURED
RESOURCES








 UCLA INVENTS Vol.1, No.4

The UCLA INVENTS News Bulletin is published by UCLA's Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research (OIP-ISR). UCLA INVENTS highlights entrepreneurial and technology commercialization developments, and opportunities at UCLA.

PLEASE ATTENTION editorial comments, corrections, and topic suggestions to:  
Bob Nidever,   bnidever@research.ucla.edu


Editor
  Bob Nidever

Writer
  Erin Bowers

Contributors 
  Neil Bajpayee
  Ben Dibling
  Steve Huyn

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