Of the 11 companies participating in the spring cohorts of the Drive program run by MassBio and SCbio, eight have locations in Massachusetts. One cohort focuses on biotech and the other on biomarkers and diagnostics.
Eleven life sciences startups have been selected for the latest cohorts of Drive, a national accelerator program meant to propel breakthrough science while equipping founders with tools for long-term success. Since launching in 2022, Drive has supported 59 early-stage companies—70 including the newly announced cohorts—that have collectively raised $290 million in funding.
Massachusetts trade association MassBio and partner SCbio, an economic development organization in South Carolina, revealed the new participants March 31. MassBio will oversee the biotech group of five companies, while SCbio will lead the biomarkers and diagnostics cohort of six businesses. Of the 11 startups, eight have locations in Massachusetts.
All selected companies must have received less than $1.5 million in equity-based funding when applying for the program. In addition, the intellectual property for their science or technology had to be owned or accessed through a license agreement or an option agreement to negotiate a license agreement.
The free eight-week Drive program features six industry-specific curriculum modules taught by industry experts, including representatives from Eli Lilly, Labcorp and Thermo Fisher Scientific. There are also weekly sessions with mentors who will serve as an advisory board for the course of the program and in-person demo days in Boston and Charleston, South Carolina. In addition, through a new partnership between MassBio and ADA Forsyth Institute, one Drive graduate will receive a sponsored lab bench for one year at the nonprofit research organization’s Somerville, Massachusetts, facility.
“The science in this cohort reflects where drug development is headed: next-generation biologics, RNA medicines, precision-targeted ADCs, and a renewed focus on cardiovascular disease that the field has too long underinvested in,” MassBio CEO and President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell said in the cohort announcement. “Even as the funding environment remains challenging, we’re seeing founders push the modality frontier in ways that could fundamentally change how we treat some of the most complex diseases.”
Regarding his organization’s involvement in the national accelerator program, SCbio President and CEO James Chappell said, “Drive will give this cohort of diagnostic and biomarker companies the chance to experience the infrastructure, talent, and partnerships that South Carolina offers to accelerate real-world impact.”
