What's happening in and around the Park? Here's an update from the team at the Illinois Science + Technology Park.    
LanzaTech Earthshot Prize Finalist
LanzaTech will be in the running to receive a £1 million award at the second-annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony. The Prize takes inspiration from President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot,’ which united millions of people around an organizing goal to put man on the moon and catalyzed the development of new technology in the 1960s.

Prince William said: “The innovators, leaders, and visionaries that make up our 2022 Earthshot Finalists prove there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of our planet. They are directing their time, energy, and talent towards bold solutions with the power to not only solve our planet’s greatest environmental challenges, but to create healthier, more prosperous, and more sustainable communities for generations to come".
LanzaTech was launched to find new ways of producing sustainable fuels and chemicals that didn’t impact land, food or biodiversity.

CEO Dr. Jennifer Holmgren said, “We are honored to be recognized by HRH Prince William as a Finalist for The Earthshot Prize. Fixing our climate is one of the greatest challenges of our generation, and we believe that with the support of The Earthshot Prize we can accelerate and scale our carbon transformation solution rethink how the world procures, uses and disposes of carbon. By utilizing carbon emissions as a resource, we hope to bring sustainable choices to all people. It is only through collaboration and the support of our community that we will succeed in repairing and regenerating our world. Congratulations to all the finalists.” For the entire press release, click here.
Cyclopure Dexsorb® Removing PFAS in Massachusetts
Mayor Sean Reardon and acting Director of Public Services Jamie Tuccolo recently announced Newburyport is beginning a one-year pilot program exploring a new option to reduce the amount of micropollutants in the city’s water supply.

Cyclopure Inc. was recommended by Newburyport’s engineering consultant, AECOM, and is conducting testing at no cost. It installed a test system to purify water through a corn-based adsorbent, called Dexsorb, that removes PFAS.

PFAS are man-made chemicals that have been used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products and are known as “forever chemicals” because their chemistry keeps them from breaking down under typical environmental conditions.

“PFAS levels are an ongoing concern,” Reardon said in a press release. “We will be watching this pilot program closely as we work toward providing cleaner water in the long term, and further protecting the health and safety of all of our residents.

“Protecting our water supply is one of our highest priorities, and so we have a lot of projects in the pipeline that are hopefully going to address that,” Reardon said at the site, adding that “any time you can be part of a pilot program that could be new cutting-edge technology ... could help you better protect your water supply in the future.”
Reardon toured the site at Bartlett Pond and met with representatives from Cyclopure, including the company’s chief executive officer, Frank Cassou, to discuss the program.

Cassou said he was excited to be testing their product in Massachusetts, starting with Newburyport. “The plan is to demonstrate the performance, the capacity and cost effectiveness, then hopefully we’ll scale up from there, but we need to share all the data with DEP to also verify it for them,” Cassou said. “It’s really super that they approved the installation of the pilot under a new technology application.”
Space Now Available @ISTP
There is laboratory and office space available in 8045 Lamon.  Suites, ranging from approximately 10,000 sq. ft. to over 50,000 sq. ft., are ready now. Options appropriately address your access and security concerns.  Interested? Click here!

8045 Lamon (Research to Commercialization)
  • 4 story, 163,000 square feet
  • Gold LEED rated “green” facility
  • Conference Center and Auditorium
  • Areas for meetings, collaboration and socialization

Design your customized lab & office facilities at 8030 Lamon. (Flexible Options for Development)
  • Flexible build to suit options
  • Up to 200,000 square feet of office and development space
“The Illinois Science + Technology Park is a significant contributor to Skokie’s employment base and economic growth,” said Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen. “The park continues to grow and contribute to Skokie’s economy while also providing economic stimulus for the state and Midwest region.”
Mirkin Receives IET Faraday Medal
The United Kingdom Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) awarded Northwestern University professor Chad A. Mirkin the 2022 Faraday Medal.

Among the most prestigious honors for engineers and scientists, the Faraday Medal is the IET’s highest award and is given for notable scientific or industrial achievement. Mirkin is being recognized “for inventing and developing many of the tools, techniques, and materials that have defined the modern age of nanotechnology,” according to the official announcement.

