introduction

Momentum Biosciences is a private incubation and business advisory group consisting of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Faculty who are committed to accelerating the transfer of new healthcare technologies from the laboratory to the clinical and commercial environment. With a track record of both academic and commercial success, Momentum is well equipped to meet the technological and business challenges of new healthcare technology ventures.

Our primary investment focus is on start-up projects at South and Central California Universities including UCLA, Caltech and UCSB where we work with bright researchers and faculty to assist them with their commercialization objectives, with particular focus in biotechnology, nanotech and medical devices. We consider ourselves to be a partner of the institutional technology transfer organization and work cooperatively with University administration.

featured companies

Cellfluidics
Cellfluidics’ technology focus is cell-based in vitro diagnostics (IVD) technology. Cancer experts are starting to understand how certain signaling pathways or “cell circuits” fail when cancer develops, resulting in tumor formation. By analyzing important signaling pathways, Cellfluidics technology will enable oncologists to make much better decisions about what therapeutic option to choose for an individual patient’s disease.

ImaginAb
ImaginAb’s proprietary protein engineering technology enables a therapeutic antibody to be “fragmented” into a molecule that targets the same way as the therapeutic but clears the body rapidly and is able to be used with a radiolabel for imaging. Thus a simple “scan” may determine the extent of disease and choice of therapy for a given patient. ImaginAb will initially focus on ovarian and prostate cancer – an unmet need in diagnostic imaging.

Sofie Biosciences
Sofie Biosciences was established to implement a new type of drug discovery engine based on diagnostic imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The basic premise of Sofie (derived from the Greek word for “wisdom”) is that metabolomics is a critical and largely unexplored area of drug discovery and may yield some of the most important targets for cancer, inflammation (e.g. arthritis) and autoimmune diseases (Crohn’s, multiple sclerosis). Metabolomics is literally the systematic study of the unique “chemical fingerprints” that certain cellular processes leave behind. PET imaging is the perfect tool to study these processes.