Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

CCIT Tenant SkinAxis Benefits from Incubator’s Educational Programs

8/23/2015

0 Comments

 
Trenton, NJ - When the Board of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) held its monthly meeting at the Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) in North Brunswick last week, it had the opportunity to hear about a broad array of resources the 46,000 square-foot life sciences incubator provides to the two dozen emerging biotechnology companies that currently call it “home.” 
One of these companies is SkinAxis. SkinAxis creates novel skin and tissue equivalents that provide a flexible, highly-sensitive, and reproducible platform for investigation and drug discovery in both normal and diseased tissues under a variety of physiological conditions. Specifically, model systems generated by SkinAxis include a melanoma 3D skin equivalent that can be used for the screening of anti-melanoma drugs, as well as oral and cervicovaginal 3D skin equivalents for anti-viral and anti-fungal drug discovery. In addition to its standard offerings, the company develops customized models that may include different cell types to address specific customers’ needs.
 
Representatives from SkinAxis recently attend the CCIT-hosted “Meet with Money” session where Jesse Treu from Domain Associates discussed 14 essential startup factors. The biotechnology company also benefited from Executive-in-Residence Neil Milano’s presentation about convertible debt financing.
 
“The educational opportunities available to startup companies at CCIT are invaluable,” SkinAxis Chief Executive Officer Luca Gusella said. “These programs give entrepreneurs the chance to share ideas, and acquire information that helps us entrepreneurs build our businesses.”   
 
Through a variety of educational programs like “Meet with Money” and “Lunch and Learn,” CCIT brings in a variety of New Jersey experts to speak in both formal and informal settings about topics of interest to entrepreneurs. These presentations are open to the technology community, as is the recently-launched “Executive-in-Residence Presentation Series,” during which CCIT Executives-in-Residence discuss topics in their areas of expertise.
 
CCIT’s ongoing Executive-in-Residence program consists of appointed executives mentoring and coaching emerging life science companies through a series of weekly office hours. CCIT tenants can seek advice from executives on a range of topics, including business development, commercialization, partnering and licensing, health economics, regulatory, and reimbursement.
 
@NJEDATech spoke with Gusella about the company’s experience at CCIT and its plans for the future:
 
What is SkinAxis’s biggest success to date?
We have generated a new technology that has led to relationships with leading cosmetic companies. In addition, the interest shown by chemical and pharmaceutical companies in our skin models not only validates SkinAxis’ existing technologies, but also provides the possibility to extend the application of our models across other industries.
 
What’s on the horizon for SkinAxis?
We offer competitive, innovative technology that can maximize the value of preclinical models and reduce the need for testing on live animals -- a goal that is important to our mission. We are a young company, so we are cognizant of the challenges we face. The first challenge is the marketing of our products and services, and the second is to get the funding necessary to pursue new development. We are currently focusing on increasing our customer base and continuing to innovate and leading the science in this field. We have received very positive feedback from current customers and believe that the future of SkinAxis is bright. 
 
What have you found most helpful during your time at CCIT?
I would say it has been the networking opportunities. As creators of novel technologies and products, we tend to focus mainly on the scientific aspects of the business. This is essential, of course, but there are many other issues that are important to a venture’s success. 
 
In establishing a business, there are various layers of complexity that require operational, legal, financial organization and skills that may not be internally available, particularly at the early stages of an enterprise. CCIT provides a vibrant environment for connecting with other entrepreneurs and professionals who have experience and knowledge in areas where we may be lacking. Some of these connections have developed into business relationships that have given structure to our business. In other instances, our interactions with fellow tenants at CCIT have lead to collaboration. We have also received invaluable advice through the Executive-in-Residence Program.
 
For more information about the resources that CCIT offers, visit http://www.njeda.com/ccit and follow @NJEDATech on Twitter and LinkedIn.  




0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
609-858-9507