10 life sciences startups selected for accelerator program

Seven of the 10 companies participating in the fall cohorts of MassBio and SCbio’s Drive program are based in the United States, including four in Massachusetts.

To propel breakthrough science while equipping scientific founders with tools for long-term success, MassBio and SCbio have named 10 startups to the latest cohorts of their Drive accelerator program. Across the five biotechs and five techbios, the companies cover therapeutic modalities including small molecules, antibodies, gene editing, gene therapy, oncolytic viruses and cell therapy.

Seven of the selected businesses are based in the United States, including four in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts trade association MassBio will oversee the techbio cohort, whose therapeutic programs target conditions including glioblastoma, pancreatic cancer, Parkinson’s disease and drug resistance with methods such as generative protein design, causal inference and virtual cell modeling. SCbio, an economic development organization in South Carolina, will lead the biotechs, which are focused on treatments for ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, a rare pediatric neurological disorder, liver cancer and obesity.

Regarding the techbio cohort, MassBio CEO Kendalle Burlin O’Connell noted in the program announcement that the startups are tackling some of the most difficult challenges in medicine.

“These are areas where progress has been hard-won, and these techbio founders are bringing new approaches to both the technology and therapeutics needed to address them,” she said. “Pre-seed and seed are the hardest dollars in biotech to raise right now, and good science stalls waiting for them. Drive exists to get these companies to their next milestone.”

James Chappell, CEO of SCbio, spoke similarly of the biotech cohort that his organization will oversee.

“The founders in this biotech cohort are working to solve some of the hardest problems in neuroscience, metabolic disease and cancer,” he said. “We, and our experts, are ready to help get their treatments to those who need them most.”

All selected companies must have received less than $1.5 million in equity-based funding when applying for the program. In addition, the intellectual property for their science or technology had to be owned or accessed through a license agreement or an option agreement to negotiate a license.

The free eight-week Drive program includes six industry-specific curriculum modules taught by industry experts, weekly sessions with mentors, networking opportunities and in-person demo days in Boston and Charleston, South Carolina. In addition, through a partnership with the ADA Forsyth Institute, one fall cohort graduate will receive a sponsored lab bench for one year at the nonprofit research organization’s Somerville, Massachusetts, facility. All other graduates will be eligible for a discounted rate.

Since launching in 2022, Drive has supported 70 early-stage companies that have raised $137 million in funding and created nearly 100 jobs after completing the program.