M2D2 $200K Challenge names 2023 contest winners

April 19, 2023

Media Contacts:

Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations, Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu

Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

M2D2 $200K Challenge names 2023 contest winners

Company working to eliminate blood clots awarded top prize in quest for funding, in-kind support

A Cambridge, Massachusetts startup that aims to prevent strokes is the top winner in the 2023 Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) $200K Challenge.

Entrepreneurs from around the world entered the contest, vying for the chance to present their innovations in the finals, which were held at UMass Lowell last month before a crowd of more than 200 people at M2D2’s offices in Lowell’s Hamilton Canal District.

This year’s top winner was Spheric Bio, a company developing a 3D heart implant to help prevent blood clots that can lead to strokes in patients with irregular heartbeats who are not a good fit to receive blood-thinning medication. The startup, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive $50,000 in seed funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), the event’s top and founding sponsor, along with in-kind support from Asahi Intecc and Prime Path Medtech, to advance the innovation.

“It was an honor to receive the first prize in the M2D2 $200K Challenge, which recognizes the work of the Spheric Bio team, and our incredible advisers and mentors to date. We really enjoyed the challenge and hearing about the exciting work of the other 14 startups and meeting people that we know will be critical to the success of our endeavor going forward,” said Ellen Roche, the company’s founder.

Awarded second place was RevBio, Inc., a startup based at M2D2 in Lowell that is developing a biocompatible bone glue. The company will receive $25,000 in seed funding from the center. Awarded third place was Mediscen, a venture developing a wearable patch that delivers medication through the skin. The outfit is based in Madrid, Spain.

“Each year, the $200K M2D2 Challenge showcases pioneering innovations poised to reshape the health care industry and improve patients’ experience and outcomes. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is proud to support these endeavors as we work with our partners to build a responsive and nimble medtech ecosystem throughout the state,” said Kenn Turner, MLSC president and CEO.

Turner, along with Brian Johnson, president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), offered the event’s keynote remarks, sharing their insights on the next generation of leaders in the medical device and biotech spheres.

A partnership between UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester and UMass Lowell, M2D2 helps startups in the medical device and biotech fields bring their innovations from concept to completion. Now in its 12th year, the annual $200K Challenge forecasts the future of health care, showcasing new products and technologies being developed by competition entrants. Participants pitch their ideas before expert judges to win a share of $200,000 in sponsored services and seed money to advance their inventions.

Contest sponsors included Amgen, Argenta Advisors, Asahi-Intecc, BARDA DRIVe, Hologic, Johnson & Johnson, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, MPR, Mintz, Novo Nordisk and Prime Path MedTech.

M2D2 launched in 2007 to grow and support the medtech ecosystem.

“Medical-device and biotech startups assisted by M2D2 benefit from the partnership between UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Lowell, through the co-location of labs in Worcester and Lowell and our world-class faculty and researchers who share their expertise to advance companies’ innovations,” said M2D2 Co-director Nathaniel Hafer, Ph.D., director of operations in the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Chan, where he is an assistant professor of molecular medicine.

Over the past 16 years, M2D2 has vetted more than 250 medical-device and biotech ventures for inclusion in its programs and provided support to more than 100 startups. In total, M2D2 resident companies have secured more than $150 million in external funding for their innovations.

“M2D2 is committed to globally sourcing and advancing next generation novel health care technologies and couldn’t do it without the support of like-minded medical device and biotech leaders. We are thankful for all the corporate, foundation and government support, which allows us to advance these solutions and, ultimately, to positively impact the entire health care ecosystem,” said UMass Lowell Executive Director for Innovation Mary Ann Picard.

About M2D2

M2D2, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center, is a joint initiative of the Lowell and Worcester campuses of the UMass system. Its aim is to help new biotech and medical device entrepreneurs develop products every step of the way, 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. www.uml.edu/m2d2.