PROVIDENCE – The Slater Technology Fund today announced $250,000 in seed funding for biotechnology startup Vitrimark Inc.
Co-founded by Arijit Bose, a University of Rhode Island professor of chemical engineering and Vitrimark’s chief technology officer, the company is a spinoff from the cryogenic imaging research program at the URI’s College of Engineering.
Vitrimark is developing new biomarkers – measurable characteristics that can be used as indicators of normal or unhealthy biological processes, or of pharmaceutical responses to treatment – for use in the drug development process.
“With the help of Slater, we have been able to begin the critical process of demonstrating the viability of our technology,” Bose said. “We are encouraged by our preliminary findings, and are looking forward to accelerating our efforts to bring this innovative new technology to market.”
Biomarkers can help drug companies to identify patient populations in which a treatment is likely to succeed or to quickly determine whether a drug is successful. The market for such products is expected to more than double from $427 million in 2006 to more than $1 billion in 2010, the Slater Fund said.
Vitrimark uses nanoscale cryoimaging (ultramicroscopic imaging, at very low temperatures) of biofluids such as blood serum to identify “ultrastructural” biomarkers, a patent-pending technology the company says may allow earlier detection.
The company currently is focusing on developing markers for prostate cancer, an effort the company is pursuing in cooperation with Tufts University and the laboratories at URI. It has hired Ryaz B. Mahammad, a former research assistant professor at the URI College of Pharmacy, to oversee its research operations.
“Slater’s investment in Vitrimark is the latest example of our longstanding commitment to expand the biosciences industry in Rhode Island,” said Richard G. Horan, managing director of the Slater Technology Fund. “We believe Vitrimark has a unique technology with enormous potential for the drug development market, and we are pleased to support the company as it develops and commercializes its cryogenic imaging process.”
Vitrimark Inc., a semifinalist in the 2007 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, is leveraging its expertise in nanoscale cryoimaging to identify structural markers for use in the drug development process. To learn more, visit www.vitri-mark.com.
The Slater Technology Fund, established in 1997 by then-Gov. Lincoln Almond and the R.I. General Assembly, provides seed capital to companies committed to building technology-based businesses in Rhode Island. Additional information is available at www.slaterfund.com.
