Discovering Biotech Startups: A Map for Selling to NanoCell Therapeutics

Welcome to another edition of our Sponsor Atlas series, which focuses on startups and young pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are in early stages or stealth mode. In the next edition of Sponsor Atlas: Discovering Biotech Startups, we’re looking at NanoCell Therapeutics, Inc., and exploring the current affairs and future orientation of this emerging Berkeley - based stealth biotech startup. To accomplish this, we will give a business overview of their current operations, summarize their outsourcing needs, map out their development goals and decision-makers, and highlight their current strategies for capturing innovation. If you haven’t already read our other blogs on new biotech startups, be sure to check them out here.   

NanoCell Therapeutics, Inc. is a startup company developing a new biological entity-based targeted gene therapy platform, with the vision to make cell engineered therapies affordable, scalable and accessible for the general patient population.

Business Overview 

NanoCell is currently a registered trademark of NanoCellTx©, but so far they only have a simple website with some information about their company. The business was registered in Delaware as a C-Corp on 10/9/2018. NanoCell’s principal place of business, as noted on the business entity search, is located at 801 Yale Ave., Unit #G6B, Swarthmore, PA 19081. Current estimates show the company has an annual revenue of under $500,000 and currently employs a staff of approximately 1-5. There isn’t much information on their business activities, as well as no listed amounts of funding to support their business expenses.    

Even though NanoCell Therapeutics doesn’t have any information on their funding efforts, we do believe they have some capital to play with based on the executive team’s previous business development history. Overall, we think they are in an active position to outsource some of their research and development work in the near future, but it’s still too early for any clinical manufacturing work.                

Outsourcing History

In addition to their minimal business activities, there isn’t much online information about NanoCell Therapeutics’s outsourcing needs either, but we believe they could use immediate assistance from service providers in building their technology platform and development pipeline. The company is still early in development but we’re still not sure if they have any lead candidates in pharmacology or early other research studies. Their prospective pipeline will consist of gene therapies for treating multiple types of conditions and diseases. Any experience with gene therapy platforms and cell engineered therapies, and the technologies surrounding them would be of tremendous benefit to NanoCell Therapeutics at this point in time.            

We think business development teams in the realms of in vivo gene therapies, preclinical programs, CMOs focused on gene therapy production, and bioanalytical CROs with experience in the development of nanoparticles, minicircle plasmid DNA and non-viral gene vectors should definitely have NanoCell Therapeutics on their radar over the next few years.

NanoCell Therapeutics’ Pipeline and R&D Focus

NanoCell Therapeutics is a company developing a biological entity-based targeted gene therapy platform, using a cell-directed polymeric nanoparticle technology that is able to deliver DNA plasmids and RNA to specific cells of interest, such as T cells. Their technology has the ability to deliver these DNA plasmids and RNA to specific cells upon IV administration. NanoCell’s new class of medicines has the potential to transform the field of CAR-T and TCR therapies and beyond, with help from outsourcing partners. Going a step further, nanoparticles can also be directed to monocytes, NK cells, B cells, and subsets thereof, which broadens the spectrum of applicable clinical indications beyond oncology to others such as autoimmune/inflammatory conditions and infectious diseases.  

The NanoCell Therapeutics platform technology will harness cell-directed in vivo gene therapies, using proprietary polymeric nanoparticles, minicircle plasmid DNA and a non-viral gene transfer system. The research and development team seeks to transform the cell & gene therapy space by making such therapies truly affordable, scalable and widely accessible for patients.

Decision Making 

• Dr. Maurits W. Geerlings - Co-Founder, President & CEO of NanoCell Therapeutics, Dr. Geerlings is a life-sciences executive with a successful track record of business leadership and deal-making. An entrepreneur at heart, Dr. Geerlings co-founded Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (API) in 2000, Formula Pharmaceuticals Inc in 2011, Mirata Pharmaceuticals in 2017, and NanoCell Therapeutics in 2019. Dr. Geerlings and his team at NanoCell Therapeutics are passionate about developing the full potential of promising therapies that target critical unmet needs in cancer, autoimmune/inflammatory and other life-threatening diseases. In Dr. Geerlings’ first biotech venture, Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc (API), which he co-founded in 1993, he served in the capacity of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. At API, Dr. Geerlings was responsible for all facets of the business, including fundraising, strategic and corporate development, human resources and research and development. Since 2002, Dr. Geerlings has led business development activities for Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cephalon, Inc., Prism Pharmaceuticals, and Infinity Pharmaceuticals, before co-founding and leading Formula Pharma as CEO in 2010. Dr. Geerlings’ substantial deal making experience broadly includes out-licensing, in-licensing, mergers and acquisitions and co-development, both in the U.S. and in Europe. Dr. Geerlings earned his M.D. from the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, and his Executive MBA from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. [1]        
  

Innovation

The possibilities of gene therapy hold much promise. Some of the recent clinical trials of gene therapy in people have shown success in treating certain diseases, such as severe combined immune deficiency. But gene therapy also holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, diabetes, hemophilia and AIDS. Researchers are still studying how and when to use gene therapy, but major steps forward are expected in the field of gene therapies in the near future. We think that NanoCell Therapeutics has a lot of potential with creating an innovative gene therapy platform that will be pumping out a solid pipeline of personalized products for an array of conditions and diseases within the next few years. 

It has been very difficult to determine what NanoCell Therapeutics will have to offer during startup mode, but with the background of the executive team, we think they are on track to create some major improvements in the industry over the next few years. Be sure to keep NanoCell Therapeutics on your contact list and look out for our next edition in this series coming soon.           

How can I find new biotech startups?

If you would like a simple solution for keeping an eye on drug sponsor companies, like NanoCell Therapeutics, without relying on a database and generic lists of leads each week, we at Zymewire are here to help. Reach out today, and stay tuned for the next installment of the Sponsor Atlas: Discovering Biotech Startups. If you enjoy these articles, please feel free to give them a share through the social links below!