Cancer treatment spinoff takes top honor in life science at Governor’s Business Plan Contest

Lynx Biosciences, a business aiming to refine treatment decisions for multiple myeloma, took the life science prize at the Governor’s Business Plan Contest during the 14th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison.

Lynx is developing technology to choose the chemotherapy drug most likely to benefit a blood cancer patient by analyzing how the tumor cells respond to drugs. Founder Chorom Pak says the company measures tumor cell survival, not biological markers, and therefore could be suitable to evaluate any drug.

“There were some strong competitors, so we were happy to be among the finalists,” says Pak. “It was tough to whittle down all our information into a seven-minute presentation. We made the top 25 last year, and this year, we had to refine our plan and to think about more business aspects.”

Pak received a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2013.

During the competition, 206 business plans from around the state were winnowed to 13 finalists.

Five plans from UW–Madison, in advanced manufacturing, information technology and life science, made the final round. Contestants that emerged from UW–Madison won the grand prize in 2014 (Elucent Medical) and 2015 (BluDiagnostics).

The top award this year went to Pat Hughes, a 2012 UW–Madison business graduate, for a thin, versatile lifejacket called Wingman.

The contest was organized by the Wisconsin Technology Council.