CBID startup awarded $500,000

Glyscend, Inc., a startup company with roots in the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, was selected from nearly 500 proposals to receive $500,000 in grant money from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC’s World Without Disease QuickFire Challenge.

The goal of the challenge was to “find up-and-coming scientists, companies and entrepreneurs from around the world with the most inventive approaches to helping solve today’s pressing healthcare needs,” Johnson & Johnson has stated.

Glyscend is creating a pill that can potentially reverse type 2 diabetes and fight obesity, which are two of the world’s largest health issues. The pill works by lining a part of the small intestine that’s involved in glucose regulation, preventing food from contacting intestinal cells in a particular region of the gut. This allows the pancreas to maintain typical blood glucose levels and release smaller amounts of insulin.

The objective for creating this pill was to find a less invasive method that mimics the barrier created when patients have a sleeve implanted in their small intestine, a procedure to aid in weight loss.

This grant will allow Glyscend to refine its technology, and begin clinical trials to examine how the technology impacts those suffering from diabetes and obesity.