Innovators SPARKle at Stanford University Event for Investors
Posted on July 10th, 2018
Authors
Jay Olson, CFA – Oppenheimer & Co.
Silvan Tuerkcan, Ph.D. – Oppenheimer & Co.
Lean Rush Cann – Oppenheimer & Co.
Summary
We co-hosted an event with SPARK at the Stanford University School of Medicine to learn about this exciting biotech incubator and to catch up with several innovative biotech companies (DNLI, CBAY, EIGR, MRTX, FPRX, GERN), many affiliated with Stanford. SPARK is a unique program with an innovative approach to accelerate development of drug candidates. It focuses on areas of high unmet clinical need, delivers molecules with novel mechanisms and builds teams of scientists, clinicians and experienced consultants from the SPARK network to advance new drugs rapidly into development with a goal of two years from lab to clinic. We were impressed by the caliber of projects in gene therapy (Kay), autoimmune diseases (Bollyky, Engleman), oncology (Felsher) and virology (Glenn). Jonathan MacQuitty provided insights on biotech venture funding. Our key takeaways are highlighted below with details inside.