Akston Biosciences Corporation, dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health, and Purdue University, today announced a strategic partnership to co-develop an anti-cPD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) immunotherapy to treat cancer in dogs.
The underlying technology was developed at Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR). As one of only seven National Cancer Institute-designated Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers in the U.S., PICR focuses on foundational science that advances cancer detection, prevention and therapies. In the partnership, Akston has received an exclusive option to license the anti-cPD-L1 mAb and will serve as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) to further develop and produce the antibody at its facility in Beverly, Massachusetts.
A clinical trial evaluating the anti-cPD-L1 mAb is expected to begin later this year in companion dogs with bladder cancer. The trial will be conducted at Purdue and is supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute in the PRE-medical Cancer Immunotherapy Network Canine Trials Consortium (PRECINCT) U01 program, and by the Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center at Purdue University. Akston Biosciences will provide the anti-cPD-L1 mAb for the trial. The trial will confirm the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antitumor effects of the mAb. Parallel studies will be performed to determine the effects of the mAb on the anti-tumor immune responses in the dogs.
Through this partnership, Akston will add another potential therapy for treating cancer, expanding its rich pipeline of candidates for Animal Health conditions, including chronic pain, atopic dermatitis and obesity.
“Purdue Veterinary Medicine is an excellent partner for Akston as we seek to develop an array of new products to treat cancer in pets,” said Todd Zion, PhD, President & CEO of Akston Biosciences. “Through in-licensing, this opportunity demonstrates Akston’s commitment to add innovative products invented outside of Akston to our strong pipeline of homegrown therapeutics developed via Akston’s Ambifect® Fc-fusion platform.”
“Partnering with Akston to further develop and manufacture our cPD-L1 mAb is instrumental in developing this cancer therapy for dogs,” said Deborah Knapp, Director of the Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology. “Immune checkpoint blockade therapy, currently one of the most promising cancer immunotherapies, has shown remarkable clinical impact in multiple human cancer types. As a result, we expect that this mAb will have a strong impact in canine oncology as well.”
Food: it’s the only economy that touches every person the planet and ideally, we have a relationship with it three times a day. Despite that, many don’t know where their food comes from or its connection to the farm. Christy Wright, Director of Global Food at Corteva Agriscience, joins us today to connect the farmgate to the dinnerplate, the global challenge of food security and what dynamics play into the food economy.
Christy dives into what unites farmers and consumers: the desire for a safe, affordable food supply created sustainably. She also gets into the convergence of food and health, Corteva’s role in optimizing nutrition across the globe through farmer inputs and linking arms with food companies to optimize ingredients.
As food continues to optimize for health, what emerging trends excite Christy? She talks biologicals, regenerative agriculture and other “leveling up” solutions that create healthy crops that meet the needs of a growing population.
As for how the needs of farmers are being met on the other end of the value chain, Christy also gets into Corteva Catalyst, bringing innovation to market and what she sees as the next chapter of our food system.
Changing the game in their respective fields, all with the support of the Boilermaker ecosystem. That’s what three companies who recently received pre-seed investment from Purdue Innovates Ventures’ Black and Gold Fund and the Minerva Yeung and Boon-Lock Yeo Philanthropic Initiative Fund for Startup Investment all have in common.
Pre-seed funding is a crucial first step for startups to turn their ideas into reality and the Ventures team is proud to support Purdue-connected companies at these early, critical stages.
“The Purdue Innovates Ventures team supports venture scale Purdue-connected companies with the resources of the Purdue ecosystem,” said Danielle Salters, principal at Purdue Innovates Ventures. “In this difficult environment for capital-raising, we are excited to announce our investment in pre-seed Purdue-connected companies with strong teams and demonstrable traction addressing large problems aligned with the strengths of the university.”
The world is searching for sustainable, non-petroleum-based feedstocks for the chemicals industry and an Indiana-based company leveraging Purdue IP has the answer. FiberX is using corn stover, the agricultural by-product from Indiana’s rich corn fields, to produce bioindustrial resins and biocomposite plastics. These resins and plastics have a variety of potential uses across many industries.
The Purdue connection: FiberX is proud of their deep affiliations at Purdue including professors Jim Caruthers and Enrico Martinez, PhD candidate Rajdeep Deka from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. Wade Lange, co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, is a Purdue graduate (BS Pharmacy ‘79 and MSIA 1981) and former Chief Entrepreneurial Officer at PRF.
“This investment allowed FiberX to close its initial $1.0 million in funding. These funds allow FiberX to complete its plans to scale corn stover fiber production from our automated pilot plant to industrial scale production at an 800x improvement. We appreciate the persistent support of Dipak Narula of the Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Foundation, and numerous other departments across Purdue considering the potential uses of FiberX processed corn stover fiber.” — Dave Skibinski, CEO of FiberX.
