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SCRA awards first private-school grant to Furman startup

Staff Report //April 14, 2020//

SCRA awards first private-school grant to Furman startup

Staff Report //April 14, 2020//

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Furman senior Trent Stubbs and chemistry professor Greg Springsteen were awarded the first S.C. Research Authority grant offered to a private school for the start-up of Aconabolics LLC.

The duo founded Aconabolics two years ago after they discovered a new process for producing molecules used in a technology called metabolic flux analysis, which can be used to rapidly diagnose cancer and bacterial infections, according to a news release. Their technique not only streamlines the process but also holds potential for developing the necessary molecules at a much lower cost.

Furman senior Trent Stubbs and chemistry professor Greg Springsteen were awarded the first S.C. Research Authority grant offered to a private school for their life sciences startup. (Photo/Provided)“We are voting on the technology. We are voting on the credibility they have, their market, how innovative they are,” SCRA Investment Manager Steve Johnson said in the news release. “Faster, cheaper, better — that’s what we’re always looking for, especially in health care. The future of health care is going to be better outcomes at a lower cost, and this fits directly into that.”

The $25,000 grant stems from the SCRA’s Academic Startup Assistance Program for academic-powered for-profit companies and will be used for further technology development and automation. If all goes well for Aconabolics, it may lay the groundwork for commercialization of the technology, according to the release. If granted, two patents for the processes used by Aconabolics will be Furman’s second and third in history.

“This is huge, because it shows a vote of confidence by SCRA not only in this venture and what its potential is but also in the work that we’ve been doing through Furman Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” Anthony Herrera, executive director of Furman Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said in the release.