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
- Aronora’s new antithrombotic, AB002 is featured in this Blood Podcast from the American Society of Hematology.
- Aronora announces clinical data presented at the 62nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. For more information, see the December 2, 2020 Newswire press release.
- Aronora wraps up their cardiovascular drug Phase 2 clinical trial and prepares for Phase 3 – and graduation from OBI into their new space! Portland Business Journal story.
- Bates Medical Systems participated in the Oregon Venture Fund Slow Pitch in April.
- Bates Medical Systems participated in the Oregon Bioscience Association Digital Conference in November.
- Caregiven‘s Candice Smith shared her story to over 400 live participants at the Global Insurance Accelerator’s Startup Showcase, which also resulted in several introductions to individuals and funds. You can watch the 6-minute pitch here.
- Rebecca Campbell joined as Caregiven’s Co-Founder & CTO in March.
- Caregiven was featured in the AIMed March 5, 2020 special report entitled “Women in AI – DeathTech.”
- Caregiven was profiled by HITLab and their Women’s Health Tech Initiative.
- Caregiven‘s mobile app was “born!” The alpha version of the Caregiven mobile app is now live on over a dozen devices. The alpha testers are using the app to help care for their loved ones, while also giving valuable feedback and ideas for new features.
- Caregiven filmed two promotional videos, including a 90-second company overview and a 60-second version tailored for insurance carriers, financial services, and health & benefits plan provider audiences for the InsurTech Connect (ITC) Conference September 21-23, 2020.
- Caregiven was awarded a scholarship to participate in AchieveUnite’s Channel Acceleration Bootcamp. They were a semi-finalist for the Bend Venture Conference Impact competition. Caregiven was reviewed by New York Angels in October; they were a finalist for Springboard’s Digital Health Innovation Hub and presented to a subset of their members; and they were selected to present to CareFactor located in Australia, a program focused on changing aged care in Australia.
- Caregiven has been selected to participate in CareFactor for the program that commenced in November and concludes in March, 2021. CareFactor was developed by its partners to rapidly scale innovations that improve the aged-care sector nationally (Australia) and globally.
- Candice Smith of Caregiven was featured in the newest edition of Techlandia, as The Faces of Healthcare Innovation. You can read her story on page 44.
- Candice Smith, Caregiven Founder & CEO, spoke at the DIGIN Conference 2020 on the topic of “Evolving the Home Health and Insurance Paradigm in a Post-Pandemic World.” She also spoke on a panel at the Society of Actuaries Eldertech Summit on the topic of Care for the Caregiver and was also one of five companies who pitched at the Changing Tides Wave Tour.
- Caregiven has raised $125,000 in funding so far. They have a signed term-sheet for the remainder of their pre-seed capital raise with the strategic partner they’d been searching for (and couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with).
- Over 70 users are on the Caregiven platform participating in their private beta offering invaluable suggestions and refinements; they will begin pushing out opportunities for public beta participation after the holidays.
- Consano held an event called Consano PDX at the Portland Art Museum, to honor and raise funds for their 2020 Ripples of Hope Winner, Dr. Alexandra Butler.
- Floragenex graduated from the OBI in 2020, after joining the incubator in July, 2013. Oregon‐based Floragenex is a privately-owned biotechnology company providing innovative solutions for genomic analysis in the life sciences.
- The Portland Business Journal listed Floragenex in its list of the top 41 largest bioscience and health technology companies in Oregon and SW Washington.
- Dr. David Farrell from Gamma Therapeutics gave a TEDxMcMinnville talk in January, titled “Can We More Accurately Predict Heart Attacks and Strokes? The Clot Thickens….” Read full OHSU article here.
- HTI received the NSF Phase1 STTR award for CryoDiscovery ™ : An integrated cryo-EM intelligence solution. Final report approved and Outcome report posted on NSF website.
- HTI received the Oregon Business Enhanced Innovation and SBIR Phase1 Matching grant awards.
- HTI presented poster sessions on CryoDiscovery at the ACA 2020 (American Crystallographic Association) and M&M 2020 (Microscopy & Microanalysis) events.
- HTI announced that Dr. Justin M. Kollman, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington, is joining HTI to Chair its Science and Technology Advisory Board. More information on the announcement can be found here.
- HTI is listed on @Science Exchange to provide Cryo EM services and automating data processing to help Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies accelerate their structure-based drug discovery workflows to reduce time to market.
- HTI signed the Master Services Agreement (MSA) with a leading drug development vendor for Cryo EM workflow processing.
- In spite of the challenges presented by COVID-19, Hemex Health had a very productive year.
- Hemex Health‘s Gazelle platform was formally launched in June, and they are selling the Hb Variant test (for sickle cell and other hemoglobin variants) in India, Ghana, Kenya, and Haiti. They are receiving good press on the product. The Devex Media Platform listed Hemex/Gazelle as one of the top non-COVID global health stories for 2020. Link to full article here. A study comparing Gazelle Malaria to other malaria testing protocols was published in the Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine. Gazelle was found to be a valuable diagnostic tool, and a fast and cost-effective way to test for malaria in field settings. Read the full text article here.
