FreeStride Therapeutics scores win at Accelerate Michigan, adds positions

FreeStride Therapeutics won the Life Sciences category at last month's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition.

The win came with a check for $25,000. The Ann Arbor-based startup, which is repurposing a human drug for veterinary purposes, made a number of connections with investors and fellow entrepreneurs at the four-day business plan competition in downtown Detroit.

"It was a generally rewarding and a literally rewarding experience," says Michael Long, CEO of FreeStride Therapeutics.

FreeStride Therapeutics is developing a drug that relieves and even prevents shin pain for racing horses. It even has implications for companion animals, like dogs and cats, suffering from arthritis. The startup is working on raising $1 million in a Series A to complete the final two studies necessary to bring it to market. The $25,000 from Accelerate Michigan will go toward that effort.

"We'll probably be able to close on that by the end of the year or early next year," Long says.

The three-person company plans to raise a Series B after it starts to generate revenue for its technology. That money will go toward overcoming the final hurdles on the way to FDA approval.

"We'll have a very good understanding of what the market wants from us," Long says.

Source: Michael Long, CEO of FreeStride Therapeutics
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.