Biosciences

CU Boulder awards therapeutics funding to advance promising drug development projects

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:15:58 +0000

CU Boulder awards therapeutics funding to advance promising drug development projects Daniel Corbin … Mon, 07/14/2025 - 12:15

Venture Partners at CU Boulder has announced the first recipients of a new translational funding program designed to advance promising, early-stage therapeutics with strong commercial potential. The program provides up to $50,000 per project to help CU Boulder researchers generate critical validation data or develop new intellectual property, bringing new treatments a step closer to patients in need.

“CU Boulder is a world-class destination for bioscience research,” said Hannah Nelson, associate director of licensing at Venture Partners, “and our innovative faculty have created a robust pipeline of novel drugs and therapeutic targets.”

Many promising therapeutic projects reach a stage where they no longer qualify for basic research funding but are still too early for translational grants or private investment. This funding gap can stall progress.

But what is "commercialization?"

The path to commercialization—also known as "research translation" or "tech transfer"—can be challenging, so Venture Partners unites industry partners, entrepreneurs and investors to help researchers, inventors and creators at the University of Colorado bring their groundbreaking discoveries into the marketplace.

Explore the Path to Commercialization

This funding program is designed to bridge that gap by supporting commercially promising drug development efforts. The awarded projects ultimately aim to develop FDA-approved drugs and have a clear path to commercialization, having validated their development approach through customer discovery interviews.

“This funding supports a critical stage in drug development,” said Justin Stitzlein, venture analyst at Venture Partners. “Our goal is to give these teams the support they need to generate compelling data and position themselves for the next stage of development. We believe this kind of early support can unlock significant long-term impact.”

Awardees

Orally Available Obesity Therapeutic

Led by Distinguished Professor Leslie Leinwand (BioFrontiers Institute, CU Boulder Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology), with PhD student Jack Gugel and postdoctoral researchers Thomas Martin and Yuxiao Tan, the team is developing an orally available obesity drug that suppresses appetite without affecting gastric emptying or causing muscle loss. Their compound offers a differentiated mechanism from current GLP-1 agonists such as Wegovy/Ozempic, aiming to improve tolerability and adherence.

Efflux Pump Inhibitor ��Ƶ18y Platform

Professor Corrie Detweiler (CU Boulder Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology) and her team are developing novel small-molecule inhibitors that restore the effectiveness of antibiotics against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Using a host-informed, high-throughput assay platform that better reflects infection conditions, they aim to identify efflux pump inhibitors to treat patients with infections that do not respond to traditional antibiotics alone.

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Venture Partners at CU Boulder has announced the first recipients of a new translational funding program designed to advance promising, early-stage therapeutics with strong commercial potential. The program provides up to $50,000 per project to help CU Boulder researchers generate critical validation data or develop new intellectual property, bringing new treatments a step closer to patients in need.

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How slashing university research grants impacts Colorado’s economy and national innovation—a CU Boulder administrator explains

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 17:39:46 +0000

How slashing university research grants impacts Colorado’s economy and national innovation—a CU Boulder administrator explains Daniel Corbin … Tue, 07/08/2025 - 11:39

Supporting a Groundbreaking Innovation Pipeline

$8 billion in economic impact, a record-breaking 36 startups launched in a single year and $1.2 billion raised for CU startups and innovations: These are some of the results reported in the latest annual report from Venture Partners.

Read Our Annual Report

From The Conversation

Over the past several months, universities have lost more than $11 billion in funding. Research into cancer, farming solutions and climate resiliency are just a few of the many projects nationally that have seen cuts. The Conversation asked Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation at CU Boulder, to explain how these cuts and freezes are impacting the university and Colorado’s local economy.

Read on The Conversation Website

The Conversation—Over the past several months, universities have lost more than $11 billion in funding. Research into cancer, farming solutions and climate resiliency are just a few of the many projects nationally that have seen cuts. The Conversation asked Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation at CU Boulder, to explain how these cuts and freezes are impacting the university and Colorado’s local economy.

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Scientists develop method to build tiny custom microrobots

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 20:30:46 +0000

Scientists develop method to build tiny custom microrobots Daniel Corbin … Mon, 07/07/2025 - 14:30

Explore CU Innovations for Licensing and Partnership

Venture Partners manages a portfolio of over 1,000 technologies from university investigators and manages licensing partnerships with companies of all sizes—from startups to the Fortune 500—to bring these inventions to market.

