Too Much Iron? Pharmacosmos Is Betting $225M on a New Potential Solution for That
Pharmacosmos is putting down $225 million to purchase AbFero, a spinout from Raymond Bergeron’s lab at the University of Florida. Its lead candidate, SP-420, recently completed Phase I safety studies as a treatment for transfusional iron overload.
Local Tech Startup Continues Breakthrough Success in Global Display Industry
UF startup and UF Innovate | The Hub resident Mattrix Technologies has found a way to use technology invented at UF to reduce OLED manufacturing costs for large screens and bring these incredible displays to a wider market.
Ultimate Goal of This Internship? Help Startup Save Lives

I learned about the importance of helping these medical professionals bring innovative cancer treatments to the market by building financial presentations that lead to the venture funding needed, in hopes to ultimately save lives.
Gainesville Tech Fund Selects Mattrix Technologies for Inaugural Investment

Mattrix Technologies is the first company targeted for investment by the newly established Gainesville Tech Fund, organized by venture capital firm Kirenaga. The investors in the fund include successful entrepreneurs and local business leaders.
UF Innovate’s Jim O’Connell Featured on Technology Transfer IP Podcast
Jim O’Connell, assistant vice president for Commercialization at UF Innovate is featured on Tech Transfer IP Forum Podcast, a space devoted to providing in-depth analysis of intellectual property issues related to university and non-profit technology transfer.
Economic Impact

Despite the pandemic, University of Florida researchers conducted record amounts of research in 2020 and companies born of UF research continued to bring billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the state.
AbFero Announces PK Study Results for SP-420 in Transfusional Iron Overload – Proceeds With Phase 1–2 Trial of Iron Chelator
UF startup AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating diseases of iron overload, announced it completed analysis of a 12-patient normal volunteer pharmacokinetic (PK) trial of its lead iron chelator, SP-420. The PK data confirmed that the doses of SP-420 planned for the company’s upcoming Phase 1-2 trial in patients with […]
Atsena Therapeutics Acquires Exclusive Rights to Gene Therapy for GUCY2D-Associated Leber Congenital Amaurosis
UF startup Atsena Therapeutics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on bringing the life-changing power of genetic medicine to reverse or prevent blindness, announced that it has acquired exclusive rights to a gene therapy targeting GUCY2D-associated Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA1), a genetic eye disease that affects the retina and is a leading cause of blindness […]
UF Innovate | Ventures Invests in AbFero Pharmaceuticals
The University of Florida’s newly established venture fund, directed by UF Innovate | Ventures, has invested part of its inaugural fund in AbFero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. UF Innovate Ventures is acting as a follow-on investor to the lead investor Longwall Ventures from the United Kingdom. AbFero’s therapeutic platform addresses transfusion-related iron overload and iron accumulation associated […]
UF Innovate | Ventures Announces Inaugural Investments; Follows JSR Corporation’s Repeat Investment in OLED Display Startup Mattrix Technologies
The University of Florida’s newly established venture fund, directed by UF Innovate | Ventures, has closed an investment in Mattrix Technologies. Repeat investor JSR Corporation is leading the $3M series A1 financing, which will support the joint development of production-ready materials for a new class of video display technology that promises to bring the true-to-life […]