Theragnostic Technologies joins SUNY’s Tech Accelerator Fund & START-UP NY
Theragnostic Technologies first product ManGraDex is featured on Research Foundation (RF) of State University of New York (SUNY) article discussing impact of two business development programs—SUNY’s Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF) and START-UP NY on the development of early stage biomedical technologies at SUNY.
TAF makes early-stage investments of up to $50,000 to help SUNY researchers transform their inventions into commercial products. START-UP NY allows qualified businesses to operate free of state and local taxes for ten years when they locate on or near participating academic campuses.
One company benefitting from both those programs is Theragnostic Technologies, Inc. Founded in 2012 by Balaji Sitharaman, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Stony Brook University, Theragnostic Technologies has developed a nanoparticle contrast agent, for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that is safer and more effective than the products in use today.
Sitharaman received a TAF investment in 2014. “We used the money to optimize the synthesis conditions, so we could scale up production, first to a 100-gram level, and then to kilogram quantities,” he says.
With that work underway, Sitharaman is now seeking potential investors. “We are also pursuing possible partnership opportunities,” he says.
Headquartered in the Long Island High Technology Incubator on the Stony Brook campus, Theragnostic Technologies joined START-UP NY in 2015. “The exemption from personal income taxes for ten years will help me recruit top talent,” Sitharaman says. And every dollar the company saves on other taxes can be reinvested into the technology.
Locating in the START-UP NY zone offers other benefits as well. “We have access to Stony Brook’s animal facility,” Sitharaman says. “We have used a number of tools available here to characterize the nanoparticles and perform some histological studies. And since we are close to the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory, we can avail ourselves of their resources as well.”