MESH Strategic Partnerships
Strategic Partnerships

Autobahn Partnership

Connect and Collaborate!

From Early-Stage Discovery to Startup

USC has partnered with Autobahn Labs to transform promising early-stage research into breakthrough therapies for conditions with significant unmet needs. This partnership provides funding and expertise to advance and de-risk novel drug discovery programs, leveraging cutting-edge technology to move these projects toward clinical development.

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Program Information

  • Applicant: Faculty whose employer is USC and who has an obligation to assign intellectual property (IP) rights to USC, are eligible to apply.

    • Therapeutics: Focus on therapeutics development
    • Disease Area: All disease areas are considered
    • Modality: The program is modality agnostic, allowing for diverse approaches.
    • Intro Calls: No requirement for a polished deck or formal proposal to initiate discussions.
    • Real-Time Feedback: Present proposals directly to the extended Autobahn science team for immediate, constructive feedback.
    • Expert Advisory Board: The Scientific Advisory Board consists of industry veterans with 20-40 years of drug discovery experience, who will guide the project.
    • De-Risking & Value Maximization: Autobahn helps identify key preclinical experiments to mitigate risk and maximize value.
    • Collaboration on Workplans: Workplans are built in collaboration with both academic and strategic partners, ensuring a comprehensive approach.

Overview

Autobahn Labs was created by Samsara BioCapital, a leader in life sciences investments, and Charles River Laboratories, a global leader in drug discovery and development research. They partner with leading research institutions to accelerate the advancement of novel science into transformational therapies. They invest intellectual and financial capital, applying a proven framework to efficiently move projects from hypothesis to drug candidates.

At Autobahn Labs, they combine industry experts with a world class drug discovery team at Charles River Laboratories, a leader in the drug discovery field with more than 75 years of integrated drug discovery expertise, to move your ideas forward. From medicinal chemistry and genomics to proteomics, CRISPR/shRNA and beyond, their team of drug hunters has a broad range of expertise and a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding concept validation, data replication and research design.

Their investment is fueled by Samsara BioCapital, a prominent life sciences venture capital firm. They also provide up to $1 million in initial investment and up to $5 million in follow-on investment. Their investors are experienced in drug discovery and development and maintain a long-term investment vision consistent with the drug development lifecycle.

For more information contact: Camilo Ansarah-Sobrinho (camilo.ansarah@med.usc.edu).