Rebase BioTech, a new University of Minnesota Duluth startup, sprung from the student-driven labs of pharmaceutical sciences professor Venkatram Mereddy. After working for years to develop therapeutics for pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer, Mereddy decided to begin pursuing commercialization in 2023. With help from the University of Minnesota’s Technology Commercialization team, he established a startup and applied for patents.
Currently Rebase BioTech is testing 25 potential drugs with the hopes that at least one will be commercialized. Rebase BioTech has raised $1.2 million to date and is working to raise another $5 million to contract with a Food and Drug Administration-certified lab.