Castor’s Fate to a Win

David McElroy, Ph.D., co-founder and COO of biotech startup Nova Synthetix

A young Durham agricultural biotechnology company’s non-toxic castor plants are on the cusp of a breakthrough that could reduce human suffering while expanding economic opportunity in North Carolina and around the world.

Nova Synthetix, started in 2012 with the help of a $50,000 Company Inception Loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, was judged the best of eight young N.C. companies competing in Thursday’s inaugural Ag Biotech Entrepreneurial Showcase.

The judges at the NCBiotech event were impressed with the far-reaching economic and health potential of the company’s approach for taking the toxins out of castor. So Nova Synthetix​ co-founder and COO David McElroy, Ph.D., won an automatic opportunity to pitch his company to investors and others at the 2014 life science conference co-sponsored Feb. 26 and 27 by NCBiotech, NCBio and CED.

McElroy’s winning pitch outlined the company’s unique approach for efficiently removing the castor toxin known as ricin, without genetic modification.

Laxatives to plastics, castor's hugely important

Castor is a hugely important industrial and food plant. Oil processed from castor seeds (commonly called castor beans) is used in everything from nylon and other kinds of plastics to soaps and food and medicine. Grown mostly in India, East Africa and the southeastern Mediterranean region, it causes widespread health problems among people who harvest it because of its ricin content. An adult can reportedly die from swallowing just four of the bean-sized seeds.

McElroy said Nova Synthetix already has a memorandum of understanding to work with a major castor seed production company in India, so he’s seeking $350,000 to help the startup hire some R&D help to complete the foundational work on the ricin-removal process during the next 12 months.

He noted that a ricin-free castor could also provide a valuable addition to North Carolina agriculture.

More than 125  ag biotech investors and other leaders from across the country came to the conference to network and hear pitches from Nova Synthetix and seven other fast-emerging North Carolina agricultural biotechnology companies.

The other companies showcased at the forum were:

Amanda Cashin, Ph.D., vice president for life science with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

Neal Gutterson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mendel Biotechnology, will delivered the keynote address on ag biotech entrepreneurship.

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