Evanston Biotech Founder Renata Blackwood Celebrates First FDA Drug Approval

Renata Blackwood's Evanston-based biotech company, Lakeshore Therapeutics, received its first FDA approval this week for a treatment targeting a rare autoimmune disorder, a milestone Blackwood said validates more than a decade of work since she left a research position at Northwestern University to start the company.

Blackwood founded Lakeshore ten years ago with two former Northwestern colleagues, initially operating out of a small incubator lab space before growing into an 85-person company headquartered near the Evanston campus. The newly approved therapy targets an autoimmune disorder that affects a relatively small patient population, a category of rare disease treatments that has become an increasing focus for smaller biotech companies unable to compete for larger disease markets against major pharmaceutical firms.

"We picked this disease specifically because the patients had almost nothing available to them, not because it was going to be an easy regulatory path," Blackwood said. "It took us longer and cost more than we originally budgeted, but I don't think I could have justified spending a decade of my life on anything else."

The approval triggered a milestone payment from Lakeshore's pharmaceutical development partner, which will handle commercial manufacturing and distribution of the therapy. Blackwood said the company is using the proceeds to fund research on two additional rare disease programs currently in earlier stages of clinical trials.

Lakeshore Therapeutics employs the majority of its staff at its Evanston headquarters, drawing heavily from the region's concentration of Northwestern-trained scientists. Blackwood said the company has no immediate plans to relocate despite recruiting interest from biotech hubs on the coasts.