Health Wildcatters is a mentor-driven seed accelerator focused on improving healthcare by supporting entrepreneurs and healthcare startups. Healthcare IT, SaaS, digital health and mobile health companies are a fit, but they also encourage medical device, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies to apply.   What They Look For:  Technology: Digital Health, mHealth, HealthIT, Medical Devices, Pharma, Diagnostics Customers: Hospitals, patients, doctors, anyone who could conceivably be a healthcare consumer Location: Any company founders who will live in Dallas for the program Founders: Well-rounded founder teams >1 person, demonstrated understanding of entrepreneurship, relevant technical and business knowledge Capital: Needing seed capital to support living expenses while bootstrapping, can make efficient use of limited capital, would generally be planning on self/angel/customer financing as a next step coming out of the program.

Health Wildcatters

Green Park & Golf, built on over 50 years of operational and financial experience, seeks investment opportunities that offer above-market returns for its investors. Led by Clay Heighten, M.D., and Carl Soderstrom, the Firm delivers strategic solutions, financial backing and a reliable network to its portfolio companies. The Dallas-based Firm is currently looking for investment opportunities in medical-related start-ups.  Dr. Heighten founded MedicalEdge Healthcare Group in 1993, and Mr. Soderstrom started PhyServe Physician Services in 1998 to administer the financial and operational needs of MedicalEdge. Together, the companies managed over 550 providers in five major markets. In 2011, the companies were sold to Texas Health Resources, a $3.8 billion health care system. That’s when Green Park & Golf was born.  After earning his MBA at Southern Methodist University, Mr. Garcia joined them full-time in May 2011 to actively pursue new investment opportunities and monitor other investments in their portfolio. He has prior professional experience at FedEx, Bold Ventures, and Lone Star Investment Advisors.

Green Park & Golf Ventures

Bios Partners Is A Venture Capital Firm Based In Dallas/Ft. Worth Focused On Investment In Innovative Early-Stage And Growth-Stage Biotech And Medical Device Companies.

Bios Partners

Lantern Pharma

Lantern Pharma, Inc. is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing new classes of precision cancer drugs with novel mechanisms of action. Lantern also rescues and revitalizes abandoned or failed cancer drugs using machine learning techniques, genomic data and precision oncology trials. Lantern Pharma recognizes that the high cost and low success rates in oncology drug development largely stem from the inability to appropriately stratify patient populations prior to enrollment, and also from the inability to fully elucidate mechanisms of action that can suggest potent therapy combinations. Our approach, which  leverages our RADR™ platform helps to provide rapid, meaningful insight to both of these central problems in oncology. Lantern is focused on accelerating personalized cancer therapy development through the use of AI and genomic-based patient stratification.

<div>Lantern Pharma is a clinical stage biotechnology company combining AI, genomics, and machine learning to deliver precision oncology therapies. The company&rsquo;s proprietary platform RADR is used for drug discovery, biomarker discovery, drug repurposing, and the development of precision therapeutics.&nbsp;</div>

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

Lantern Pharma Gets Three FDA Rare-Pediatric Designations for LP-184

<div>
 
 Lantern Pharma is a clinical stage biotechnology company combining AI, genomics, and machine learning to deliver precision oncology therapies. The company&rsquo;s proprietary platform RADR is used for drug discovery, biomarker discovery, drug repurposing, and the development of precision therapeutics.&nbsp;
 
 
 The platform reportedly surpassed 60 billion data points in March 2024, and uses big analytics, combining molecular data, drug efficacy data, data from historical studies, data from scientific literature, and phenotypic trials and publications, as well as mechanistic pathway data.
 
