URI Pharmacy student's drug delivery start-up earns funding

401 Tech Bridge, a business unit of the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation, recently
hosted pitch presentations by 13 aspiring entrepreneurs from across the University. The budding entrepreneurs, all students, worked with RISE-UP’s i(X)Studio at URI, an industry-based program that supports students, faculty, and the Rhode Island community in commercializing
entrepreneurial ideas.

The fall cohort of i(X)Studio students completed training and presented their business ideas in December at the premier i(X)Studio’s Entrepreneur’s Pitch Night in the URI library’s Galanti
Lounge.

A junior pharmacy student from Houston, Willy Njeru presented his business at the pitch night with the tagline, “where big things come from small packages,” appropriate for a student who came from a large state to the smallest to pursue his Pharm.D. degree.

Njeru came to URI hoping to explore the intersection of healthcare and business strategy. i(X)Studio offered him a place to do that, as well as funding for Nanovyx, a startup concept for a technology that uses bacterial molecules to carry antibiotics ($750).

“The special thing about this concept is that it uses natural mechanisms to improve drug delivery and overcome antimicrobial resistance,” Njeru said. “Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria are able to withstand the very drugs that are supposed to eliminate them. It is one of the most significant public health issues we are facing today, and it’s only getting worse. Nanovyx seeks to step up and combat this problem head-on.”

Njeru came up with the idea after researching how bacteria exchange molecules with one another in Professor David Rowley’s lab in the College of Pharmacy. The project sparked conversations about how to use the mechanism to carry drugs such as antibiotics, and led to the idea of
creating a technology platform that would design antibiotic-carrying molecules to help treat disease and save lives.

During the final weeks of the program, he and other participants were able to practice their pitches, receiving feedback from peers and local entrepreneurs, such as Tom Sperry, Rogue Venture Partners; Ted Howell, Howell Legal; Phil Magnuszewski, Infused Innovations; and Annette Tonti, RIHub.

“I’m truly grateful to the i(X)Studio, RIHub team, my project mentor Patrice Milos, and Dr. Rowley for providing the time, resources, and opportunities to explore my idea further,” Njeru said.

He said he was surprised by the success of his pitch, and also motivated.

“Now that there is a very basic business model in place, it’s time to get back into the lab and work on the technology itself,” Njeru said. “More data will need to be collected to prove the idea, and many technical aspects still need to be sorted out, but I’m optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead.”