Explore CU Technologies

Researchers at the ��Ƶ18 have created a new way to build and control tiny particles that can move and work like microscopic robots, offering a powerful tool with applications in biomedical and environmental research. The study, published in Nature Communications, describes a new method of fabrication that combines high-precision 3D printing, called two-photon lithography, with a microstenciling technique.

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CU Boulder scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 19:54:56 +0000

CU Boulder scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research Daniel Corbin … Wed, 06/18/2025 - 13:54

CU Boulder College of Arts and Sciences—Edward Chuong, a ��Ƶ18 assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and a BioFrontiers Institute scientist, has been awarded $1.25 million by the New York City-based Cancer Research Institute (CRI) to pursue his cancer immunotherapy research.

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Federal tech-transfer law pays tremendous dividends as research universities spark regional economies

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:52:19 +0000

Federal tech-transfer law pays tremendous dividends as research universities spark regional economies Daniel Corbin … Mon, 06/16/2025 - 09:52

Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)—According to a new report, American research universities like the University of Colorado in recent decades have become engines of innovation for state and regional economies, thanks in large part to the federal Bayh-Dole Act, which incentivizes technology commercialization.

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University of Colorado ranks among Top 20 U.S. universities for granted patents

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Thu, 08 May 2025 17:11:40 +0000

University of Colorado ranks among Top 20 U.S. universities for granted patents Daniel Corbin … Thu, 05/08/2025 - 11:11

CU Connections—The University of Colorado has secured the No. 18 position on the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2024 Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents list, reinforcing CU’s standing as a national leader in research, innovation and real-world impact. At CU Boulder, 53% of the campus’s patents have been licensed commercially.

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Two CU Boulder scientists win prestigious honor

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 20:36:26 +0000

Two CU Boulder scientists win prestigious honor Daniel Corbin … Thu, 03/27/2025 - 14:36

CU Boulder College of Arts & Sciences—Ivan Smalyukh, professor of physics, and Thomas Blumenthal, professor emeritus of molecular, cellular and developmental biology (MCDB), are among the 471 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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Venture Partners annual report highlights a record year for innovation

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:06:32 +0000

Venture Partners annual report highlights a record year for innovation Daniel Corbin … Thu, 01/09/2025 - 06:06

FY 2023-24 was another tremendous year for innovation and entrepreneurship at the CU. University researchers, inventors and creators began working with Venture Partners at CU Boulder to advance 144 breakthrough innovations, and 36 CU startups were launched through Venture Partners based on campus discoveries.

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A vaccine against weight gain? It’s on the horizon

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 18:53:52 +0000

A vaccine against weight gain? It’s on the horizon Daniel Corbin … Tue, 01/07/2025 - 11:53

New CU Boulder research suggests a surprising tool that could help with weight loss: Exposure to beneficial bacteria. With assistance from Venture Partners, a new startup Kioga will pursue new microbe-based ingredients for preventing weight gain and promoting health.

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Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem raised $1.47 billion in 2023

Daniel Corbin Leonard — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 20:22:37 +0000

Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem raised $1.47 billion in 2023 Daniel Corbin … Sat, 12/21/2024 - 13:22

Colorado Bioscience Association—Colorado's life sciences ecosystem raised $1.47 billion in 2023, demonstrating the resilience of life sciences companies and organizations in the state during a challenging year for U.S. life sciences fundraising.

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Biosciences

CU Boulder awards therapeutics funding to advance promising drug development projects

But what is "commercialization?"

Awardees

Orally Available Obesity Therapeutic

Efflux Pump Inhibitor ������Ƶ18y Platform

What can we do together?

Off

How slashing university research grants impacts Colorado’s economy and national innovation—a CU Boulder administrator explains

Off

Scientists develop method to build tiny custom microrobots

Off

CU Boulder scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

Off

Federal tech-transfer law pays tremendous dividends as research universities spark regional economies

Off

University of Colorado ranks among Top 20 U.S. universities for granted patents

Off

Two CU Boulder scientists win prestigious honor

Off

Venture Partners annual report highlights a record year for innovation

Off

A vaccine against weight gain? It’s on the horizon

Off

Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem raised $1.47 billion in 2023

Off

Efflux Pump Inhibitor ��Ƶ18y Platform