NovoThelium wants to make women who have undergone breast reconstruction surgery “feel complete again.”
The San Antonio, Texas-based company said it has found a way to use donor tissue for nipple reconstruction following a mastectomy, a procedure used to treat breast cancer. It came in first place at University Lab Partner’s (ULP) second annual Golden Ticket pitch competition for aesthetic startups.
“We’re really trying to figure out how we add value for early stage companies that need mentoring or is creating a product that might be of interest to large companies like Allergan,” ULP founder and Chief Executive Kenneth Beall told the Business Journal.
The business incubator awarded NovoThelium one year of free lab space at its facility, equivalent to $29,400.
The event, sponsored by Allergan Aesthetics, had several of its executives in attendance, including Senior Vice President of Aesthetics R&D Darin Messina and Head of Search and Evaluation Chinmay Kanuga.
NovoThelium will also receive industry mentorship from leaders at Allergan for winning the competition.
Family Funded Incubator
The event was held at the University of California, Irvine’s Beall Applied Innovation center, named after a $16.6 million gift from the Beall Family Foundation in 2016.
The family has focused on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship at UCI for the last 25 years, according to Beall. As of 2019, they have donated nearly $30 million to the school, including funding for the creation of ULP, Orange County’s first wet lab incubator.
“At the time, there was a need for a front door for the business community to interact with the university” Beall said.
ULP has incubated 64 companies that have raised $535 million in capital and generated $128 million in revenue since its founding in 2019, according to an annual report.
ULP now operates out of two locations at UCI Research Park and Soka University, which houses its graduate lab space for companies that have gone through ULP.
In April, ULP received a grant from Biological Advanced Research and Development Administration (BARDA) to become one of five hubs in its U.S. accelerator network. ULP so far has received 140 applications and will be able to provide six medical device and diagnostic companies with $600,000 of non-dilutive grant money.
Presenters
“Research has shown that nipple reconstruction aids in women’s mental and emotional healing after cancer,” co-founder and CEO of NovoThelium Lauren Cornell said during her pitch.
Current reconstruction techniques only offer temporary solutions, resulting in either loss of sensation or flattening over two to three years, according to Cornell.
NovoThelium’s patent pending process is said to remove the DNA from donor nipple areolar tissue that’s then grafted onto the patient.
NovoThelium was one of five aesthetic startups that presented at the competition.
The other four finalists, selected from 15 applicants, were:
• SinUse Corp. is developing ready-to-use preserved fat for autologous fat grafting.
• Tunable Aesthetics is developing surgical implants that can be reshaped with high-intensity ultrasound.
• SPG Therapeutics is developing drugs to lower levels of the androgen receptor, the main driver of acne, alopecia, hirsutism and other dermatological issues.
• D&P Bioinnovations Inc. is developing a bioengineered implant that regenerates damaged organs with its first product focusing on the esophagus.