 
 As of March 2024, the company had four drug candidates and one drug program in its pipeline across 11 tumor targets, including two Phase II programs.
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16875">
 March 2023
 </a>
 , the company launched a new wholly-owned subsidiary called &ldquo;Starlight Therapeutics,&rdquo; dedicated to developing novel treatments focused on the central nervous system (CNS) and brain cancers.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Lantern Pharma established several partnerships to develop cancer therapies, including partnerships with 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lantern-pharma-announces-collaboration-with-world-leading-brain-cancer-program-at-johns-hopkins-to-further-develop-lp-184-as-therapy-for-glioblastoma-301194949.html">
 Johns Hopkins
 </a>
 (December 2020), 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lantern-pharma-announces-collaboration-and-research-agreement-with-fox-chase-cancer-center-focused-on-advancing-the-development-of-lp-184-in-pancreatic-cancer-301135316.html">
 Fox Chase Cancer Center
 </a>
 (September 2020), National Cancer Institute (
 <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/10/01/1923235/0/en/Lantern-Pharma-and-National-Cancer-Institute-Partner-to-Aid-Precision-Oncology-Research-and-Treatments.html">
 October 2019
 </a>
 ), Danish Cancer Society Research Center (DCRC), and UT Health San Antonio.
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s customers include Actuate Therapeutics to accelerate its drug candidate for cancer and fibrotic disease (May 2021).
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Lantern Pharma went public on June 11, 2020, and is traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol &ldquo;LTRN,&rdquo; raising USD 26.3 million in its IPO. In 
 <a href="https://ir.lanternpharma.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/150/lantern-pharma-reports-fourth-quarter-fiscal-year-2023">
 FY2023
 </a>
 , the company reported a net loss of USD 1.47 per share, a 12% increase YoY.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 HiberCell is a biotechnology company that develops novel therapies focused on oncology. It entered the AI drug discovery space when it acquired AI genomics analysis company Genuity Science (and its subsidiaries in Iceland and Ireland) in August 2021.&nbsp;
 
 
 Genuity Science&rsquo;s solutions include end-to-end therapeutic discovery and development services such as building custom disease datasets, discovering and prioritizing targets, identifying biomarkers, and optimizing clinical trials. Genuity Science leverages its AI-powered platform to manage, process, and analyze genomic data. HiberCell intends to use Genuity Science&rsquo;s AI/ML capabilities to advance its oncology pipeline of five programs, of which one has reached the Phase 2 clinical trial stage.
 
 
 As of March 2024, the company&rsquo;s pipeline included three drug candidates, namely: 1) HC-7366, targeting the general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) kinase as part of the integrated stress response (ISR) signaling pathway; 2) HC-5404, aimed at inhibiting the PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) involved in the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway; and 3) odetiglucan, a therapy targeting tumor-immune interactions within the tumor microenvironment​.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In December 2023, HiberCell and Merck &amp; Co partnered to conduct a Phase Ib trial to evaluate the combination therapy of belzutifan and HC-7366 for treating clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Further, in January 2021, the company partnered with Biodesix to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as a companion diagnostic test.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://hibercell.com/news/hibercell-closes-67-4-million-series-b-financing-and-secures-30-million-debt-facility-from-hercules-capital/">
 May 2021
 </a>
 , HiberCell completed a Series B financing round, raising USD 67.4 million, and secured an additional USD 30 million in debt financing from Hercules Capital. The funds were expected to be used for clinical advancement of its novel therapeutic candidates. 
 
</div>

HiberCell

<div>
 
 Arbor Biotechnologies specializes in gene editing to develop novel therapeutics for a variety of indications, starting with liver-related diseases. It operates an AI-powered biodiscovery platform to discover novel CRISPR enzymes, which are sequences of repeating genetic code. To do this, its platform deploys computational search techniques, genome sequencing, gene synthesis, and high-throughput screening. This can eventually be turned into drugs or even applied to agriculture and other industrial uses. In 2018, the company announced the discovery of Cas13d, a new type of gene editing enzyme that helps to alter RNA to treat genetic diseases.&nbsp;
 
