Page 33 - Gates-AnnualReport-2019

2019 GATES GRUBSTAKE FUND
With new solutions in mind, the Gates Grubstake Fund is an initiative of the Gates Frontiers Fund and a key component of the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine’s commercialization strategy for projects and teams affiliated with the Gates Center. Through a process overseen by the Gates Center with significant support from CU Innovations, Grubstake Fund investment decisions regarding three to four annual awards of up to $350,000 are made on a competitive basis by a Scientific Investment Advisory Committee comprised of subject matter experts and institutional investors with a focus on biotechnology:
GATES GRUBSTAKE SCIENTIFIC INVESTMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
• Mark Brunvand, M.D., Field Medical Director, CAR T-cells, Bristol-Myers Squibb
• William Hiatt, M.D., Professor, Division of Cardiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Past President
and now Chief Science Officer, CPC Clinical Research
• Ryan Kirkpatrick, Partner, Colorado Impact Fund
• David L. Lacey M.D., Biopharmaceutical Consultant, former SVP, Head of Research, Amgen
• Mark Lupa, Ph.D., Principal, High Country Ventures
• Kimberly Muller, J.D., Managing Director, CU Innovations, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
• Mark Petrash, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Associate Director, Gates Center for
Regenerative Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
• Matthew Seefeldt, Ph.D., Director of Cell Therapy, Gates Biomanufacturing Facility
• Geoff “Duffy” Solich, Executive Vice President, E & P Resources LLC; member, Gates Center Advisory Board
• Ann Sperling, Senior Director, Trammell Crow Company; member, Gates Advisory Board
• Robert Traver, J.D., Patent Attorney, Sheridan Ross
2019 GATES GRUBSTAKE AWARDEES:
Terry Fry, M.D.
Optimized manufacturing of CD19xCD22 CAR expressing T cells for the clinic
Refractory cancers are an increasing cause of early death in adults and children. Recent breakthroughs in cell based immunotherapeutic treatments (primarily CAR-T cell therapy) are changing that rapidly, with hundreds of trials ongoing in the U.S. and around the world. Although some patients may be cured with current monovalent CAR-T cell therapy (that targets only CD19), relapses shorten remissions in a majority of patients. Dr. Terry Fry and his team are developing a next generation bicistronic CAR-T cell therapy (that targets both
CD19 and CD22) designed to prolong remissions in patients, improving patient well-being and decreasing healthcare costs. The Grubstake Award will allow them to develop the manufacturing process at the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility.
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