OBI & OTRADI 2020 End of Year Newsletter

Thank you for your support of
OBI & OTRADI over the past year!


OBI/OTRADI Receives High Impact Opportunity Program Award

The Oregon Innovation Council and Business Oregon have approved OBI/OTRADI for a High Impact Opportunity Project Award to support bioscience companies’ ability to stay and grow in Oregon by adding 6 wet labs and offices to our incubator facilities. Space availability inquiries can be made here.


2020 OBI Client Company Wins

  1. Activation of Cytosolic Calpain, Not Caspase, Is Underlying Mechanism for Hypoxic RGC Damage in Human Retinal Explants.
    Kobayashi-Otsugu M, Orihara K, Nakajima E, Shearer TR, Azuma M.
    Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020 Nov 2;61(13):13. doi: 10.1167/iovs.61.13.13.
    PMID: 33156340
  2. Segmenting OCT for detecting drug efficacy in CRAO.
    Shearer TR, Hwang TS, Steinkamp PN, Azuma M.
    PLoS One. 2020 Dec 11;15(12):e0242920. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242920. eCollection 2020.
    PMID: 33306701

Congratulations to our amazing OBI Client Companies!


OBI Welcomed Three New Startups in 2020

      

Click here to learn more about our new companies


3D Virtual Tours of OBI Spaces

We have exciting news! We now have interactive, virtual 3D tours of Suites 130 and 200, our largest spaces. Check them out on our Facilities page. And if you have any lab or office space needs, fill out the Facilities Request form for more information.


New OBI Mentoring Cohort Begins

We are pleased to announce that January 4, 2021 was the start date for OBI’s newest Mentoring Program cohort. Twelve mentees and thirteen mentors will work together in pairs and threes for 6 months. 

MENTORS: Joseph Volpi, Sandra Shotwell, Keith Daellenbach, Nathan Lillegard, Andrew Owen, Pete Murray, Christa Nicholas, Shannon Heizenrader, Peter Schuerman, Kabir Bhatia, Will Marshall, Douglas Kawahara, and Curt Jennewine.

 

MENTEES: Jeremy Hammer, Carin Berg, Gabriella Kiss, John Harkness, Claude Goodman, Paul ReFalo, Heber Michaels, Smriti Zaneveld, Megan Meinel, Carl Ruby, Daniel Freed, and Ray Browning.

Best of luck to the Winter-Spring OBI Mentoring Program cohort. Find out more about our Mentoring Program.


Portland Area Bioscience is Growing

Twist Bioscience Corp. is planning to lease a 111,000 square foot site to be a “factory of the future” in Wilsonville and employ up to 400 people, starting in 2022. Twist Bioscience makes synthetic DNA on silicon chips, used in healthcare and other industries.

The Portland Business Journal has a story about this exciting development for the Portland area, reflecting its prominence as an up-and-coming bioscience nerve center in the country.


Business Oregon and Oregon Innovation Council’s Innovation Awards

In addition to the High Impact Opportunity Project (HIOP) Award to OBI/OTRADI listed above, Business Oregon and Oregon InC granted several other HIOP awards to Oregon organizations, including Portland State Business Accelerator.

They also awarded 17 companies a Matching SBIR Grant Award, including three OBI Client Companies: Health Technology Innovations (HTI), Inherent Targeting, and Virogenomics Bio Development.

Congratulations to all awardees!


MedTech Innovator Applications Due January 25

MedTech Innovator is looking for outstanding early- to mid-stage medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies who are transforming healthcare to apply for their 2021 program.

MedTech Innovator is a highly selective and unique opportunity for start-ups and emerging growth companies to gain access to stakeholders across the healthcare industry including investors and industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Baxter, Olympus, W.L. Gore, Fujikura, Nipro, Edwards Lifesciences, Maxim, and Asahi Intecc. Additionally, in 2021, they will give out $500,000 in non-dilutive cash prizes. More information about the strategic interests of their stakeholders can be found here.

MedTech Innovator does not charge or take equity for participation, and there is no application fee. Deadline to apply is January 25. Link to application.


Upcoming Events

OBI Events

OBI Virtual Lunch & Learn:
Best Practices in Medical Device Software & Firmware Design
January 14, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM
Register here

 

OBI Virtual Lunch & Learn:
Is Your Brand Story Due for a Tune Up?
February 10, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration open

 

Community Events


PSBA’s DEI Training with Christine Slattery
January 21, 2021
1:30-3:00 PM
Register here

 

TAO Event: I Am Tech Oregon
January 14, 2021
11:00-11:30 AM
Registration page

TAO Panel Discussion: Data Privacy in 2021
January 28, 2021
9:00-10:00 AM
Register here

TAO Event: Strategic Plan for Exit
January 28, 2021
11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Registration

 

ULP Event: Market Access and Life Cycle
Aspects of Medical Technology Products
January 20, 2021
3:00-4:00 PM
Register here

ULP Event: Lifesciences Innovators Forum
January 27, 2021
3:00-4:30 PM
Registration

 

Cambia Grove: Incentivizing Health Hackathon
February 4-5, 2021
9:00 AM-2:00 PM
Register/apply here