 
 As of February 2024, the company had five internal drug discovery programs, of which one was in the IND-enabling stage. It also has multiple collaborative programs under development focused on oncology and various other therapeutic areas.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has a long-standing partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals since
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190103005194/en/Vertex-and-Arbor-Biotechnologies-Establish-Collaboration-to-Discover-Novel-Proteins-to-Advance-Discovery-of-Gene-Editing-Therapies">
 January 2019
 </a>
 , which focused on developing gene-editing treatments for cystic fibrosis and four other diseases. The alliance was further extended in 
 <a href="https://www.biospace.com/article/vertex-and-arbor-strike-a-1-2-billion-deal-for-gene-editing-programs/">
 August 2021
 </a>
 and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15741">
 January 2023
 </a>
 .&nbsp;
 
 
 Other partnerships included a collaboration with 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arbor-biotechnologies-announces-collaboration-with-ginkgo-bioworks-to-advance-the-discovery-and-development-of-precision-gene-editors-302011991.html">
 Ginkgo Bioworks
 </a>
 (December 2023) to leverage Ginkgo's R&amp;D services to further optimize Arbor's novel precision editors, a non-exclusive licensing agreement with 
 <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/02/08/2380680/0/en/EdiGene-and-Arbor-Biotechnologies-Announce-Worldwide-Non-exclusive-License-Agreement-to-Advance-Ex-Vivo-Engineered-Cell-Therapy-Programs.html">
 EdiGene
 </a>
 (February 2022) to leverage Arbor&rsquo;s platform for ex vivo oncology therapies, a strategic research and non-exclusive licensing agreement with 
 <a href="https://investors.tcr2.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tcr2-therapeutics-and-arbor-biotechnologies-establish">
 TCR2 Therapeutics
 </a>
 (January 2022) to develop allogeneic TRuC T-cell therapies using Arbor&rsquo;s CRISPR technology, and a license agreement with 
 <a href="https://www.lonza.com/news/2020-12-23-14-00">
 Lonza
 </a>
 (December 2020) to use Arbor&rsquo;s gene-editing technology for Lonza&rsquo;s bioproduction products and services.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In its latest Series B funding round in November 2021, which was led by Ally Bridge Group, TCG Crossover, and Temasek, Arbor Biotechnologies raised USD 215 million. The proceeds of the round were earmarked to fuel the company&rsquo;s clinical development pipeline.
 
</div>

Arbor Biotechnologies

Based in the UK, Arctoris provides an automated drug discovery platform, offering fully validated research and development (R&amp;D) processes under an Experiments-as-a-Service model. The company works with biotechnology companies, AI drug discovery companies, pharma and academic institutions enabling these institutions to run experiments in Arctoris’s platform and provides on-demand access to a broad scale of datasets for AI drug discovery companies to train their algorithms.

Arctoris

<div>
 
 Frontier Medicines leverages AI/ML technologies to develop treatments for cancer-causing proteins that are dismissed by traditional pharma companies as undruggable.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company has a proprietary chemoproteomic platform which entails an approach based on the interaction of small-molecule compounds and proteins to screen a large number of targets and combine them with a protein database that contains more than 150,000 novel binding pockets (hotspots). This enables it to access 90% of the human proteome that were not previously targeted due to lack of hotspots. The platform&rsquo;s AI/ML engine incorporates a library of diverse compounds, a hotspot map that serves as the starting point for understanding the druggability of a potential therapeutic target, and lead design and generation.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company focuses on oncology and immunology target and, as of February 2024, it had five wholly-owned therapeutic programs and three AbbVie-partnered programs in its pipeline. All programs were in their discovery stage, except the company&rsquo;s lead candidate, FMC-376 (activated and inactivated forms), focused on treating different cancer types, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which is in the IND-enabling stage.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company entered a USD 100 million partnership with 
 <a href="https://news.abbvie.com/2020-12-02-AbbVie-and-Frontier-Medicines-Establish-Global-Partnership-to-Discover-and-Develop-Novel-Therapies-and-E3-Degraders-Against-Difficult-to-Drug-Targets">
 AbbVie
 </a>
 In December 2020 to develop small-molecule therapeutics against hard-to-drug protein targets including around 600 E3 ligases (the enzymes that drive the ubiquitination and degradation of proteins.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In July 2021, the company raised USD 88.5 million in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4347">
 Series B
 </a>
 funding round co-led by Woodline Partners LP and RA Capital Management, with equal participation from Deerfield Management Company. The proceeds were earmarked for advancing the company&rsquo;s drug pipeline and expanding operations in Boston, where its new facility was to complement the company&rsquo;s headquarters in California. 
 
