Slater invests $250K in biotech startup

By PBN Staff

PROVIDENCE – The Slater Technology Fund announced today it has invested $250,000 in Sentient Bioscience, a biotechnology startup developing technology for embolization therapy and site-specific drug delivery to treat cancer and other diseases.

Providence-based Sentient was co-founded by two Brown University professors, Timothy P. Murphy and Edith Mathiowitz, and Jean-Francois H. Geschwind, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. The company was incorporated in August 2008 as Sentient Technology Inc.

“Sentient is bringing together world-class polymer chemistry capabilities with recognized leaders in interventional radiology,” Richard G. Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Fund, said in a statement. “The company is setting the stage for one of the more powerful combinations in life science startups – biomedical engineers collaborating directly with clinical researchers to accelerate the transfer of leading-edge technologies from the laboratory to the patient.”

Murphy said: “We are very grateful for the support from the Slater Technology Fund in launching this new venture.” He added that the company hopes “to build upon the outstanding reputation for clinical and research excellence which has been established here in Rhode Island.”

The Slater Technology Fund is a state-backed venture capital fund that invests in new companies committed to basing and building their businesses in Rhode Island. For more information, visit www.SlaterFund.com.