OBI Client Company Wins

• Hemex Health‘s Gazelle device was recently highlighted in a 360Dx article
• Health Technology Innovations (HTI) announced that Dr. Jeff King has joined their team as Senior Advisor
• Madorra participated in the Femtech track of the McKinsey Early Stage Investor Conference and was featured in Avestria’s Under the Microscope blog
• Caregiven’s first public release will be in app stores April 15th. (Now you have something to look forward to beyond taxes!)
• Velanidi Technologies recently closed a pre-seed round of funding

Congratulations on your hard work!

AbSci Collaborates with Xyphos Biosciences

OBI graduate company AbSci has announced an exciting partnership with Xyphos, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas. This collaboration will utilize AbSci’s trademarked Protein Printing technology in the development of Xyphos Biosciences’ cell line, essential for Xyphos’ immuno-oncology program. AbSci specializes in next generation biologics built on complex protein scaffolds. For more information, see full press release here.

BIP Corp Program Begins March 5

Moving your idea or technology beyond the lab or clinic can be challenging. BIP Corp is a five-week experiential course designed to help you and your team assess and validate your biomedical technology. You’ll gain the basic knowledge and tools to initiate innovation and commercialization of your technology, and a competitive business case to secure funding, partnerships and further research opportunities.

Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute‘s BIP Corp runs March 5 – April 9, is entirely virtual, and offered at no-cost. Click here for more information and registration.

Mentor of the Month:
Pete Murray

Pete Murray began mentoring in the OBI Mentoring Program last month. He and his mentee have already begun making progress in the mentee’s company goals. Pete has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of California Santa Barbara, and MS in Engineering from Boston University, and an MBA also from Boston University. Pete founded Skender Manufacturing in 2018 as President and COO. He is part of Murray Consultants, advising several early stage/start up companies in the Portland area and Western US. Pete’s focus is in commercialization and scaling of products/services/organizational development.

Thank you, Pete, for all you do for our community!

New Data Show Retail Medicine Prices Fell in 2019

In 2019, retail prescription medicine prices declined by 0.4%, on average, according to National Health Expenditures (NHE) data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published recently in Health Affairs. While retail prescription medicine spending grew 5.7% that same year, this increase was due to more patients getting the medicines they need, not higher prices. More information here.

Oregon Bio Professional Development

Did you know that Oregon Bioscience Association has several BioPro professional development courses? The Project Management: Foundations and Best Practices online course introduces students to the foundations of successful project management, especially in a technology environment. Students will learn key project management concepts, then immediately apply them in a hands-on team simulation. This course approaches project management from the standpoint of managing a single, stand-alone project that is small to medium in size. It takes students through the project life cycle in the same sequence they would face when managing a real project in the workplace.

Upcoming training dates are February 15, 16, 22, and 23 – four half-days – from 8:00 AM-12:30 PM each day. For more details and registration, as well as information about their other BioPro offerings, see their course page.  

OTBC Virtual Incubation Program

OTBC‘s Virtual Incubation Program (VIP) for rural-Oregon entrepreneurs starts its next 8 week series in February. VIP is for early-stage entrepreneurs who need information and advice on how to test, develop and fund their idea so they can take it from concept to the launch of a successful company. The VIP is entrepreneur education and group mentoring in an 8-week program that walks you through the process of testing your idea, starting and funding a company.  Learn more about VIP and register here. 

Ensuring Vaccine Safety and Distribution

Less than a year after identifying the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, biopharmaceutical researchers have made tremendous progress toward developing safe and effective vaccines. As we enter the next phase of our fight against COVID-19, ensuring sufficient manufacturing capacity, maintaining our commitment to safety, and supporting the effective, equitable distribution of treatments and vaccines is paramount to continued success. Link to full article.

Zoom in on STEM Education
Happy Hour

Support Saturday Academy and have some fun at their annual fundraiser on March 11, 2021, where you’ll Zoom in on STEM education. Use a “foldoscope” with samples, and try desserts and a signature Discovery cocktail during this exciting event.

Tickets are on sale now until March 1. See all the details for Saturday Academy Happy Hour.  

