Mass Life Sciences announces new grants

1. 1
For Immediate Release: December 16, 2015
Media Contact:
Angus G. McQuilken, VP for Communications & Marketing
Cell: (617) 921-7749
Email: amcquilken@masslifesciences.com
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Six New
Grants to Support R&D Collaborations
Waltham, MA – December 16, 2015 - The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) today
announced six new grants totaling $930,000 to Massachusetts companies to support R&D
collaborations through the agency’s Universal Partnerships (UP) Program.
“As the global leader in life sciences, Massachusetts has a unique ability to collaborate with
organizations in other parts of the world to improve health care through innovation,” said
Governor Charlie Baker. “These grants will help our local companies grow, while helping to
address medical and patient needs.”
 Akili Interactive Labs (Boston) was granted $190,000 for collaboration with Starlab in
Barcelona Spain, a leader in the field of mobile EEG and neurofeedback, and whose
Enobio technology is considered state of the art. Akili aims to combine its Interactive
Labs cognitive assessment and therapeutic device with a mobile EEG recording headset
to develop a product using neural signals to both predict therapeutic efficacy of the
device and drive a real-time, mobile-based neurobio feedback intervention. The product
is planned to assess and remediate cognitive dysfunction in conditions such as ADHD,
ASD, and Alzheimer’s disease.
 DetectoGen (Westborough) was granted $200,000 for their work with the Universidade
Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, a leading Center for research and treatment of
visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that affects
over 1 million people annually worldwide, and is common in many developing countries
in Asia and South America, where US military personnel are increasingly exposed to
possible infection. DetectoGen is developing a diagnostic to detect the disease using a
non invasive, urine-based test.

2. 2
 LX Medical (Westwood) was granted $70,000 for collaboration with BC Cancer Agency
Research Center in Vancouver, Canada. LX Medical is developing a probe device that
will enable real time biopsy of lung tissue. This device will increase accuracy of biopsy
sampling by using optical coherence tomography and with autofluoresence, thereby
enabling earlier detection and treatment especially in early stage lung cancer. The
collaboration will focus on biopsy testing in animal models.
 Agile Devices (Cambridge) was granted $100,000 for their work with Agile MV, a
company that specializes in catheter-based products in Montreal, Canada. Agile Devices
is developing actively steerable microcatheters designed in a suite of sizes to address
both peripheral vascular and neurovascular interventions. The new device will reduce
the access time to small vessels to improve patient outcomes and lower
hospital/physician costs.
 Akrivis Technologies (Salem & Cambridge) was granted $174,705 for collaboration with
CEA-Leti in Grenoble France, a leader in nanotechnologies and their applications.
Akrivis is developing a sensitive and rapid Point-of-Care diagnostic to detect a range of
cardiac markers indicative of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and of Acute Coronary
Syndrome (ACS). The test can be used both in ambulances and physicians’ offices.
 Revolution Biosciences (Boston) was granted $195,000 for their work with Merck Serono
in Darmstadt, Germany. Revolution Biosciences is developing a new class of anticancer
drugs that target SPRK and thereby the process of splicing messenger RNA specifically
to inhibit certain growth factors known to enhance vascularization and tumor growth. The
collaboration will allow Revolution to use advanced tools developed by Merck Serono to
understand the mechanism and validate their approach.
“These grants will allow Massachusetts companies to partner with organizations from all over
the world to solve R&D challenges and deliver innovative new treatments and health
technologies,” said Travis McCready, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences
Center. “I congratulate all the companies that are receiving these awards and look forward to
seeing the results of these new collaborations.”
Felicitex, a previously awarded UP grant recipient for its research collaboration with Selvita from
Krakow, Poland, has been working on the development of its lead series of small molecule
kinase inhibitors for the treatment of highly resistant and aggressive cancers.
“The MLSC UP grant has allowed us to accelerate the progression of the lead series through a
focused medicinal chemistry SAR expansion, in vitro pharmacology evaluation towards the
identification of the clinical lead candidate, as well as synthesis scale up. Felicitex initiated a
mouse xenograft study in Poland in December 2015 and is planning to conduct additional in
vivo xenograft studies in the beginning of 2016 in different tumor types such as lung (including
EGFR mutants), pancreatic, and prostate. In vivo validation and demonstration of efficacy is
critically important for the success of this program and we are grateful for the financial support
from MLSC for achievement of this milestone,” said Maria Vilenchik, CEO & Founder of
Felicitex. “We are hoping to move our potentially breakthrough clinical lead compound into IND-
enabling studies in 2016, and meeting this aggressive timeline would not be possible without the
MLSC support.”
“The Universal Partnerships Program is a fantastic initiative which facilitates collaborations
which otherwise may not have happened”, said Pawel Przewiezlikowski, the CEO of Poland-
based Selvita, which recently announced that they will be locating their US operations in

3. 3
Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Thanks to the UP Program we’ve had a chance to cooperate with
Felicitex Therapeutics, working on kinase inhibitors in cancer quiescence, and potentially
offering breakthrough oncology therapies. This kind of initiative, and various forms of support
offered to life sciences companies, are what make Massachusetts the place where the heart of
biotechnology beats –. It’s the spirit of this place, and tremendous support from local life science
organizations, such as MLSC, that led Selvita to establish our US operations in Massachusetts
earlier this year”.
The MLSC’s Universal Partnerships Program provides grant funding to support Massachusetts
companies who are forming R&D collaborations with life sciences organizations throughout the
world. The UP Program furthers the MLSC’s efforts to enable scientific and commercial
breakthroughs and to fuel economic development in the Commonwealth.
For more information about the Universal Partnership Program, visit
www.masslifesciences.com/programs/up.
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is an investment agency that supports life
sciences innovation, research, development and commercialization. The MLSC is charged with
implementing a 10-year, $1-billion, state-funded investment initiative. These investments create
jobs and support advances that improve health and well-being. The MLSC offers the nation’s
most comprehensive set of incentives and collaborative programs targeted to the life sciences
ecosystem. These programs propel the growth that has made Massachusetts the global leader
in life sciences. The MLSC creates new models for collaboration and partners with
organizations, both public and private, around the world to promote innovation in the life
sciences. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
This announcement is not intended to be a commercial endorsement by the MLSC of any products or services provided or developed by the entities referenced in this release.
###