Selected news & updates
2021
Ridgeline Therapeutics receives Catalyst Award for Healthy Longevity from U.S. National Academy of Medicine to accelerate development of novel treatments to restore muscle strength and improve wellness in aging adults. Today (Sept 22, 2021), the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM) selected Ridgeline Therapeutics as an awardees of a 2021 Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award. The awards are part the Healthy Longevity Global Competition, a multiyear, multistage, and multimillion-dollar international competition seeking potential breakthrough innovations aiming to extend human health and function later in life. NAM, in coordination with leading international medical societies, launched this competition in 2019 to ‘kickstart innovation by the world’s greatest minds’ to support worldwide healthy longevity. 
In September, Ridgeline Therapeutics received an ~$4M U44 award from the US NIH National Institute on Aging to accelerate development of its muscle regeneration drugs. Ridgeline’s non-dilutive funding in the past 24 months has now topped $10M. 
2020
Ridgeline was selected and sponsored by the NIH Office of Small Business Research (SBIR/STTR)  to deliver a video presentation at BIO Digital (Jun 8-12, 2020) and be a lead participant in the BIO/NIH Innovation Zone. This sponsorship is part of NIH's recent initiative to highlight highly innovative emerging biotech companies.
​May, 2020 - Ridgeline was among the first companies selected by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute for Aging (NIA) Office of Small Business Research for inclusion in their showcase of innovative biotech companies.
Ridgeline was one of 10 emerging therapeutics companies selected for the Biotech Showcase at the Longevity Leaders World Conference (Apr 21-22, 2020) in London, England. With COVID-19 restrictions, Ridgeline delivered a virtual presentation to conference participants. 
2019
Dr. Watowich was invited to speak at the conference "ADME: Lead Characterization and Optimization" (Houston, TX; Oct 29, 2019).  He will discuss Ridgeline's PK/PD strategy to developing small molecule drugs.
Dr. Watowich is giving a keynote presentation at the "4th Annual European Drug Discovery Strategic Summit" (Munich, Germany; Oct 16-17, 2019). He will discuss Ridgeline's advanced computational strategy to developing small molecule drugs.
STTR/SBIR funding was just awarded funding from the US NIH National Institute on Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases to advance novel mechanism-of-action small molecule drug candidates as treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Dr. Watowich was invited to present at the recent "Outsourcing Clinical Trials" conference (Houston, TX; Sept 11-12, 2019).
"This Houston biotech company hopes to one day fix your aging muscles" by Alice Levitt highlighted in InnovationMap (Mar 6, 2019)
In February, Ridgeline announced receipt of a $4.2M peer-reviewed award from the US Department of Defense to advance on of its small molecule therapeutics to first-in-human clinical studies. 
Peer-reviewed publication showing efficacy of lead compound at rejuvenating muscle stem cells in aged animals, leading to a 2-fold increase in muscle fiber size and a 70% increase in muscle strength. H Neelakantan, CR Brightwell, TG Graber, R Maroto, ,  H-YL Wang, SF McHardy, J. Papaconstantinou, CS Fry, SJ Watowich. Small molecule nicotinamide N-methyltransferase inhibitor activates senescent muscle stem cells and improves regenerative capacity of aged skeletal muscle. Biochemical Pharmacology. in press 2019. DIO: 10.1016/j.bcp.2019.02.008
Curiosity Stream, home of award-winning documentaries, named NNMT inhibitor technology that selectively reduces adipose tissue in obese animals one of the top-100 science discoveries of 2018.
Ridgeline Therapeutics was invited to participate in, and present at, the Biotech Showcase (Jan 6-9, 2019), the exclusive investor conference being held in San Francisco alongside J.P. Morgan Healthcare 2019.  If you would like to see the exciting leading-edge progress we are making in rejuvenating aging muscle stem cells, please stop by our presentation (Monday, January 7 at 10:15 AM in the Franciscan B room of the Hilton San Francisco Union Square). 