- Hemex Health participated in three virtual global health conferences. Hemex was one of 53 companies chosen to participate at the TechEmerge Conference in East Africa. They presented 5 posters at the American Society for Tropical Medicine, and their research partners at Case Western Reserve University delivered a presentation to the American Society of Hematology on new Gazelle technology for diagnosing anemia.
- Hemex Health won several grants/prizes, including a Phase I SBIR for anemia research, a Phase II SBIR to further develop their malaria diagnostic, and a Business Oregon grant for COVID testing. Hemex and partners won third prize in the NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge for non-invasive finger cuff technology to detect malaria, anemia, and sickle cell disease.
- Inherent Targeting won the Judges’ and People’s Choice awards at the early-stage startup pitch contest at Oregon Bio Digital Conference.
- Inherent Targeting presented at the McKinsey & Co. Early Stage Investor Conference on Monday, December 7th.
- Inherent Targeting received a Business Oregon Matching SBIR Grant award in December for IP protection and further testing and commercialization of nerve-specific fluorescent compound to avoid nerve damage in surgeries.
- Madorra‘s first patent was issued. This is the original patent they submitted while in the Stanford Biodesign Fellowship program. It has broad coverage of the use of ultrasound for treating vaginal dryness.
- Madorra also presented during Avestria’s women’s health breakfast at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference in January.
- Madorra was featured in the Fogarty Institute’s February Newsletter.
- The Portland Tribune wrote an article about how Madorra is leading a revolution in women’s healthcare.
- Madorra was featured in the May issue of Oprah Magazine, as a rising star in women’s health technology, improving the quality of women’s lives after breast cancer or menopause with their non-hormonal medical device to reduce vaginal dryness.
- The NIH sponsored Madorra’s pitch at the ACA innovation showcase where they won the Best Pitch and Most Venture Taps awards.
- Madorra was featured in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) SBIR Peer Learning and Networking Webinar: How to Prepare and Perfect Your Pitch, where they gave tips to fellow NCI awardees.
- Madorra was mentioned in Forbes article about one of their favorite menopause telehealth companies, Gennev.
- Madorra presented an oral abstract presentation at the North American Menopause Society Annual Meeting. The topic of their research is “A novel, non-hormonal, non-invasive ultrasound device is effective in treating the symptoms of vaginal dryness associated with genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM).” Madorra’s abstract was also published in the December 2020 issue of Menopause.
- Madorra was a keynote presenter at Springboard Enterprise’s Women’s Health Innovation Coalition Menopause Round Table.
- Nelson Bio Lab is providing a wide selection of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant antigens and serological antibodies to support the IVD test manufacturers in COVID-19 related assay development.
- OmnEcoil Instruments recently received an NSF SBIR Phase 1 grant that will enable the company to begin a Proof-of-Concept Clinical Trial at OHSU for OmnEcoil’s MRI imaging/biopsy device.
- ProMedix, Inc. was awarded a 2021 Pediatric Medical Device Funding Grant from the Consortium for Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics, an FDA pediatric device consortium. This funding will further develop regulatory strategy and a recently launched clinical trial at OHSU in the intensive care unit.
- ProMedix, Inc. was selected from a large group of startup company applicants to join the Creative Destruction Lab Accelerator. This will significantly help business development and achieving high level milestones to further commercialization and fundraising efforts. ProMedix was also one of five projects selected as winners for CTIP’s Catalyzing Pediatric Grant (CPI) competition.
- ProMedix, Inc. has an ongoing clinical trial in the ICU and launching a trial in the ED to study their technology’s ability to both improve detection and monitoring of sepsis.
- PProMedix, Inc. had an abstract accepted and presented at the American Heart Association National Conference on their technology and patient data.
- ProMedix, Inc. had a manuscript accepted in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Refeyn closed Series A financing, which will support the introduction of Refeyn’s next-generation instruments, building on the rapid market adoption of the OneMP Mass Photometer by both academic and industrial institutions.
- Rewire Neuro was recently featured in a Portland Business Journal article about how artificial intelligence is changing the way humans and machines work.
- Rewire Neuro was a semi-finalist in the 2020 Bend Venture Conference Growth competition.
- Rewire Neuro received a Business Oregon SBIR Phase I Matching Grant.
- Rewire Neuro filed a patent for their ML web services and transitioned to a C-Corp.
- Rewire Neuro joined the OBI Mentoring Program.
- RxHomeTest launched a COVID-19 PCR test kit that can be ordered by clinicians for their patients with symptoms.
- Senju Pharmaceutical published two papers in 2020:
- 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 - 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
- Sirona Dx can accelerate your COVID-19 studies. Their expert team offers the industry’s most comprehensive immune profiling of blood samples using state-of-the-art CyTOF technology.
- Sonivate Medical, Inc. is part of a group of institutions (including Duke University Medical School) which submitted a White Paper on 3/21 regarding detection of COVID-19 using artificial intelligence (AI) and Sonivate’s SonicEye Dual-Array Ultrasound System.
- StoneStable, Inc. received a $100K grant from the Portland State University Venture Capital Fund, and its first institutional dilutive funding from Elevate Capital.
