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Rockridge® attorney Kevin Christopher’s early career work involved commercializing novel artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Years later, after founding Rockridge as a law firm uniquely positioned at the nexus of impact + innovation, Christopher has launched his own AI/ML company called QUANTiSCOPE. Recognizing the significant need for implementation of AI/ML models in drug discovery and development, the federal Biological Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has invited QUANTiSCOPE to participate in its inaugural DRIVe accelerator program through First Flight Venture Center. QUANTiSCOPE takes concepts used in applications like facial recognition, where 80 pattern nodes of a face are statistically analyzed to confirm identity, and applies it to analyze 10,000 features of a cell, identifying and even predicting mechanistic drugging activity within a cell just from its outward appearance. QUANTiSCOPE ushers in a new approach to drug discovery, with downstream applications in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Christopher’s work with QUANTiSCOPE is further example of how the Tech Lawyers for Good at Rockridge actually walk the walk with business and technology experience. Rockridge’s corporate, founder and investor clients can be confident that their attorneys offer cutting edge business and legal counsel, not just boilerplates and legal recitations. Rockridge works with select clients to enable profitable, transformative technologies that make the world a better place.

About QUANTiSCOPE

QUANTiSCOPE solves time, money, and accuracy problems in drug discovery through automated imaging analysis of targeted cells. We enable seamless AI imaging analysis into therapeutic pipeline workflows to increase hits, enhance optimization timelines, save money, extend patent life, and save lives. Morphological analysis has vast potential but is highly underutilized in drug discovery. AI imaging can improve hit and optimization timelines and prioritize investment, but few biotechs employ imaging experts or can implement machine learning workflows. We make the morphological structures of the microscopic world matter, ushering in a new mode of drug discovery.

QUANTiSCOPE is uniquely commercializing universal machine learning models. These models are inspired by those first developed at the Broad Institute in connection with pioneering cell painting techniques. We are automating them as a cloud service that allows researchers to upload phenotypic images of cells and tissues for screening of drug activity based on phenological data analysis. Prior collaborations with the biopharma industry at the Broad have shown that automating these models increases cellular analysis accuracy and drastically reduces time and investment necessary for teams to implement imaging potential into their workflows.

Under the BARDA DRIVe accelerator program, we are developing a SaaS platform for high-throughput, automated AI imaging analysis that can easily be implemented into applied and basic research workflows. AI imaging has the potential to vastly supplement if not completely replace more mechanical methods in hit selection and optimization. QUANTiSCOPE will further develop proprietary models for different cell types and structural morphologies, and ultimately will be positioned for clinical implementation as the regulatory landscape shifts in response to technological advances. We are seeking $300k for MVP development that will position us for early 2023 pilot studies and investment opportunities within BARDA and elsewhere.

About Kevin Christopher

Kevin is the founder and principal of Rockridge®, a 4x B Corp Best For The World and Real Leaders Top 150 global impact company. He is annually recognized as a SuperLawyer, and has received numerous professional awards ranging from Conscious Company Magazine’s Top Business Leader to the Federal Lab Consortium’s technology license Deal of the Year. He has been profiled in B the Change, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, Sustainable Brands, and many other media outlets highlighting sustainability and technology leaders. He is widely recognized for his thought leadership and initiatives at the nexus of impact and innovation.

Impact + Innovation Credentials

An entrepreneur-attorney, Kevin’s recently founded Quantiscope, a BARDA DRIVe accelerator launched AI company advancing ML enterprise models for drug discovery, as well as climate tech Calliope Bio, a computational synthetic biology company launched from the Nucleate Activator and advanced through the Berkeley Skydeck accelerator. Kevin’s entrepreneurship career began with Resolute Therapeutics, a CARB-X awardee developing a novel class of broad spectrum antibiotics.

As an ESG leader, Kevin is a 2050 Fellow at the Yale Center for Business and Environment (CBEY), and select member of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto Sustainability Coalition. Kevin  founded Tennessee’s local B Corp network B Tennessee and served as sponsoring counsel to B Academics.

With a background in public-private partnerships, Kevin is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) RadX faculty member, and National Science Foundation (NSF) program evaluator for the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (CB2) as well as the Carnegie Mellon Center for Quantum Computing and Information Technologies (Q-CIT).

Practice Areas

. Kevin’s practice areas include:

  • patent and trademark prosecution, licensing and litigation;
  • corporate law, with an emphasis on benefit corporations, socially responsible businesses and high-growth emergent companies;
  • government contracts, with an emphasis on innovation funding;
  • corporate and investor financing; and,
  • technology commercialization.

Contact

To meet with Kevin Christopher, schedule an appointment through Calendly or email him directly at kevin@rockridgelaw.com.

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