2018
Dr. Watowich traveled to Suzhou and Shanghai (China) in November to meet with investors and biotech leaders as follow-up to the US-China Investment and Innovation Summit. During this visit, Ridgeline was one of 21 companies selected to  participate in the Innovation Forum Grand Finals event jointly sponsored by  US and Chinese governments. The 21 companies were selected from over 1200 early- and mid-stage US high-tech companies in the areas of biotechnology,  advanced manufacturing, sustainability, IT, AI, next-gen communications, new materials, renewable energy, and healthcare.
Dr. Watowich, Ridgeline's Founder, is speaking on Oct. 5 at the "Regenerative Medicine in Aging" symposium (Rice University). He will discuss progress in developing new drugs to treat age-related muscle degeneration.
STTR/SBIR funding was just received from the US National Institute on Aging to advance our novel mechanism-of-action small molecule drug candidates as first-ever treatments to reverse age-related muscle degeneration and sarcopenia.
SBIR/STTR funding was just received from the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to advance novel mechanism-of-action small drug candidate as a new treatment for obesity-linked type 2 diabetes.
Medical Discovery News, the highly-respected and widely-followed broadcast about medical advances, recently (July 27, 2018) discussed our technology on their show. This episode was broadcast on NPR and numerous other radio stations, and is available by podcast or audio-file.
Ridgeline's technology, in particular its anti-obesity (and anti-Type 2 diabetes drug technology) was selected to the prestigious Top 100 Science Spinoffs list for 2018 by the non-profit Spinoff.com, a leading information source to global investors and multinational corporations. Spinoff evaluated over 5,000 global science spinoffs and selected our technology according to the following criteria: uniqueness of the technology/product, high commercial potential and positive impact to the humanity’s well-being. 
Ridgeline Therapeutics was awarded first place among the dozens of companies presenting at the 2018 US-China Investment and Innovation Summit held May 14-15 in Houston. As part of its award, Ridgeline Therapeutics will tour several Chinese cities to meet with investors and biomedical leaders.
Ridgeline Therapeutics was selected as a finalist in the 2018 Diabetes Innovation Challenge, a world-wide competition to identify, nurture and advance innovative scientific and clinical solutions for diabetes.  We will present our technology  to a select panel of judges at a public event on May 21, 2018, in Cambridge, MA. The Diabetes Innovation Challenge is sponsored in part by the Helmsley Charitable Trust, JDRF, American Diabetes Association, Eli Lilly and Company and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.
"Pill to shrink your fat in the works" video by Haley Hernandez at KPRC Channel 2 News (Feb 22, 2018)
"New Drug May Be Ultimate Pharmaceutical Grail For People With Obesity" by Deirdre O'Donnell in Evolving Science (Jan 24, 2018)
"When You Hit A Weight Loss Plateau, New Medical Research Could Help You Break Through" interview by David Brown and article by Alexandra Hart at The Texas Standard & National Public Radio (Jan 15, 2018)
"Anti-Obesity and Diabetes Drug Shows Promise in Early Experiments" by Kelsey Lindsey in Seeker (Jan 10, 2018)
"New Drug Could Shrink Harmful Fat Cells" by Honor Whiteman in MedicalNewsToday (Jan 8, 2018)
"UTMB Develops Anti-obesity Drug to Shrink Fat Without Eating Less" video by ABC13 Eyewitness News (Jan 5, 2018)
Peer-reviewed publication showing efficacy of lead compound at reducing fat mass and overall body weight in diet-induced obese mice. H Neelakantan, V Vance, MD Wetzel, H-YL Wang, SF McHardy, CC Finnerty, JD Hommel, SJ Watowich. Selective and membrane-permeable small molecule inhibitors of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase reverse high fat diet-induced obesity in mice. Biochemical Pharmacology. 147, 141-52, 2018. DIO: 10.1016/j.bcp.2017.11.007
2017
Peer-reviewed publication detailing the development of potent NNMT inhibitors. H Neelakantan, H-YL Wang, V Vance, JD Hommel, SF McHardy, SJ Watowich. Structure–activity relationship for small molecule inhibitors of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase. J. Medicinal Chemistry. 60, 5015-5028, 2017. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00389