Law Links - June 2015

Taking their startup to the next level

Competition winners Kevin Carter, Jonathan Smyth ‘15, Michael Bisogno.

Competition winners Kevin Carter, Jonathan Smyth ‘15, Michael Bisogno.

It’s a long road from good idea to successful biotech company, but Jonathan Smyth is leading a team with a good head start.

Smyth, a 2015 graduate from the School of Law, is leading the development of Photozyne Biotechnologies. The company is developing an innovative drug delivery system that shows promise for precisely targeting anti-cancer drugs, providing increased effectiveness while minimizing the harsh side effects of traditional chemotherapy.

In April, 2015, Smyth and his teammates, Michael Bisogno, an MD/MBA student, and Kevin Carter, a master’s student in biomedical engineering, won first place in UB’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition. The competition, designed to facilitate and promote the commercialization of UB-generated technologies, is sponsored by the School of Management and UB’s Office of Science, Technology Transfer, and Economic Outreach, or STOR. The victory came with $25,000 in startup capital and in-kind services valued at more than $27,000.

“We are dedicated to the advancement of this technology,” Smyth says. “With life sciences, there is always considerable risk; however, the potential of our technology to improve treatment efficacy while reducing side-effects could revolutionize chemotherapy if successful.”

Smyth isn’t new to the risky business of entrepreneurship. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Syracuse University, he started Spirits of Syracuse Beverage Co., a distillery with a focus on making hard cider and related products. The business fell victim to a spike in apple prices, and he decided to explore other options in law school. But at UB he has worked at STOR and, he says, the ideas he encountered there “rekindled that desire to create and innovate. I thought that doing transactional work might be more constructive and rewarding than litigation.”

It was through STOR that he connected with biomedical engineering Assistant Professor Jonathan Lovell, who had conceived the drug-delivery system along with research assistant, Kevin Carter. Within the company, Carter and Dr. Lovell are responsible for the technical development, while Smyth leads business development. The team is working to refine a “smart” nano-balloon that delivers cancer treatments directly to solid tumors. The delivery technology is administered intravenously, then activated by exposure to a laser light releasing a payload therapeutic. The technology is initially focused on a drug to treat liver cancer.

Smyth has been responsible for developing the company’s financial model, business plan, and investor presentations, including the one that beat out more than 30 other competitors for the Panasci prize. Additionally, Smyth has created the company’s marketing identity– the company has a Facebook presence and a website – as well as helping to negotiate the demanding approval process of the federal Food and Drug Administration and the heavily regulated environment of the biomedical devices industry.

It’s a learning curve he has climbed partly on his own – reading books on biotech law and entrepreneurship – and partly with the assistance of others. “A lot of professionals in Buffalo have graciously offered their help in refining our presentations,” Smyth says. “It’s hard not to become an expert, because so many people are absolutely passionate and willing to share their knowledge. People have really been gracious with their time.”

As he ends his law school career, he has been taking classes that seem to apply, such as patent law and even a course on raising money.

The week after the Panasci competition, Smyth and his colleagues won second place in a statewide SUNY competition for entrepreneurial ideas, adding another $5,000 to their startup resources. They also plan to enter 43North, a Buffalo business incubator competition with a top prize of $1 million.

Over the course of the summer, Smyth will be participating in the inaugural class of the Buffalo Student Sandbox, a new accelerator program administered by the WNY Innovation Hotspot, operating out of the dig co-working space in the Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. Innovation Center.  The program will provide participants $2,000 in seed funding, a $300 weekly stipend, and the opportunity to compete for further funding.

“Developing this business is tremendously hard work, but we all are dedicated to its future and lifesaving potential,” Smyth says. “I’m very optimistic and hope that my passion pays off.”