{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-highlights-connecticut-innovator-azitra-inc-as-murphys-innovator-of-the-month", "Murphy Highlights Connecticut Innovator Azitra Inc. As Murphys Innovator Of The Month\"Read More", "2020-11-30", "2020", "2020-11", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Murphy Highlights Connecticut Innovator Azitra Inc. As Murphy's Innovator Of The Month\" \n        \n        November 30, 2020\n      \n        \n          HARTFORDU.S.\r\nSenator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Monday that innovator Azitra\r\nInc. in Branford has been named Innovator of the Month. Azitra was founded by\r\ntwo graduate students at Yale University to combine synthetic biology tools\r\nwith microbes naturally found on the skin. They are a clinical-stage medical\r\ndermatology company leveraging the power of the microbiome to address serious\r\nskin diseases and conditions.Azitra is developing both therapeutic and\r\nconsumer products and currently has programs in development to treat cancer\r\ntherapy associated skin rashes, targeted orphan indications, atopic dermatitis\r\nand overall skin appearance. Azitra\r\ncurrently has 14 employees in Connecticut and will be adding more research\r\nstaff in 2021. They are planning to initiate two clinical trials in 2021 and\r\nhave developed innovative strategies for conducting them in the midst of the\r\nCOVID pandemic. Azitra expects continued growth during the next year as they\r\nmove their lead therapeutic product into clinical trials for cancer-therapy\r\nassociated rashes and continue to advance consumer programs focused on\r\nimproving skin appearance. Azitra\r\nis a great model of innovation born right in Connecticut. Since 2014, they've\r\nhelped diversify the ways in which we treat skin diseases and conditions. Their\r\ninitiatives will impact the future of therapeutic research and I am proud to\r\nhighlight this important and growing company.said Murphy. \"We\r\nare thankful for the support we have received from Connecticut, especially\r\nduring our recent move to Branford,\" said Jeanne Bertonis, Chief Operating Officer of Azitra.\r\n\"Azitra expects continued growth during the next year as we move our lead\r\ntherapeutic product into clinical trials for cancer-therapy associated skin\r\nrashes and continue to advance our consumer programs focused on improving skin\r\nappearance. Being located in Connecticut has given us great\r\nopportunitiesand we are honored to have been named Innovator of the Month\r\nby Senator Murphy.\" Earlier\r\nthis year, Azitra formed a collaboration with Bayer AG to develop cutting-edge\r\nskin products using engineered and wild-type bacteria for biotherapeutic,\r\nover-the-counter and cosmetic applications. In addition, the company closed on\r\na $17 million Series B financing in October. The company says that being in\r\nConnecticut has served them well and that they are excited to be recognized by\r\nMurphy for their innovation. \r\nMurphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a\r\nstrong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of\r\nlegislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup\r\ncompanies  the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act.\r\nStartup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-highlights-connecticut-innovator-azitra-inc-as-murphys-innovator-of-the-month"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7793309632688761, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}