Contest Champions Biotech, Medical Inventions
02/15/2023
Media Contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations, Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center seeks entrepreneurs to enter its M2D2 $200K Challenge, a pitch competition that advances the ideas of early-stage medical device, diagnostic and biotech companies around the world.
M2D2 assists entrepreneurs in these sectors to move new products and technologies from concept to commercialization to improve health outcomes. A joint venture of UMass Lowell and UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, M2D2 offers the resources of these institutions to startups seeking assistance with clinical trials and the engineering and business aspects of product development.
“M2D2 just celebrated its 15th year supporting medical device and biotech startups. These companies gain entre to world-class facilities, leading life science companies and major investment partners. Over the past five years alone, M2D2 and our startups have received more than $235 million in grant funding. This is all made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, our University of Massachusetts team, and leading state and federal grant agencies. We hope entrepreneurs with a promising prototype and concept will take advantage of this jump-start opportunity,” said UMass Lowell’s Steven Tello, vice provost of graduate, online and professional studies, an M2D2 founder and member of its executive board.
The competition welcomes innovations that address the full range of medical device, biotech and therapeutic challenges, particularly those of interest to contest sponsors Asahi-Intecc, BARDA DRIVe, Hologic, Johnson & Johnson and Novo Nordisk. Other $200K Challenge sponsors include Amgen, Argenta Advisors, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, MPR, Mintz and Prime Path MedTech.
This year, up to 15 finalists will become eligible to win a share of $75,000, as well as $200,000 of sponsor-provided, in-kind services, including lab and office space; engineering; product development, legal; regulatory; clinical; and business services.
Last year’s grand prize winner was Boston-based BioSens8, a developer of at-home fertility tests. Entrepreneurs may learn more and apply to enter the contest at www.m2d2challenge.com. The entry deadline is Monday, Feb. 20.
The pitch-off will be held and winners announced Wednesday, March 22, at UMass Lowell’s Innovation Hub at 110 Canal St., Lowell, home to one of three in-state M2D2 business incubators.
“The $200K challenge is a great way for startups to network, get access to services, and receive funds to move their technology toward commercialization. We’ve seen time and again, companies that participate in the challenge are able to access resources they could not have any other way. We can’t wait to see the new technologies that will improve individuals’ health this year and beyond,” said M2D2 Co-director Nathaniel Hafer, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology and serves as director of operations in the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Chan, where he is an assistant professor of molecular medicine.
M2D2 operates lab-based incubators in Lowell and Worcester and offers networking opportunities and other programs for startups. Since the center was founded in 2007, 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.
Many M2D2 resident companies have been competition winners, as the challenge regularly fields more than 100 entries each spring.
“Now in our 12th year, the M2D2 $200K Challenge is a great showcase for emerging products and technologies that seek to improve patient health. M2D2 is proud to be a leader in the medical-device and biotech ecosystem and we thank our sponsors for their support in helping entrepreneurs take their inventions from the drawing board to the marketplace,” said Mary Ann Picard, M2D2’s director of operations.
Full details on the competition are available at www.m2d2challenge.com.