After a bullish 2021, characterized by a flow of M&A deals and IPOs, this year company valuations were in correction, financing was at a premium and deals slowed- all of which were most evident for early-stage companies. Still, in 2022, biotech continued to forge ahead as the leading driver of innovation and growth in biopharma. Venture capital made moves on indicative signals while fundamentals remained strong for big pharma to fuel (mostly moderate) M&A transactions and strategic partnerships critical to achieving biotech growth milestones.
As we close out the year, we reflect on an industry that still performed with significant breakthroughs in how therapeutics are discovered, targeted, and delivered. We saw biotech startups across the globe making progress and hitting goals notwithstanding the market downturn. And in New York, the metropolitan life science ecosystem positioned itself in this standout crowd of warriors. Let us celebrate the FDA approvals, major funding events, strategic alliances and CEO recognitions- achieved by New York biotech companies and the women that lead them.
These 13 Women-Led Biotech Companies Hit Major Milestones in 2022:
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Founder: Miruna Sasu, Andrew Pecora, M.D.
- Platform: Health Technology/ RWE Data & Analytics
- Application/Therapeutic: Oncology
- Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance, Funding
- 11/14/2022: COTA and Google Partner to Use NPL. COTA announced partnership with Google, John Snow Labs, and Quantiphi to build new NLP models specific to unstructured oncology data. NLP algorithms trained to “understand” the contents of free-text notes is a “game changer” and Google’s artificial intelligence and NLP capabilities offer a strong base model and scalable infrastructure for COTA’s current and future oncology projects.
- 10/25/2022: Series E Financing undisclosed amount Deerfield Management. The funding will further expand its real-world data platform and services to drive more efficient and inclusive drug development in oncology.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Maria Luisa Pineda, PhD, Martin Akerman, PhD
- Platform: Bioinformatics – Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) RNA analysis
- Application/Therapeutic: Precision Oncology
- Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance, Funding
- 11/29/2022: Announced a multi-year research collaboration agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb that will leverage Envisagenics’ SpliceCore® AI platform to identify alternative splicing derived targets for therapeutic development to expand Bristol Myers Squibb’s vast oncology pipeline. Envisagenics will receive an upfront payment and milestone payments based on development, regulatory, and commercial achievements.
- 08/02/22: Awarded SBIR grant from NCI for AI/ML platform for immunotherapy. The Phase II grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will provide $2 million over 2 years to commercialize Envisagenics’ proprietary drug discovery platform, SpliceIOTM, for the discovery of novel targets for immuno-oncology (IO) therapeutic development.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Nina Tandon, PhD, Sarindr “Ik” Bhumiratana, PhD
- Platform: Stem Cell Therapy
- Application/Therapeutic: Musculoskeletal
- Milestone(s): CEO Recognition
- 09/14/22: CEO/founder joined White House Summit on Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing. Dr. Tandon joined a panel of experts in biotechnology and biomanufacturing as a speaker at the White House Summit on Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing for the American Bioeconomy as part of President Biden’s National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative. The summit brought together government and private sector leaders in the launch of the initiative that is a whole-government approach to create innovation in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and national and economic security.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Priyanka Jain, Laine Bruzek
- Platform: Health Technology, Diagnostics
- Application/Therapeutic: Vaginal Health
- Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance, CEO Recognition
- 12/13/22: Evvy announced its partnership with MicroGenDX, a CLIA/CAP certified laboratory that has been pioneering the use of NGS testing for physicians for over a decade. The Evvy Vaginal Health Test, is the first-ever at-home vaginal microbiome test to use metagenomic sequencing and was developed and validated at the MicroGenDX lab. Without a comprehensive, objective vaginal microbiome analysis, vaginal complaints are often misdiagnosed. In a study of 220 patients, 61% were misdiagnosed of bacterial vaginosis and 77% of were incorrectly diagnosed of yeast infection. The Evvy Vaginal Health Test leverages mNGS to screen for every microbe isolated from the vaginal and urinary tract.
- 12/06/22: CEOs/Co-Founders Honored as Forbes 30 under 30 Innovators. Co-founders, Priyanka Jain and Laine Bruzek, were inducted into the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Consumer Technology category Among a Cohort of Game-changing Entrepreneurs.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Ashlee Wisdom, Eddwina Bright
- Platform: Healthcare Technology
- Application/Therapeutic: Women’s Health
- Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance
- 09/29/22: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Collaborates with Health In Her HUE. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) has announced a tech-based collaboration pilot that will provide no-cost access to Health In Her HUE. This a 5 year place-based collaboration between Blue Cross and the city of Brooklyn Center, one of the most racially diverse cities in Minnesota, in helping disproportionately communities impacted by racial injustice and health inequities. Blue Cross will fund approximately 200 memberships to Health In Her HUE within Brooklyn Center.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Founder: Sharon Mates, PhD
- Platform: Drug Discovery- Small Molecule
- Application/Therapeutic: Central Nervous System (CNS) Disorders
- Milestone(s): FDA approval, Financing
- 04/25/22: FDA approval of new dosage strengths for CAPLYTA®for specific populations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 2 new dosage strengths of CAPLYTA®, enabling dosage recommendations for patients concomitantly taking strong or moderate CYP3A4 inhibitors and for patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment. CAPLYTA®has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of bipolar depression and schizophrenia with a favorable profile on weight, metabolic parameters and extrapyramidal symptoms.
