Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded in 1896). Among independent teaching hospitals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center consistently ranks in the top three recipients of biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Research funding totals nearly $200 million annually. BIDMC researchers run more than 850 active sponsored projects and 200 clinical trials. The Harvard-Thorndike General Clinical Research Center, the oldest clinical research laboratory in the United States, has been located on this site since 1973.

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. engages in the research, development, and distribution of vaccines, prescription drugs, and animal health products. The company is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, NJ.

PerkinElmer Health Sciences, Inc. engages in the manufacture and distribution of analytical instruments. The company is headquartered in Waltham, MA.

Merck Serono SA operates as a holding company in the pharmaceutical field. It engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of therapeutic products for the treatment of human diseases. The company was founded on May 21, 1987 and is headquartered in Coinsins, Switzerland.

Imperial Innovations is a technology commercialization and venture capital investor that focuses on technology. Imperial Innovations no longer invests in startups and now functions as the technology-transfer office of Imperial College. Imperial Innovations is focused on commercialising leading UK academic research sourced from the 'golden triangle' formed between Cambridge, Oxford and London. We are a technology commercialisation company that combines the activities of technology transfer, intellectual property protection and licensing, company incubation and investment. Innovations is focused on commercialising the most promising UK academic research across a broad range of technology sectors, and has developed particular expertise in: therapeutics, medtech, engineering and materials and information communication technology.

Janssen Pharmaceutica is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium and owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceutica was purchased by New Jersey-based American corporation Johnson & Johnson, and became part of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development (J&J PRD), now renamed to Janssen Research and Development (JRD), which conducts research and development activities related to a wide range of human medical disorders, including mental illness, neurological disorders, anaesthesia and analgesia, gastrointestinal disorders, fungal infection, HIV/AIDS, allergies and cancer. Janssen and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical have been placed in the Ortho-McNeil-Janssen group within Johnson & Johnson Company.

Curemark is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of novel therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options for patients in need. Their pipeline includes two Phase III clinical-stage programs for Autism and ADHD as well as three preclinical programs directed at Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, and Addiction. All of their product candidates address severe neurologic diseases that are currently believed to be underserved by available approved therapies and represent large potential commercial market opportunities. They believe that their product candidates offer innovative therapeutic approaches and may have the potential to provide significant advantages relative to current therapies.

Bayer HealthCare AG provides healthcare, agriculture, plastics and chemical products. It is an independent company comprising five divisions: Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals. The company covers the fields of animal health, genetically produced medicines, over the counter products, diagnostic products and prescription drugs. The company is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany.

Aeromics is a clinical candidate targeting a molecular water channel for the treatment of cerebral edema in stroke. A paradigm shift in its understanding of water physiology was the discovery aquaporins, proteins that form water channels to allow water into and out of cells, by Peter Agre (2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Despite the vital role of aquaporins in maintaining water homeostasis and its implications in various disease states, therapeutic agents targeting aquaporins have until now remained elusive. Aeromics’ drug candidate, AER-271, targets aquaporin-4 (AQP4), the primary water channel in the brain, and has best-in-class credentials for acute intravenous therapy for stroke-related cerebral edema (CE).

Part of Pluri, Inc., Pluristem Ltd. is a company headquartered in Haifa, Israel, that provides research and development services in the biotechnology field, especially in stem cell research. The firm was founded by Yoram Nathan Drucker. Pluri, Inc. acquired Pluristem Ltd. on June 23, 2003.

Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research (PHI) was a Melbourne-based independent, not-for-profit, medical research institute based at the Monash Medical Centre in Victoria, Australia. In January 2014 it merged with the Monash Institute of Medical Research to become the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Professor Bryan Hudson was the founding Director of Prince Henry’s Institute and founding Chair of the Department of Medicine at Monash University.

BG Medicine, Inc. is a life sciences company. It engages in developing and delivering innovative solutions for healthcare providers that provide insight and transform the clinical care of heart failure and related disorders. The firm distributes products such as BGM Galectin-3 to clinical laboratories, hospitals, and healthcare providers. The company was founded in February 2000 by Jan van der Greef and is headquartered in Foxboro, MA.

Exonate is a privately held, early stage, biotech company spun out of the University of Nottingham that is focused on alternative splicing of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in ophthalmology. Exonate’s lead programme is focused on Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO). A consequence of diabetic retinopathy, DMO, is swelling in an area of the retina called the macula and wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD), which is the leading cause of vision loss in people aged 60 and older. The Company is founded on scientific excellence with strong links to Professor David Bates and his lab at Nottingham University specializing in the biology and biochemical pathways of VEGF splice variants. Exonate have developed small molecules that inhibit production of pro-angiogenic VEGF through selective inhibition of serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (SRPK1)-mediated VEGF splicing. These inhibitors have already demonstrated superior efficacy as topical agents in preclinical models of wet AMD. Through a Wellcome Trust funded project, Exonate has completed an optimization programme and has nominated a pre-clinical candidate drug with optimal characteristics. During the second quarter of 2020 regulatory toxicology and safety pharmacology studies have taken place. This is to support the successful application to the regulatory authorities for clinical evaluation. Exonate is led by an experienced, international management team that has previously worked together with cross-disciplinary experience in medicine and drug development, as well as successful fundraising for early stage companies. About Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO)*: DMO is the build-up of fluid (Oedema) in a region of the retina called the macula. The macula is important for the sharp, straight-ahead vision that is used for reading, recognizing faces, and driving. DMO is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetic retinopathy. About half of all people with diabetic retinopathy will develop DMO and although it is more likely to occur as diabetic retinopathy worsens, DMO can happen at any stage of the disease. About wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wet AMD): Today, wet AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in people aged 60 years or older and affects more than 30 million patients worldwide, over 200,000 of those in the UK alone. If untreated patients are likely to lose sight in the affected eye within 24 months of disease onset. The main currently available treatment options for DMO and wet AMD are: • anti-VEGF antibody drugs – to prevent the growth of new blood vessels in the eye. Unlike small molecule drugs or eye drops these treatments must be injected into the eye once every 1 or 2 months. Resistance can develop to these drugs causing the disease to progress anew. • Laser surgery – to destroy abnormal blood vessels in the eye. This type of surgery is only suitable if blood vessel damage is not too extensive and if the abnormal blood vessels aren't close to the fovea, as performing surgery close to this part of the eye can cause permanent vision loss. • With DMO, Corticosteroids either injected or implanted into the eye, may be used alone or in combination with other drugs or laser surgery to treat DMO. *source: https://nei-nih-gov.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/health/diabetic/retinopathy