Impacting patients on a larger scale: Evan Scott embraces INVO’s assistance to translate his biomedical research into patient impact at the population level.
My network had limited access to investors or industry partners... That’s where INVO has been invaluable with its support and guidance.”
Evan Scott
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering
Once a pre-med biomedical engineering undergraduate with clinical ambitions, Evan Scott became intrigued by the potential of basic science to help larger populations lead healthier lives – so much so he shifted his postgraduate plans from medical school to translational research.
And since joining Northwestern’s faculty ranks in 2013, Scott has been pursuing that work in earnest.
In his Northwestern-based lab, Scott investigates the basic immunological processes contributing to diverse inflammation-driven pathologies and he uses engineering and materials-based strategies to develop targeted therapeutic approaches to combat heart disease, vaccination, and immune dysregulation.
Over the last seven years, Scott has worked with INVO to push his enterprising efforts from the lab to the marketplace.
Beginning in 2016, INVO helped Scott protect intellectual property (IP) coming out of his lab, specifically his development of a novel synthetic drug carrier platform for subcutaneous nanotherapy. An INVO-assigned IP representative walked Scott through the U.S. patent process, including evaluating current patents, submissions, and responses to critiques on a bimonthly basis. As a result, Scott’s lab has generated over 20 provisional and non-provisional patents, several of which are currently moving onto internationalization.
In the years since, INVO has continued supporting Scott and his intensifying entrepreneurial ambitions.
Through the INVOForward program, Scott formulated his ideas and prepared for the launch of SNC Therapeutics. With its broad gene and drug delivery platform, SNC taps into surging interest in nonviral synthetic nanocarrier (SNC) systems to addresses issues with toxicity, scalability, and payload stability inherent to current viral and lipid nanoparticle vehicles.
INVO also helped Scott cultivate relationships within the Chicago startup ecosystem, particularly with Portal Innovations, AbbVie Ventures, and General Inception. These introductions to the broader investment community, administrative support, and battle-tested counsel culminated in SNC capturing the highly competitive AbbVie Innovation Midwest (AIM) Award in 2022. The AIM Award provided investment from AbbVie Ventures and support from AbbVie Research and Development, which contributed to SNC’s smooth launch in December 2023.
Scott’s ongoing collaboration with INVO continues inching SNC closer to commercialization of its key technologies, including a cancer gene therapy currently in animal testing. SNC will soon join the Querrey InQbation Lab, where access to additional resources, support, and space promises to catalyze SNC’s growth and position Scott to accomplish his goal of achieving global patient impact.