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Harvard University Expands Multifaceted Research Alliance with Northpond Labs to Advance Solutions in Healthcare
This collaboration will fund translational research, accelerate commercialization, and advance breakthrough healthcare innovations across multiple disciplines
Cambridge, MA, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvard University has expanded a research alliance agreement with Northpond Labs, the research and development-focused affiliate of Northpond Ventures, dedicated to advancing innovations with strong translational potential to improve medical care. Northpond Labs will provide significant funding for research across Harvard’s labs at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School (HMS), John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).
“Collaborations like this are essential for moving innovations from labs to real-world impact,” said John H. Shaw, Senior Vice Provost for Research at Harvard University and Chair of the Board of Directors at the Wyss Institute. “Industry support strengthens our ability to translate academic research into solutions that spark innovation in the healthcare industry and benefit patients.”
This expanded collaboration builds on the successful, innovative alliance established in 2020 between Northpond Labs and the Wyss Institute, which resulted in the creation of the Lab for Bioengineering Research and Innovation at the Wyss Institute. Through this initial alliance, Harvard, the Wyss, and Northpond Labs forged an effective academic-industry collaboration that provided significant support to project teams advancing high-value technologies towards commercialization. Notably, support for the Controlled Enzymatic RNA Synthesis project led to the founding of EnPlusOne Biosciences, a startup building a scalable enzymatic RNA synthesis platform designed to enable next-generation RNA therapeutics. Additional supported projects are still in development or stealth mode.
Leveraging the success and momentum created by the initial Wyss-Northpond relationship, the new alliance represents a significant expansion in scope and depth of involvement from labs at the Wyss and across HMS, FAS, and SEAS that are making strides in this space, thereby accelerating the translation of research across the University with a pathway to commercialization.
A significant portion of the new funding will be allocated to the Lab for Bioengineering Research and Innovation at the Wyss Institute, supporting scientists at the Wyss Institute and across Harvard’s schools, including HMS, FAS, and SEAS.
“We are thrilled to expand our alliance with Northpond Labs in fostering transformative, interdisciplinary technologies that can address some of healthcare’s most pressing challenges and to help expand this collaboration across broader parts of the Harvard ecosystem,” said Donald Ingber, MD, Ph.D., Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. “This university-wide support will leverage the Wyss model developed with Northpond to empower Harvard researchers to accelerate their discoveries from the lab to the clinic, ultimately benefiting patients worldwide.”
Additionally, Harvard Medical School will receive direct funding to help de-risk promising therapeutic drug candidates, thereby progressing their path to the clinic and advancing HMS's research and service missions.
“I am optimistic that this collaboration will help drive innovation in healthcare and move technologies closer to clinical use,” said George Daley, Dean of Harvard Medical School. “Northpond Labs’ investment will enable us to support research that has the potential to improve medical outcomes for those who matter most: patients and their families.”
Harvard Office of Technology Development established the framework for the expanded alliance for additional sponsored research with Northpond Labs, focused on advancing research toward commercialization and streamlining the path from discovery to impact.
“Our expanded alliance with Harvard reflects a long-term commitment to building the infrastructure that turns foundational science into industry-defining innovation.” said Mike Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., C.F.A., at Northpond Labs. “By partnering across the Wyss Institute, Harvard Medical School, SEAS, and FAS, we are helping to support a research ecosystem capable of delivering the transformative solutions of the coming years.”
About the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
A force of nature solving the world’s toughest challenges through biologically inspired innovation.
The Wyss Institute at Harvard University is a nonprofit research and development organization dedicated to translating groundbreaking discoveries from the lab into real-world solutions for human and planetary health. Since its founding in 2009, the Wyss has created a powerful pipeline of breakthrough technologies - from new cancer therapies to sustainable materials - by leveraging nature’s genius to tackle urgent global challenges. Through a unique model of radical collaboration across disciplines and a relentless focus on impact, the Wyss brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians, and industry leaders to accelerate innovations that improve lives and our environment.
About Harvard Office of Technology Development
Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) promotes the public good by fostering innovation and translating new inventions made at Harvard University into useful products that are available and beneficial to society. Our integrated approach to technology development comprises sponsored research and corporate alliances, intellectual property management, and technology commercialization through venture creation and licensing. More than 100 startups have launched to commercialize Harvard technologies in the past 5 years. To further bridge the academic-industry development gap, OTD jointly oversees the Harvard Grid and manages three accelerator funds – the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, the Harvard Grid Accelerator, and the Climate and Sustainability Translational Fund. For more information, please visit https://otd.harvard.edu.
For media inquiries, please contact: Kirsten Mabry, Kirsten_Mabry@Harvard.edu or Alexandra Jirstrand, alexandra.jirstrand@wyss.harvard.edu
Benjamin Boettner Wyss Institute at Harvard University benjamin.boettner@wyss.harvard.edu
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