Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC to celebrate official launch and lab opening

Presidential lecture to be delivered by Robert Langer at Rice followed by RBL LLC launch event with keynote presentation by Robert Ruffolo at Helix Park

HOUSTON, March 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC will hold an event to celebrate the official launch and lab opening of RBL LLC on May 5, following a Rice University presidential lecture on the significance of innovation at Rice delivered by Robert Langer Jr., ScD, biotech entrepreneur, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and founder of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine.

RBL LLC is the pioneering biotech venture creation studio designed to rapidly build companies based on lifesaving medical technologies developed out of the Launch Pad, a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of the university's health and medical technology discoveries into cures.

The launch event will also feature a keynote presentation by Robert Ruffolo Jr., Ph.D., FCPP, chief innovation officer of Versicolor Technologies, former president of research and development and corporate senior vice president at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer) as well as senior vice president and director of drug discovery research worldwide at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (now GlaxoSmithKline) and chairman of the cardiovascular research committee at Lilly Research Laboratories. Ruffolo's portfolio of clinical innovations includes multiple marketed drugs such as carvedilol (Coreg), the first beta-blocker approved for the treatment of congestive heart failure, and ropinirole (Requip), a landmark in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, among others. A fireside chat with Langer and Ruffolo moderated by Matt Herper, senior writer at STAT, will follow Ruffolo's keynote presentation.

The full day of events will include:

• Presidential lecture from Langer to celebrate his significant contributions to biotech and share his vision for the future of biotech innovation hosted by Rice.
• Keynote presentation by Ruffolo focused on the discovery and development of the groundbreaking drug carvedilol hosted by Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC.
• Fireside chat with Langer and Ruffolo covering the future of biotech innovation, challenges and opportunities in translational research and Rice's advancements to the field.

"Rice University is pleased to host Robert Langer in our presidential lecture series as an opportunity to recognize his phenomenal contributions to scientific innovation and the field of biotechnology as a whole," Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. "Langer has been an incredible leader in translational medicine, pioneering breakthroughs that have transformed drug delivery, tissue engineering and biotechnology and improved countless lives worldwide. At Rice, we share Langer's commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation to solve some of the world's most pressing challenges, and we are honored to celebrate and share in his achievements through this presidential lecture."

"The Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC are honored to host both Robert Langer and Robert Ruffolo for a day of reflection on groundbreaking achievements that have fundamentally shaped the biotech landscape and forward-looking discussions on the future of clinical care," said Omid Veiseh, faculty director of the Launch Pad and professor of bioengineering at Rice. "Langer and Ruffolo exemplify the ability to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world patient impact, a primary goal of the Launch Pad. We are thrilled to celebrate their contributions and explore what's next in biotechnology and translational medicine."

Click here to see the agenda and information on how to attend: https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/lecture-open-chat 

About the Rice Biotech Launch Pad: 

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of Rice University's health and medical technology discoveries into cures. This initiative is designed to help advance internally discovered platform technologies from concept to clinical studies and commercialization. The Rice Biotech Launch Pad will identify and support highly differentiated projects while driving the expansion of Houston as a world-class medical innovation ecosystem. The accelerator will bring together local researchers with a network of industry executives. For more information, please visit https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/.

About Rice:

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris. With 4,776 undergraduates and 4,104 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 7 for best-run colleges by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by the Wall Street Journal and is included on Forbes' exclusive list of "New Ivies."

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SOURCE Rice University