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M2D2 (Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center) is focused on helping new biotech and medical device entrepreneurs develop products, from proof-of-concept to commercialization. |
T1D Exchange, an organization dedicated to accelerating research and improving outcomes in type 1 diabetes, and M2D2, a joint venture of UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School that incubates medical device start-ups, will pick the two winners this week of the inaugural Diabetes Innovation Challenge.
The open, global competition seeks to identify and accelerate transformational advancements in diabetes research and care. Eight finalists will present their projects Thursday, Oct. 20, to an expert panel of judges at the Royal Sonesta Boston in Cambridge. The winners will be awarded up to $150,000 in cash or in-kind services provided by T1D Exchange and M2D2, and supported by a number of sponsors including lead sponsors American Diabetes Association (ADA) and JDRF. The winners will be announced during the finals event and will present at the close of the T1D Exchange Annual Meeting, Innovations in Care, on Friday, Oct. 21.
The finalists include four regional startups: QSM Diagnostics of Somerville, Windgap Medical of Somerville, Admetsys of Boston, and Prosonex of Hudson, N.H. Other finalists are from Maryland, California and the United Kingdom.
UMass Medical School’s involvement in the challenge is in keeping with its Clinical & Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, which was launched in 2006 with a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
“This is exactly what the CTSA network was designed to do—bring together patient groups, academics, and large and small pharma to create new products that lead to improved patient health,” said Nathaniel S. Hafer, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine and director of CTSA operations at UMMS.
M2D2 (Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center) is focused on helping new biotech and medical device entrepreneurs develop products, from proof-of-concept to commercialization. Affiliated faculty and staff have assisted more than 100 start-up companies and entrepreneurs since the program kicked off in the spring of 2007. Over the past five years, M2D2 has leveraged $5 million of startup funds to work with more than 100 medical device companies and has assisted client companies to raise more than $58 million in private investment funds. The collaboration between campuses brings the engineering and business strengths of the Lowell campus and the medical expertise of UMass Medical School to M2D2 companies.
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M2D2 helps great ideas become commercial products
