Ceramedix, Inc., a privately-held biotherapeutics company developing proprietary anti-ceramide antibodies designed to treat diseases driven by microvascular injury, today announced that it has completed the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business’ highly selective Endless Frontier Labs (EFL) 2024-2025 accelerator program. Ceramedix’s lead therapeutic program focuses on diabetic retinal disease, a microvascular complication driven by chronic hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia that disrupts retinal homeostasis and leads to progressive vision loss. Ceramedix’s lead drug candidate is engineered for early intervention in non-vision-threatening diabetic retinal disease (NVTDR), delivering therapeutic benefit through systemic administration to target underlying microvascular dysfunction. In the U.S., alone, NVTDR afflicts more than 7.5 million diabetic patients.
EFL is designed to optimize each participating startup’s potential to scale into a successful company through a goal-driven mentoring process. Its mentors include experienced entrepreneurs who have built and exited successful companies, world-renowned scientists and technical experts, and prominent venture capital and angel investors. Ceramedix was one of only 79 ground-breaking companies, chosen from over 70,000 science and technology startups across more than 120 countries and regions selected, which completed the most recent program.
Charles L. Dimmler, III, Executive Chairman of Ceramedix, noted, “With the advice of EFL mentors, we benefitted significantly from their thorough attention and expert guidance relevant to our product development and financial strategies. Their experience and insights enabled us to refine our business plan and our essential message; and to strengthen our financing prospects. We extend our sincere thanks to our mentors, and to the participating NYU Stern faculty, MBA students and the rest of the remarkable group of companies in the latest Life Sciences track, for this unique opportunity. We are continuing to progress our proof of concept work and intend to raise capital in order to move us closer to our goal of submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the future.”
“Our mission is to bridge the gap between science and markets. We believe business strategy, validation by scientific peers, and connections to investors are critical for the successful commercialization of scientific breakthroughs. To that end, EFL provides founders access to an unparalleled network of business coaches, scientists, investors, and Stern MBA students to help transform their ideas into high-growth businesses,” said NYU Stern Professor Deepak Hegde, Founding Director of EFL.