Innovation Prize Competition to be held in Dallas
The University of Texas at Arlington has partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to host the Innovation Prize Competition, a networking event and pitch competition for emerging life-science companies and bio-entrepreneurs to be held Oct. 13 at Pegasus Park in Dallas.
The full-day event will feature three Boehringer Ingelheim’s Grass Roots programs. Promising entrepreneurs and startup companies will begin the day receiving individual attention and mentorship from Boehringer Ingelheim representatives. In the afternoon, select semi-finalists will present posters to a voting audience that will choose the final competitors to participate in a panel discussion and pitch contest. The winning team will receive a one-year voucher for a prepaid bench at BioLabs at Pegasus Park’s shared laboratory space.
BioLabs at Pegasus Park—a new, fully equipped, 37,000-square-foot flexible life science co-working facility offering shared and private laboratory and office spaces for early-stage scientific ventures—is located in the heart of Dallas’ rapidly expanding innovation district. BioLabs will contribute to the building of the already thriving startup community in North Texas and position Dallas as the next major hub for biotech and health care innovation.
UTA is a gold-level sponsor for BioLabs at Pegasus Park. This three-year commitment was made possible by a charitable donation from Jon Weidanz, associate vice president for research, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation and director of Biotechnology and Systems Biology for the Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics, and his wife Debra Wawro Weidanz, alumna of the Department of Electrical Engineering and former CEO of Abexxa Biologics Inc.
“To my knowledge, this is the first innovation day competition at the new BioLabs at Pegasus Park,” Weidanz said. “It is a testament to UTA’s commitment to be a leader in the fledgling biotech and life sciences community in North Texas.”
Weidanz said that all inventors and emerging companies that are pursuing life-science therapeutic technologies and therapeutics are welcome to enter the competition. To qualify, participants must meet the following criteria:
- Companies must be founded and have their principal place of business in Texas, preferably in the Dallas area, and be willing to occupy BioLabs Pegasus Park.
- Companies cannot be capitalized over $2 million.
- Companies must not have a major partnership with another large bio-pharmaceutical company.
- Companies must be focused on new target concepts or drug discovery in any therapeutic indication. Please note that contract research organizations, diagnostics, instrument development and health information technology are excluded.
To learn more and apply, visit boehringer-ingelheim.com.
As a Carnegie R-1 and Texas Tier One institution, UTA endeavors to improve the world through the relentless pursuit of game-changing research and discovery. Its state-of-the-art, $125 million Science & Engineering Innovation & Research building opened in 2018, ushering in a new era of life and health science discovery focused on interdisciplinary research around major health science challenges such as brain health, cancer, cardiovascular health, healthy aging and rehabilitative medicine.
At the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute, the Division of Biomedical Technologies focuses on developing clinically relevant devices and systems that can be utilized by health care providers as well as patients to enhance diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation and preventive care.