</div>

Frontier Medicines

<div>
 
 Verge Genomics is a biotechnology company engaged in developing therapeutics for neurological diseases using human genomics and AI to accelerate drug discovery. The main target areas are Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease (PD), and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).&nbsp;
 
 
 It has built a proprietary all-human platform (unlike standard clinical trials that rely on animal data), called CONVERGE, that uses data sets from brain tissue samples of deceased patients with ALS and PD. While most drugs target only one gene at a time, the company claims its technology can identify hundreds of genes that cause disease and develop drugs that target all the genes at the same time. The company uses AI technology to optimize the drug discovery process as a whole.
 
 
 As of March 2024, Verge had one drug candidate in the clinical stage (Phase I) and 10 drug candidates in the discovery stage.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has partnerships with various tissue banks (such as Harvard University and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine) and several educational institutes and foundations (such as Target ALS, Answer ALS) that enabled its drug discovery platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 In addition, the company&rsquo;s customers include several pharmaceutical companies, such as 1) 
 <a href="https://www.vergegenomics.com/news-blog/verge-genomics-announces-research-collaboration-with-the-sheffield-institute-for-translational-neuroscience">
 Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN)
 </a>
 to accelerate the validation of novel drug targets and screening of drug compounds for Parkinson's disease (February 2021), 2) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4146">
 Eli Lilly
 </a>
 to research and develop novel therapies to treat ALS (July 2021), 3) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21707">
 Alexion
 </a>
 to identify novel drug targets for rare neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases (September 2023), and 4) 
 <a href="https://www.vergegenomics.com/news-blog/verge-genomics-and-the-pritzker-neuropsychiatric-disorders-research-consortium-form-cutting-edge-schizophrenia-research-collaboration">
 Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium
 </a>
 to analyze data from schizophrenic patient&rsquo;s brain tissue with Verge&rsquo;s technology (October 2023).
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In December 2021, Verge raised USD 98 million in an oversubscribed 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7426">
 Series A
 </a>
 funding round led by BlackRock. The funds were used to scale up its pre-clinical and clinical candidate programs in the pipeline and enhance its lead therapeutics through clinical testing. 
 
</div>

Verge Genomics

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies for drug discovery services such as target selection, validation and lead optimization.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies to design and run preclinical experiments.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies providing their ML platform to other pharma companies to identify biomarkers (measurable biological signs used to determine disease progression) and predict drug response. 

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies aggregating and analyzing biomedical data with the help of AI to generate insights across the drug development pipeline.

Biotechnology companies that have integrated AI as a core component of their in-house drug development process. They typically have a few in-house drug development programs, and also collaborate with pharma companies to develop certain drugs.

Companies leverage GenAI to support drug discovery through accelerated drug designing

Companies offer AI/ML-based SaaS products to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics

Offers AI/ML-based solutions to accelerate drug discovery and development

<div>
 Texas-based AI biopharmaceutical company Lantern Pharma has been granted three rare pediatric disease designations (RPDDs) by the FDA for their drug candidate LP-184 which targets malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRT), rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), and hepatoblastoma. 
 Prior to this, LP-184 has been tested against various solid tumors and earned multiple orphan and rare pediatric designations. Lantern Pharma plans to carry out prospective clinical trials of the drug for pediatric patients afflicted by MRT, RMS, and hepatoblastoma, as well as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT), another disease for which the drug previously received RPDD. 
 
</div>

Lantern Pharma

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