The Texas Medical Center's Innovation Institute named 15 Texas companies to its new cancer-focused accelerator program. Photo courtesy of TMCx

The Texas Medical Center named 15 groundbreaking researchers and companies to its inaugural class of the Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics on Thursday. All hail from the Lone Star State.

The ACT program is the only accelerator focused on cancer treatment at the earliest stages of commercialization, thanks to a $5 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awarded to the TMC in the fall of 2019.

The nine-month program kicked-off at the end of January and will be run by TMC Innovation, according to a release from the TMC. It aims to provide the class with resources to help their oncology biotech projects reach new milestones, including even commercialization.

The inaugural cohort is made up of companies and researchers exploring immunotherapy, cell therapy, targeted therapy, cancer pain, and drug platforms. The group is split about evenly between companies and academic researchers. The group of Texans includes:

  • Raptamer Discovery Group
  • IDA Therapeutics
  • Elbrus Therapeutics
  • Parthenon Therapeutics
  • Lokesh Battula
  • Aumeta
  • Autoimmunity Biologic Solutions
  • Max Mamonkin
  • Qing Yi
  • Astero Alta
  • TEZCAT Laboratories
  • Anil Sood
  • Coactigon
  • Xiadong Cheng
  • IonTx

At the end of the nine months, the class will present an integrated strategic plan and at least one grant submission. They will also have the opportunity to pitch investors and corporations.

The class will also gain support in grant writing, chemistry, and funding opportunities, as well as mentorship.

"As the past year has shown, the pace of scientific discovery can be blistering," says Tom Luby, director of TMC Innovation. "At the same time, successfully translating research into effective therapies available to patients requires a mix of business, technical and regulatory skills that may not typically be available to researchers.

"By linking the participants with mentors who can both advance their scientific work and support the technical needs, we expect this first class of ACT participants will make a meaningful difference for cancer patients in Texas and beyond."

TMCx, which is also run by TMC Innovation, recently announced seven health tech companies that were selected to its 2021 class of its health tech accelerator.

Broader in scope that the ACT accelerator, the TMCx startups focus on an array of subject matters from heart health to artificial intelligence to extremity rehabilitation.

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Houston startup taps strategic partner to produce novel 'biobased leather'

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A Houston-based next-gen material startup has revealed a new strategic partnership.

Rheom Materials, formerly known as Bucha Bio, has announced a strategic partnership with thermoplastic extrusion and lamination company Bixby International, which is part of Rheom Material’s goal for commercial-scale production of its novel biobased material, Shorai.

Shorai is a biobased leather alternative that meets criteria for many companies wanting to incorporate sustainable materials. Shorai performs like traditional leather, but offers scalable production at a competitive price point. Extruded as a continuous sheet and having more than 92 percent biobased content, Shorai achieves an 80 percent reduction in carbon footprint compared to synthetic leather, according to Rheom.

Rheom, which is backed by Houston-based New Climate Ventures, will be allowing Bixby International to take a minority ownership stake in Rheom Materials as part of the deal.

“Partnering with Bixby International enables us to harness their extensive expertise in the extrusion industry and its entire supply chain, facilitating the successful scale-up of Shorai production,” Carolina Amin Ferril, CTO at Rheom Materials, says in a news release. “Their highly competitive and adaptable capabilities will allow us to offer more solutions and exceed our customers’ expectations.”

In late 2024, Rheom Materials started its first pilot-scale trial at the Bixby International facilities with the goal of producing Shorai for prototype samples.

"The scope of what we were doing — both on what raw materials we were using and what we were creating just kept expanding and growing," founder Zimri Hinshaw previously told InnovationMap.

Listen to Hinshaw on the Houston Innovators Podcast episode recorded in October.

Justice Department sues to block Houston-based HPE's $14B buyout of Juniper

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The Justice Department sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion acquisition of rival Juniper Networks on Thursday, the first attempt to stop a merger by a new Trump administration that is expected to take a softer approach to mergers.

The Justice complaint alleges that Hewlett Packer Enterprise, under increased competitive pressure from the fast-rising Juniper, was forced to discount products and services and invest more in its own innovation, eventually leading the company to simply buy its rival.

The lawsuit said that the combination of businesses would eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation.

HPE and Juniper issued a joint statement Thursday, saying the companies strongly oppose the DOJ's decision.

“We will vigorously defend against the Department of Justice’s overreaching interpretation of antitrust laws and will demonstrate how this transaction will provide customers with greater innovation and choice, positively change the dynamics in the networking market,” the companies said.

The combined company would create more competition, not less, the companies said.

The Justice Department's intervention — the first of the new administration and just 10 days after Donald Trump's inauguration — comes as somewhat of a surprise. Most predicted a second Trump administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to mergers and deal-making after years of hypervigilance under former President Joe Biden’s watch.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced one year ago that it was buying Juniper Networks for $40 a share in a deal expected to double HPE’s networking business.

In its complaint, the government painted a picture of Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a company desperate to keep up with a smaller rival that was taking its business.

HPE salespeople were concerned about the “Juniper threat,” the complaint said, also alleging that one former executive told his team that “there are no rules in a street fight,” encouraging them to “kill” Juniper when competing for sales opportunities.

The Justice Department said that Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper are the U.S.'s second- and third-largest providers of wireless local area network (WLAN) products and services for businesses.

“The proposed transaction between HPE and Juniper, if allowed to proceed, would further consolidate an already highly concentrated market — and leave U.S. enterprises facing two companies commanding over 70% of the market,” the complaint said, adding that Cisco Systems was the industry leader.

Many businesses and investors accused Biden regulatory agencies of antitrust overreach and were looking forward to a friendlier Trump administration.

Under Biden, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block a $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons that would have been the largest grocery store merger in U.S. history. Two judges agreed with the FTC’s case, blocking the proposed deal in December.

In 2023, the Department of Justice, through the courts, forced American and JetBlue airlines to abandon their partnership in the northeast U.S., saying it would reduce competition and eventually cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. That partnership had the blessing of the Trump administration when it took effect in early 2021.

U.S. regulators also proposed last year to break up Google for maintaining an “abusive monopoly” through its market-dominate search engine, Chrome. Court hearings on Google’s punishment are scheduled to begin in April, with the judge aiming to issue a final decision before Labor Day. It’s unclear where the Trump administration stands on the case.

One merger that both Trump and Biden agreed shouldn’t go through is Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel. Biden blocked the nearly $15 billion acquisition just before his term ended. The companies challenged that decision in a federal lawsuit early this year.

Trump has consistently voiced opposition to the deal, questioning why U.S. Steel would sell itself to a foreign company given the regime of new tariffs he has vowed.