Corridor companies win awards in Pappajohn Iowa competition

A Corridor company earned second place in the 2013 John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan competition Thursday at Drake University in Des Moines.

Memcine Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Coralville, received second place, a $15,000 prize. Iowa City-based TelePharm and Coralville-based Higher Learning Technologies both received a $1,000 honorable mention award each.

Memcine, founded in 2010, developed the platform technology for improving vaccine effectiveness against infectious diseases and cancer therapies.

"We're thrilled to have the award and far more than the cash prize itself, it's just the process, being recognized, having the validation of having gone through a competitive process and having the validation from the expert panel that reviewed the technology in the business plan," said Kathleen Holt, Memcine's CEO.

Memcine is advancing two vaccines: a therapeutic vaccine for breast cancer and a flu vaccine. The cost to advance one product to the initial new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration is $15 million, Holt said.

Holt said her goal for the company is to secure a pharmaceutical partnership with a large pharmaceutical company.