You should know: FiberX is a Gilded Age opportunity as they are starting a new industry, founded in the state of Indiana. They are upcycling the value of corn stover from the state’s corn farms into a new feedstock for chemical products and other industries.
Today, at the Indiana State Fair the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) presented John Baugh, Director of Agricultural Services and Regulations at Purdue University, and Ed Ebert, Senior Director of Market Development for the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, with the state’s highest agricultural honor, the AgriVision Award.
Now in its 18th year, the award is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the agriculture industry and their communities.
“It was an honor to present John and Ed with the AgriVision Award,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Their vision has guided the foundation of this great industry, and not just statewide, but nationally. We would not be where we are today without their leadership and commitment to supporting agriculture.”
John Baugh has been a tireless advocate for Indiana agriculture for decades. A steady presence at the Indiana Statehouse for the last 35 years, his impact can be seen on legislation that directly impacts agriculture and rural communities. He has, and continues to work closely with state agencies, including the ISDA, State Board of Animal Health, Office of the State Chemist, and many others, to ensure the laws, rules and regulations passed by the Indiana Legislature are based on both science and common sense.
Baugh is a tireless advocate for Purdue University, Purdue Agriculture and agricultural education throughout the state. Through his efforts, Vincennes and Purdue created joint facilities located adjacent to the Purdue Southwest Agricultural Center in Knox County. Those facilities have enhanced Purdue’s impact on agriculture in the region and strengthened the long-standing relationship between the two institutions. Additionally, he played a key role in assisting the college’s efforts to secure legislative support for the new veterinary hospital. Over the years, Baugh has been the lead for lobbying to secure funding to support the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) in West Lafayette and the Heeke Diagnostic Laboratory located at the Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center (SIPAC) in Dubois County.
Throughout Baugh’s career, he has served as a tireless advocate on behalf of Indiana rural communities. When considering his exhaustive contributions to forming the Indiana Corn Checkoff Law, Indiana Grain Indemnity Fund, rural broadband efforts, chemical applicator licensing issues affecting producers and citizens alike, livestock challenges and agronomic sustainability opportunities, to name a few, Mr. Baugh has proven a reliable source of information for his fellow board members over the years.
“The strength of Indiana’s agricultural industry comes from the dedication, ingenuity and perseverance of Hoosiers and visionaries like John and Ed,” said Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. “Both awardees have dedicated their careers to moving the industry forward, and it was a privilege to honor them today.”
Ed Ebert goes many, many miles to serve the soybean and corn farmers of Indiana. He is always seeking new markets to move tons of Hoosier-grown soybeans and corn to customers both nearby and around the globe. Ebert’s duties are aimed at helping to increase farmer’s bottom line. To accomplish those goals, he goes the extra mile – in a big way. Ebert has buyers interested in Indiana’s corn and soy crops and related products on six continents, and he has traveled the circumference of the Earth more times than he can count.
In a typical month, you might find Ebert working on a deal with large scale venues to use high oleic soybean oil in their concessions, promoting food-grade soybeans in Indonesia, promoting soybean oil to the food industry in Korea, educating chefs in Vietnam about U.S. Poultry and Pork, promoting U.S. soy in aquaculture diets in China, promoting chicken, duck and turkey in Colombia, talking container export opportunities with the Ports of Indiana, leveraging contacts to coordinate international trade team visits to Indiana farms, promoting the benefits or ethanol and biodiesel or advising the ISA and ICMC CEO Courtney Kingery about crop yields and bushel prices.
Ebert represents Indiana producers well on a statewide and global stage. In fact, in 2023, he and the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council engaged with 31 countries representing 57% of the world’s population and 36% of gross domestic product to work on projects to move the pile. He has been an invaluable source of knowledge on international commodity markets and is an asset to all Indiana corn and soybean farmers.
For more information about the AgriVision Award, please click here or visit www.isda.in.gov.
Cooperatives and retailers have been critical infrastructure for agriculture for generations. Keystone Cooperative CEO, Kevin Still, joins today to discuss their key role on farming operations and how ag retail has evolved since its inception.
As on-farm technologies continue to advance so does its role in cooperatives’ product portfolio. Kevin dives into Keystone Cooperative’s approach to being a trusted advisor on products and solutions that create value for their farmers – from data management to labor.
Keystone Cooperative is just a few months old and Kevin gives an update on their people, processes and bringing synergies together. Looking ahead, he talks investing in new technologies at scale and being a conduit between emerging technologies and the farmer. He also gets into the next four decades of agriculture and a new evolution of the farmer.
Food – it’s the only economy in the world that touches every person on the planet and it’s foundational to human health. So much so that leaders across the economy are uniting the power of food to drive health. It’s a new category of innovation called Food is Health and the nation’s 2nd largest health insurer, Elevance Health, is investing in this area. Dr. Kofi Essel, Food as Medicine Director at Elevance Health, joins today to talk food preventing, managing and treating disease.