“When people talk about world-class interdisciplinary research leaders, Chad Mirkin is at the top of the list, with countless advances that have shaped the entire field,” said Milan Mrksich, vice president for research at Northwestern. “Chad is an icon in the nanotechnology field — for good reason. His passion, curiosity and brilliance are directed at solving big challenges and advancing high-impact innovation. His many scientific and entrepreneurial achievements have created practical technologies that benefit society, and he has led a vibrant community in our International Institute for Nanotechnology. This latest honor is a well-deserved recognition of his leadership at Northwestern and in the nanotechnology field.”
Mirkin is known for the invention of dip-pen nanolithography, which was described by National Geographic as one of the “top 100 scientific discoveries that changed the world”; and HARP (high-area rapid printing) technology, a 3D printing process that can produce hard, elastic or ceramic parts at record-breaking throughput. He is the co-founder of multiple companies, including TERA-print, Azul 3D and Holden Pharma, which are aimed at transitioning advances in nanotechnology to the life sciences, biomedical and advanced manufacturing industries.

“It’s incredible,” Mirkin said. “The people that have won in the past constitute a who’s who list of those that have changed the world through science and engineering. When I look at the past recipients, the discoverer of the electron, the person who first split an atom, the inventor of the first computer, it’s an unbelievable history, an incredible honor, and I am obviously absolutely thrilled to be among that crew.”
Reasons to Keep an Eye on Chicago Biotech
Chicago isn’t necessarily synonymous with its spot as a biopharma hotbed - however, due to new investments, governmental support, collaborations and prominent academic institutions, this is changing.

Made up of 77 community areas, Chicago is the third-largest city in the country by population. The larger Chicagoland or Chicago metropolitan area includes suburbs that stretch across more than a dozen counties and include parts of Indiana and Wisconsin. The heart of the BioMidwest hotbed, Chicago is home to 185 pharma companies and other related life-sciences businesses, with several up-and-coming firms on the rise.

BioSpace lists the top reasons to keep an eye on the Windy City in 2023.

1. Investment Capital
2. New Biotech Firms Moving In
3. New Start-Ups
4. Life Sciences is Integral to Chicagoland Economy
5. Established Biotech Firms
6. Wet Lab Expansion
7. Government-backed Funding Initiatives
8. Strong Academic Pipelines & Research Availability
9. Key Collaborations
.
Between top-notch academic institutions, solid venture capital funding, expanding lab space and governmental support (in regulation and in funding), the opportunity for a strong web of collaborations exists to make Chicago a true hotbed for biotech growth.

As 2023 promises to be a year with a good deal of movement in the job market space, particularly as Q1 rebounds from a slower-than-usual end-of-the year hiring phase, there are many opportunities for high-quality professionals and top companies to partner together to strengthen Chicagoland as a biotech stronghold.
Shop Local in Skokie
Small Business Saturday is November 26

Small Business Promotions Continue Through December 2!

For more information check out --
Planning cGMP-Compliant Clinical Trial Material
For an injectable medication, the transition from preclinical to clinical development already adds many new procedural, logistic, and regulatory factors to your product development program. At this critical pivot point, cGMPs can feel like a daunting additional layer of complexity; drug developers often wonder if they’re worth the investment in time and funds.

Manufacturing-related challenges like these can happen at any point in the product life cycle, but their risks and impact are particularly acute during the pivot to clinical development. When drug developers are producing their earliest clinical batches, regulatory setbacks for quality issues can have a doubly painful cost: both valuable time in the clinic and irreplaceable trial funding.
So, how can you and your team avoid a painful blow like this? It’s essential to take the time to establish manufacturing processes that comply with current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) – starting from the very first batches of clinical trial material (CTM).

Dr. Gerhard Reuter, Qualified Person at Vetter, has helped numerous drug developers navigate the complexity of establishing manufacturing processes that systematize compliance with cGMPs.

