2020 continues to be a breakthrough year for M2D2 Resident Company Versatope Therapeutics, Inc. On September 9, they announced that they had been awarded a Phase 1 Small Business and Innovation Award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant will support their development of a novel vaccine for the prevention and possible treatment for Clostridioides difficile, also known as C. diff.

With the $200K Challenge right around the corner, the 15 innovative Finalists are preparing to pitch their unique solution on September 17th. Tickets to attend this annual and exciting event are free this year. Finalist Aidar Health is developing a transformative multisensor device, MouthLab™, which captures more than ten health parameters in under a minute, providing access to real-time digital biomarker feedback and actionable health insights. We talked to CEO Sathya Elumalai to discover what led them to the $200K Challenge.

M2D2 has announced that Jennifer Griffin, Ph.D., Vice President, Industry Strategy and Investments at Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), will deliver keynote remarks at the 9th Annual M2D2 $200K Challenge Finalist Pitch-Off. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Pitch-Off will take place virtually on Thursday, September 17 beginning at 5:00 pm eastern time. Life sciences entrepreneurs, investors, academics, researchers, students, and media from anywhere are invited. Tickets are free with registration. 

The $200K Challenge brings together many of the brightest life sciences startups to pitch their innovations for a chance to win $200K of in-kind services. One of this year’s 15 finalists is Oriel Research Therapeutics, whose goal is to identify sepsis at its early stage, before it becomes very challenging to treat and in many cases irreversible.

We talked with Eila Arich-Landkof, founder of Oriel Research Therapeutics, to learn more about her personal inspiration that led them to the $200K Challenge.

In light of recent unprecedented events surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, the decision has been made to host the 2020 $200K Challenge virtually this fall with free registration. The PitchOff is scheduled for Thursday, September 17th from 5:00- 8:00 pm, and the Award Celebration is set for Thursday, October 1st at 5:00 pm.

As the newly rescheduled virtual events approach, we want to shine the spotlight on another unique $200K Challenge finalist. MicroBioMed is developing an operator-independent measurement device to quantitatively study vaginal wall skin properties. We talked to William Gardetto, COO of MicroBioMed to learn more about what led them to the $200K Challenge.