- 01/07/22: Intra-Cellular Therapies Announces Closing of $460 Million Public Offering including Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares. All of the shares in the offering were sold by Intra-Cellular Therapies, with gross proceeds to Intra-Cellular Therapies of approximately $460.0 million.
- 01/04/22: Public Offering of Common Stock
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Founder: Jay Galeota, Nancy Thornberry (Founding CEO)
- Platform: Drug Discovery- Small Molecule
- Application/Therapeutic: Metabolism, Gastrointestinal Disease, Neurological Disorders
- 2022 Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance, Funding
- 05/17/22: Kallyope enters collaboration with Sosei Heptares to leverage the the international biopharmaceutical company’s GPCR Diversified Compound Library for identification and validation of novel G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets with a goal of creating new drug discovery programs in the area of gastrointestinal diseases.
- 02/15/22: Kallyope Raises $236M Series D Financing
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEOs/Founder: Gina Bartasi Angeline L. Beltsos, MD, Amber Eschbach
- Platform: Benefits Services Provider
- Application/Therapeutic: Fertility
- 2022 Milestone(s): Strategic Alliance
- 09/27/22: Walmart Names Kindbody as Provider for Associate Fertility and Family-Building Benefits Nationwide. Walmart Inc. named Kindbody as the fertility provider for its new Center of Excellence for family-building benefits. Associates will have access to Kindbody’s network of facilities across the U.S., including a new state-of-the-art clinic and in vitro fertilization (IVF) lab in Rogers, Arkansas that will provide comprehensive virtual, at-home and in-clinic care.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Selin Kurnaz, PhD, Arturo Loaiza Bonilla, MD, Cagatay Culcuoglu
- Platform: Bioinformatics- Artificial Intelligence, Health Technology
- Application/Therapeutic: Decentralized Clinical Trials- Oncology
- 2022 Milestone(s): Trial Enrollment Milestone
- 10/26/22: Onboards over 100,000 cancer patients to find their clinical trial. Massive Bio exceeded its goal to onboard 100,000 cancer patients in its platform by the end of 2022. The milestone was reached 9 months sooner than expected.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Founder: Mette Dyhrberg
- Platform: Health Technology
- Application/Therapeutic: Autoimmune Disorders
- 2022 Milestone(s): Technology Acquisition
- 07/27/22: Mymee Acquires Breakthrough Health, Digital Health Platform for Multiple Sclerosis. Mymee acquired the Berlin-based, Breakthrough Health, the creator of “Emilyn”, the #1 mobile app for people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Breakthrough Health’s founders, Bazil Azmil, Stefano Palazzo and Rachel Reichel, will join the Mymee leadership team.
- Company HQ: Newark, NJ
- CEO/Co-Founders: Mee Eriksson, Qinyin Qiu, PhD, Amanda Cronce, Ashley MontJohnson, PhD
- Platform: Health Technology, MedTech
- Application/Therapeutic: Neuromotor Disorders
- 2022 Milestone(s): Funding
- 06/01/22: NeuroTechR3 Awarded NIDILRR SBIR Phase I Project from the US Department of Health and Human Services . The SBIR Phase 1 commercialization grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will allow NeuroTechR3 to gather data and validate the needs of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) for Phase II development of a therapeutic exergame product for hand and arm that can be used by children with CP a) in their homes, b) by their therapists as an adjunct intervention, and c) by schools to provide goal based training in areas that help the children succeed both in school and in daily life.
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Co-Founders: Jennifer Perusini, PhD, Michael S. Fanselow, PhD, Richard P. Zemsky
- Platform: Small Molecule Drug Discovery
- Application/Therapeutic: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- 2022 Milestone(s): Funding, Patent
- 09/14/22: Neurovation Labs announced Issuance of second US Patent. The patent titled “Compositions and Methods to Detect GluA1 in Brain and to Identify the Presence of GluA1-Mediated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Other Neurological Disorders,” protects compounds that part of a series of radiotracers being developed to enable objective diagnosis of brain disorders and to better evaluate the mechanisms underlying PTSD and other brain traumas.
- 06/21/22: Neurovation Labs Awarded Additional Air Force Phase II Contact Worth $1.25 M. This second U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct to Phase II contract received through AFWERX and Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) will significantly accelerate the development of their first objective diagnostic and companion treatment for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and expansion into detecting Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and mild TBI (mTBI).
- Company HQ: New York, NY
- CEO/Chairwoman: Myrtle Potter
- Platform: Bioinformatics, Small Molecule, Biologics, Gene Therapy, Regenerative Medicine
- Application/Therapeutic: Rare Disease, Urology, Oncology, Women’s Health, Respitoratory, Infectious Disease
- 2022 Milestone(s): Portfolio Acquisition
- 10/23/22: Sumitovant enters Agreement with Sumitomo Biopharma and Myovant Sciences to acquire all Myovant Sciences. Sumitovant Biopharma now holds majority ownership in the publicly traded company, Myovant, a portfolio company specializing in women’s health and prostate cancer. Myovant will become a Sumitovant subsidiary and Myovant’s shares will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This acquisition provides both companies with the resources and expertise to accelerate the women’s health and prostate cancer program pipeline.