With his extensive experience, Dr. Reuter has found that there are a few key functions companies need to focus on when they’re developing an injectable drug product – especially when they’re planning to fill their crucial first batches of CTM. As these companies pivot from lab to clinic, they’re taking their first few steps on a much longer journey of compliance. And, as Dr. Reuter explains, there are typically three key components that they should consider from the very start.

1. Qualification
2. Validation
3. Documentation
New $35M Accelerates the Impact on Society of Northwestern’s Nearly $1B in Annual Research
A new fund will provide seed grants to Northwestern University faculty to speed up the commercialization of innovative and high-potential research in the life sciences. The Pat & Shirley Ryan Family Research Acceleration Fund will advance translational research discoveries in both engineering and medicine with the potential to have a meaningful and immediate impact on society.

The Ryan Research Acceleration Fund will provide awards to successful basic research that has the potential to ultimately be commercialized and impact the world yet falls into the gap between governmental and private sector funding.
Northwestern has made efforts to improve health outcomes in the areas of drug discovery, sensing and measurement, rehabilitation, regenerative medicine, surgery and transplantation, and artificial intelligence and computation, among other fields. In the past, some of these efforts have led directly to commercial successes and health and well-being improvement, while other efforts have been built upon by subsequent research or applications that have benefited people around the world.

“The boldest ideas often challenge convention and are not ready for funding by federal agencies,” said Milan Mrksich, vice president for research and the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern. “The Ryan Research Acceleration Fund will provide Northwestern investigators with support to demonstrate the feasibility of their visions and will enable Northwestern to attract even more federal funding for research that solves urgent challenges to create a better world.” To learn more, click here.
COUR Pharmaceuticals: $30M Financing
COUR Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel immune-modifying nanoparticles (COUR NanoParticles or CNPs) designed to reprogram the immune system in treating autoimmune disorders, announced the closing of a $30 million financing led by Alpha Wave Ventures.

The proceeds from the financing will be used to expand COUR's CNP platform technology and advance the Company's two human proof-of-concept studies in Primary Biliary Cholangitis and Peanut allergy, as well as development programs in Myasthenia Gravis and Type 1 Diabetes. In addition to autoimmune and allergic disorders, COUR's platform technology has application in gene therapy to induce immune tolerance, with the potential to improve durability and enable repeat dosing.

"With multiple validating partnerships, an independent clinical development pipeline and the first known clinical study in humans demonstrating antigen-specific tolerance, we strongly believe COUR is well positioned to be the leader in bringing to market multiple first-in-class antigen-specific therapies to drive a paradigm shift in the treatment of autoimmune disorders away from immune suppressive approaches and towards true immune reprogramming." said Chris Dimitropoulos. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the COUR team to advance this important technology."
"As COUR set out to pursue its first institutional financing round in the Company's history, we were very fortunate to find a likeminded investor in Alpha Wave, which appreciates our innovation-driven culture and mission-critical approach to taking on big ideas in therapeutic areas where there are no or few therapies" said CEO and Founder, John J. Puisis, adding "The ability to secure a financing in these turbulent market conditions is a true testament to the tremendous capabilities of COUR's team, technology and results to date. With this important infusion of capital, we look forward to rapidly advancing our revolutionary drug candidates aimed to reprogram the immune system for people suffering from immune disorders."
LanzaTech, Northwestern University, Yale University, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) $18.5M in Funding
LanzaTech , Northwestern University, Yale University, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced they have received $18.5 million in funding from a $178 million research grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a new center for multi-scale synthetic biology. The new research center will focus on integrating cell‐free systems and genome engineering to accelerate biosystems design for carbon‐negative biomanufacturing.

“By 2040, we hope that every U.S. consumer, regardless of where they are from or how much they earn, will have direct access to a sustainable version of every product they purchase,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “Innovation alone will not be enough to accelerate the work we are doing in creating a circular economy. However, through collaboration and the support of the Department of Energy, we will be able to scale our work and have several platforms to support the growing carbon-negative biomanufacturing industry.” To access the entire announcement, click here.
Vetter Development Service @ISTP
LanzaTech
Earthshot Finalist