Poor diet is one of the leading risk factors for decreased quality of life and premature death. A former pediatrician, Kofi talks about food as medicine being great healthcare and social drivers of health being critical to what happens within the four walls of a doctor’s office. He also stresses the importance of thinking beyond those experiencing food insecurity to nutrition security – ensuring access to the right types of food for their overall health.
The innovative intersection of human health and food is headed for a revolution – and digital is a big piece of that. Kofi gets into Elevance Health’s role in this space and bridging the gap between nutrition supply and demand. As he speaks on hunger as a pervasive problem in the United States, Kofi talks about the innovative solutions that will be needed – and that includes the AgriNovus HungerTech Challenge – designed to create digital solutions that increase access to food and nutrition.
How will we know if food is health is making a difference? Kofi talks health outcomes data, costs of healthcare and thinking about nutrition equity no matter your location.
Innovation helps corn ‘speak’ by changing color to reveal latent plant infections
Insignum AgTech has begun a collaboration with researchers in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and College of Engineering to create tools for farmers to identify early stages of tar spot disease outbreaks in their corn plants.
The collaboration is supported by grants from the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and an Innovation Voucher from the state of Indiana.
Insignum CEO and Purdue alumnus Kyle Mohler said the work brings together expertise in three areas:
Insignum uses DNA already present in corn plants to develop a new gene that reveals infections at an early stage. The gene uses the plant’s innate response to a fungal spore to cause leaves to form purple spots at the site of infection about a week before disease symptoms can be identified.
C.D. Cruz, associate professor of botany and plant pathology, is one of the foremost experts in the U.S. in phenotyping tar spot in both greenhouse and field conditions. His work focuses on understanding the epidemiology of the disease. He and his team members Alex Acosta, Mariela Fernandez and Andrés Cruz of the Cruz Lab are inoculating Insignum corn with tar spot to test how the plants reveal the disease prior to the onset of symptoms.
Jian Jin, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, has developed LeafSpec, a patented, hand-held, hyperspectral plant leaf scanner that studies physical characteristics of plants, including early disease symptoms, nutrient deficiency and response to chemical treatments. He and his team will capture images of corn plants in the greenhouse to determine if the color changes can be seen faster and more clearly with the device.
Jin’s team also will develop algorithms that pick up the color changes from drone imagery in Insignum’s 2024 field trials. The work may produce intellectual property to enhance scouting efforts when Insignum commercializes its plant genes.
Tar spot and its damaging effects
Tar spot disease lessens a corn plant’s ability to absorb sunlight, thereby weakening the plant and reducing yield. The disease is caused by the Phyllachora maydis fungus. It creates raised, bumpy black spots called stromata on corn husks, leaves and stalks. Each individual stroma can produce thousands of fungal spores that can quickly infect other plants and fields.
Mohler said tar spot was first detected in the U.S. in 2015.
“By 2023 it was the most damaging pathogen to corn in the country,” he said. “Tar spot’s rate of spread, the amount of damage it causes and the fact many U.S. corn varieties aren’t resistant makes it the most concerning corn disease to American farmers.”
Mohler hypothesizes that Insignum’s technology will turn corn leaves purple to identify the presence of tar spot in a corn plant.
“Farmers can then treat their crops to prevent damage from this devastating disease,” he said. “Treating at the right time is critical to treat the disease. It is challenging to get correct.”
The collaboration is expected to last through the end of 2024.
AgriNovus Indiana, a nonprofit coalition focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today an addition and change to its board of directors.
The board unanimously approved the addition of Gil Farley, president and owner of Biodyne USA and BW Fusion, to the board and approved David Pugh, chief financial officer of AgReliant Genetics to replace an outgoing director.
“Indiana’s agbioscience economy continues to experience growth and strength thanks to the direction and support of the AgriNovus board of directors,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “The addition of Gil and Dave to our Board brings even more leadership and context to our team as we work to build the agbioscience economy of the future.”
Farley launched Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Biodyne USA in 2012 and BW Fusion in 2019 with a focus on using the power of environmental biotechnology in agriculture, bioremediation and groundwater. He previously held roles with several firms in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical industries. After growing up in Florida, Farley came to Indiana to attend Indiana Tech on a basketball scholarship, graduating in 1997 with a bachelor of science degree.
Pugh serves as vice president of finance and chief financial officer of AgReliant Genetics, overseeing the financial direction of the company on key, long-range strategies. Previously, he was treasurer and vice president of finance strategy and risk management for Elanco Animal Health, where he established the treasury and risk management teams upon Elanco’s IPO and spin off from Eli Lilly. Prior to Elanco, Pugh spent 24 years with Eli Lilly & Company where he held several positions in finance and information technology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Purdue University and a master of business administration from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
The AgriNovus Indiana board of directors is comprised of leaders from industry, academia and government. All members are listed online at www.AgriNovusIndiana.com/Board.
