Editor's Note: Immuno Nano Med’s success in the Fall Innovation Challenge shows how a strong idea with a compelling pitch can gain real momentum. Applications are open for the Spring Innovation Challenge. Apply by April 3 to take your idea further.

A needle-free, inhalable flu vaccine just took a major step forward. 

Immuno Nano Med was awarded $15,000 in the Fall Innovation Challenge, giving the respiratory-vaccine startup momentum and the financial support to scale its technology toward FDA-ready manufacturing. For vice-president Kevin Legge, the win also highlighted the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center’s (Iowa JPEC) role in helping academic founders learn how to translate laboratory innovation into a clear, compelling pitch.

Other members of the Immuno Nano Med team have participated in pitch competitions in the past, including at the finals of the InnoVenture Challenge in 2024 and the Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition in August. But this was the first time pitching for Legge, who for more than two decades, has been a professor in the University of Iowa’s Department of Pathology.

“As a professor who teaches graduate students, we talk a lot about elevator pitches,” Legge said. “What can you convey in [a two-minute presentation] that makes sense? That’s where my anxiety was, not the technology or how we have done it, but can I communicate what needs to be communicated in that amount of time?”

You could call it beginner’s luck for Legge. As for Immuno Nano Med, all proceeds from pitch competitions will go to taking the company to a much larger scale. Immuno Nano Med will need an industrial-sized scale to get through a Phase 1 clinical trial and get FDA approval. 

“That is a much larger scale and all that costs money,” Legge said.

The Immuno Nano Med team includes faculty members from both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. Balaji Narasimhan of Iowa State is president (and a member of the board of directors) and Legge is vice-president. Others are Thomas Waldschmidt (emeritus University of Iowa professor, secretary), Michael Wannemuehler (Iowa State faculty, treasurer), and Sean Kelly (chief strategy office). Board members include Scott Carver and Curtis Nelson.

“About nine years ago, we got together in our academic labs and said it would be great if we could make a better flu vaccine or vaccines in general,” Legge said. “We have created a better vaccine that has interesting properties and gives higher levels of protection in pre-clinical models.”

For Immuno Nano Med, the Innovation Challenge was more than a funding opportunity, it was a turning point. With Iowa JPEC’s support, the team sharpened its message, strengthened its business case, and gained confidence to present years of research in a way that resonates beyond academia. As the company works toward FDA-ready manufacturing, the competition stands as a reminder of how entrepreneurial training can accelerate life-changing research from the university to the real world.