- SUTUREGARD published a journal article in JAAD Case Reports about their HEMIGARD device for wound closure. They also recently received orders for devices from Kenya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe after participating in Arab Health in Dubai.
- SUTUREGARD and their product HEMIGARD was featured in a video on Dermatologist Dr. Dustin Portel’s Tik Tok page. The video received over 10,000 views in the first hour it was posted.
- SUTUREGARD recently completed 2nd round fundraising.
- SUTUREGARD signed a distribution agreement with Federated Healthcare Supply.
- SUTUREGARD sales have returned to pre-COVID19 levels.
- SUTUREGARD‘s multispecialty use has expanded to include podiatry and emergency medicine.
- SUTUREGARD has its highest revenue month achieved in October 2020, extending their runway.
- SUTUREGARD completed Clinical Evaluation Reports for CE mark submission, applications for SUTUREGARD ISR and HEMIGARD devices will be filed this month to Notified Body in Germany for CE mark approval.
- SUTUREGARD has official approval as vendor for in hospital sales at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida – national leader in melanoma treatment and research.
- SUTUREGARD has expanded clinical use by podiatry, dermatology, surgical oncology, cardiovascular surgery.
- SUTUREGARD had its first sales in Australia.
- Veana Therapeutics presented a poster at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, May 29-31. The poster abstract titled “A phase I dose escalation trial of alpha-tocopheryloxyacetic acid and concurrent trastuzumab in patients with treatment refractory HER2+ metastatic breast cancer” was presented by William Gwin, MD from the University of Washington, who is overseeing the clinical trial as its lead physician.
- Veana Therapeutics is pleased to share a joint Veana Therapeutics-University of Washington press release of a Phase 1 trial in HER2+ breast cancer patients at the University of Washington. The trial is now open and is enrolling patients.
- Veana Therapeutics and University of Washington Medicine are conducting a phase 1 clinical trial of a new oral therapy for advanced HER2 positive breast cancer patients. See press release for all the details.
- Dr. Emmanuel Akporiaye of Veana Therapeutics was featured in the newest edition of Techlandia, as The Faces of Healthcare Innovation. You can read his story on page 45.
- Veana Therapeutics, Inc. Founder and CEO, Emmanuel Akporiaye, Ph.D won the Judges’ Award at the Oregon Bio Digital 2020 Conference held from November 17 -19.
- Vir Biotechnology announced that “. . . laboratory testing showed two of its antibody drugs appeared to neutralize the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and that it would pursue testing them in people.” Read full STAT article here.
- Vir Biotechnology announced a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline for research and development of coronavirus solutions. GSK’s investment and genomics expertise, combined with Vir Bio’s proprietary technology, will work to develop therapies and prevention for coronaviruses. Read their full press release.
- Vir Biotechnology announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of VIR-3434, an investigational monoclonal antibody that neutralizes hepatitis B virus (HBV) and has been engineered to potentially also act as a therapeutic vaccine. They have also finalized a process development and manufacturing agreement with Biogen Inc. Under the agreement Biogen will perform process development activities and specified manufacturing and process transfer services to enable commercial supply of Vir’s SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies for potential COVID-19 treatment.
- Vir Biotechnology is one of the ARCH Venture Partners companies fighting COVID-19. See ARCH’s news about two new venture funds with $1.46 billion in funding, to assist in these efforts. Vir is focused on combining immunologic insights with cutting-edge technologies to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases.
- Vir Biotechnology announced the presentation of preclinical and Phase 1 data demonstrating the broad neutralizing ability, high-level effector function, extended half-life and tolerability of VIR-2482 in the prevention of influenza A. Read full press release here.
- Vir Biotechnology announced the clinical trial for the first product using the HCMV vector platform originally conceived and developed at OHSU in Portland, Oregon. This vaccine is an investigational HIV T-cell vaccine with the potential to fight against HIV and other serious diseases. See press release for all the exciting details.
- Vir Biotechnology’s CEO George Scangos, Ph.D will virtually present at the J.P. Morgan Health Conference on January 12, 2021. The presentation will be live-streamed and archived on Vir’s website.
- Virogenomics Bio Development (VBD) had a big win in April. In collaboration with Arthur Vandenbark at OHSU and the VA, VBD was awarded a three year, $3M Phase IIB SBIR. This project will advance a recombinant protein, DRhQ, that has the potential to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions with neuro inflammatory components. The aims of this project are to transfer production of DRhQ to a GMP manufacturer, determine its potential toxicity in two species and develop assays for evaluating its safety and efficacy after administration. These aims will provide preclinical data for an IND submission, a critical step in creating an FDA approved drug.
- Virogenomics Bio Development (VBD) is developing an oral rinse – the HyperHex rinse – that is composed of a hypertonic solution with a safe and effective microbicide. The HyperHex rinse would be an easier, safer and more effective way to collect samples to screen millions of people to monitor transmission and to evaluate immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
- Virogenomics Bio Development (VBD) presented at the Oregon Bioscience Association Digital Conference in November.
- Virogenomics Bio Development (VBD) was awarded a Business Oregon SBIR matching grant to support the development of an in vitro diagnostic for the detection and monitoring of aortic aneurysms.
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