Scott E. Strome, MD, FACS
Most parents come away from their kids' soccer games with a sense of sportsmanship. Scott Strome and David Block, MD, MBA, came away with a sense of entrepreneurship, as they planned a biotech company.
"We would be on the sidelines talking about FDA [Food and Drug Administration] processes and innovative surrogate markers for clinical trials," says Block, then a pharmaceutical executive. "At that time, I already knew that Scott was ‘the real deal' in terms of bench-to-bedside drug discovery."
Strome, chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland (UM) School of Medicine, recalls, "It became clear that we shared a philosophy about the values that would define an ideal biotech. Based on this shared vision and a healthy dose of serendipity, the University executed a license with Gliknik and the startup became a reality."
The company they co-founded in 2007, Gliknik Inc., is developing therapies for patients with cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases. Gliknik has raised more than $10 million, nearly $1 million of which it has spent on funding research at UM, where it is a BioPark tenant.
"I believe the BioPark and Gliknik have both benefited from this partnership," Strome says. "As a citizen of the campus, David and I believe Gliknik should give back to the UM community, which we have through technical expertise to University scientists, collaborative attempts to obtain extramural funding, and ongoing sponsored research agreements."
And Strome is thrilled by the award. "I think I said thank you to Dr. Perman about 10 times when he called."