A team of researchers recently dug in to Indiana’s $69.6B agbioscience economy and its opportunities for growth well into the future – 2050, to be exact. Amanda Rose, agri-food systems lead for RTI International, joins us to elaborate on the newly released study, Accelerate 2050: A Vision for Indiana Agbioscience, and three defined opportunities for differentiated growth amid future uncertainty, including:
Farmer-Focused Innovation
Food is Health
BioInnovation
Why these opportunities? Amanda gets into the study’s methodology, marrying economic data with strategic foresight and creating the conditions for a future economy you want. These aren’t ideas bouncing off the wall but are grounded in existing assets that make Indiana unique. She also talks economic data, establishing a benchmark for future competitive analysis and how the data compares relative to other industries.
This study was largely about the future, so what’s ahead? Amanda talks about possible future scenarios for agbioscience on a global scale and the importance of operating and innovating at unique intersections to drive big outcomes – for people, plants, animals and the planet.
IBJ Media on Wednesday released its third annual Indiana 250, a list of the state’s most influential and impactful business and community leaders, representing public and private companies, law firms, universities, not-for-profits, government and community organizations.
The list, available at Indiana250.com, includes nearly 70 names that are new from last year. IBJ Media CEO Nate Feltman said that’s evidence that the people making an impact in Indiana are always growing and changing.
“It’s hard to choose just 250 people from among the thousands who work every day to make Indiana a better place to live and to work,” Feltman said. “But we believe the people on the Indiana 250 list are especially worthy of distinction. They are thinking big and driving change.”
The list was compiled by the executives, editors and newsroom staffs at IBJ Media’s three news brands — Indianapolis Business Journal, Inside INdiana Business and Indiana Lawyer — after a monthslong process that included reviewing nominations, researching Indiana organizations and talking with community leaders across the state.
The Indiana 250 will be celebrated at an exclusive reception featuring remarks by Vice President Mike Pence on July 17. Title sponsors of the event are CareSource, Ice Miller and Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Premier sponsors of the event are Aaron Wealth Advisors, Bank of America and Northwest Bank. The host sponsor is Salesforce.
IBJ Media launched the Indiana 250 program in 2022 and plans to continue updating the list annually.
“Creating this list is always inspiring because the people on it have so much passion for our communities and our state,” Feltman said. “One of our goals with the list is to make sure that we recognize people from across Indiana and from diverse industries and then make connections among them for the betterment of all Hoosiers.”
Among those returning to the list are CEOs of some of the state’s largest public and private companies, including David Ricks of Eli Lilly and Co., Gail Boudreaux of Elevance Health, Jennifer Rumsey of Cummins Inc., Dan Starr of Do it Best Corp., Kimberly Ryan of Hillenbrand, Chuck Magro of Corteva, Scott Davison of OneAmerica, Mark Millett of Steel Dynamics and Brent Yeagy of Wabash.
IBJ Media added a number of additional executives this year, including Curt Begle of Berry Global, Ellen Crabb of United Animal Health, Brad Moore of Roche Diagnostics Corp., R. Scott Brand of Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Brandi Davis-Handy of AES Indiana and Dave Bailey of OrthoPediatrics.
Indiana 250 Editor Lesley Weidenbener, who is also editor and assistant publisher of IBJ, said the list also recognizes leaders at not-for-profit organizations, industry groups, government agencies and smaller companies that have an outsized influence in Indiana. The list includes Hoosiers who are making an impact through health care, law, philanthropy, not-for-profit leadership and the arts.
Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark—who is drawing tens of thousands more fans to the WNBA—made the 2024 list, for example, even though she’s been in Indiana only a few months. So did Dennis Bland, president of the Center for Leadership Development which helps prepare Black youth for careers and college. And the Indiana 250 includes Kalen Jackson, a vice chair and co-owner of the Indianapolis Colts who is spearheading the team’s efforts to remove the stigma associated with mental health problems.
“We love welcoming people to the Indiana 250 who are impacting the state in non-corporate ways,” Weidenbener said. “We are a media company focused on business, and so of course our list is heavy on corporate executives. But the arts, philanthropy and charitable work are key parts of our larger community.”
Elected officials are not eligible for the list.
IBJ Media published profiles of the honorees in a magazine that will be distributed with the July 19 issue of the IBJ. The magazine is available for purchase for $50 at Indiana250.com. Indiana Lawyer subscribers will receive a discount on the book. All subscribers of IBJ, Inside INdiana Business and Indiana Lawyer can access the profiles and additional information online at Indiana250.com.
The Indiana 250 reception is invitation-only and closed to the media. Limited media access will be available from 5-6 PM in the Salesforce Tower lobby.