Lonza’s Virtual Roadshow

Lonza Pharma & Biotech helps support early development services to prepare a successful transition to the clinic. They have upcoming virtual roadshow dates where you can schedule a tailored discussion with their experts, to help provide benefit to your company’s early stage biologic therapies. See their flyer with additional information and to schedule a time to discuss your project in more detail. Dedicated dates and times are February 8–12 and March 15–19, 2021, from 8:00 AM–1:00 PM PST.

WSU MAP Opportunity

Have you heard about the Business Growth Mentor & Analysis Program (MAP) at WSU Vancouver? Seniors who are majoring in business administration can provide no-cost student consulting for your small business or nonprofit organization. Whether you are looking for suggestions on how to address core challenges or are looking to grow and take your business to the next level, consider letting a MAP team help your organization.

Participating MAP clients receive approximately 500 hours of pro bono student consulting conducted under mentor and faculty supervision. Each MAP team works through proven process that helps them develop detailed recommendations and an implementation plan to help their client address a variety of challenges and goals. Each MAP project can be completed remotely and the time commitment for business owners is around 15 total hours over the course of a 16-week semester. 

To learn more about the program from 3 former MAP clients, please watch: https://youtu.be/Dzqf_zd_kZA.

Have questions? Interested in becoming a MAP client this Fall? Contact Nolan Yaws-Gonzalez at nolan.yaws@wsu.edu.

ScienceTalk ’21 Conference
March 24-26, 2021

The challenges of 2020 have shown more than ever how important science communication is to the functioning of society. But, beyond that, it has highlighted our resilience as communicators, and the passion that we share to educate, inform, and entertain. Connect with your community of professional science communicators at SCIENCE TALK ’21 over three days of workshops, panel discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities. Learn, explore, and share with other Science Talkers!

Stanford Drug Discovery Symposium 2021

Dr. Sanjay Malhotra recently joined OHSU and started the Center for Experimental Therapeutics in the summer of 2020. Prior to that, he was at Stanford University and started the Stanford Drug Discovery Symposium, which has become one of the highest attended events at Stanford. Every year the SDDS has the participation of leaders in the field of biomedical sciences. The speakers in this year’s symposium will include two Nobel Laureates, scientific leaders from NIH, FDA, big pharmaceutical industries and Venture Capitalist groups.

Usually this event has a registration fee, but considering its educational importance and networking benefit, the organizers decided to make registration for SDDS 2021 free of charge. Their hope is that people interested in life sciences (business, academia, research, policy, philanthropy, etc.) from across the world will be able to participate and benefit from this event. As such, Dr. Malhotra invites all members and affiliates of the Oregon Bioscience Incubator and OTRADI to attend this event and have an opportunity to network with the wider community. Register here for the April 19-20 symposium.

PCC Bioscience Program Internships

Students in the Bioscience Technology program at Portland Community College are working towards completion of the bioscience technician certificate or degree and are seeking internship opportunities through the college’s cooperative education program. This is a credit‐for‐work experience program in which PCC students earn credit while gaining work experience and/or training, and laboratories and employers gain motivated, skilled workers for part‐time or short term positions. Many find that hiring an intern through the cooperative education program is an excellent way to get acquainted with potential employees.

For more information, visit pcc.edu/bio or contact Bioscience Technology faculty chair Josh Cary at josh.cary@pcc.edu.

Thank you to PhRMA for sponsoring OBI’s new biosafety cabinet!

Events

OBI EVENTS

Accelerate Biotech + Digital Health Virtual Happy Hour
March 4, 2021
5:00-6:30 PM
Register Here

Virtual Lunch & Learn: Licensing Deals
March 18, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration Open Soon

COMMUNITY & PARTNER EVENTS

University Lab Partners Presents:
How to Write a Great NSF Project Pitch
February 16, 2021
1:00-2:00 PM
Register Here

Cambia and PDXWIT:
Black Futures & Black History Month Happy Hour
February 17, 2021
5:00-6:15 PM
More Info

TAO Leader Launchpad: 
Revamp, Reignite, ReLaunch 2021
February 18, 2021
4:00-5:30 PM
Details Here

TAO: Support Equitable Funding with Black Founders Matter
February 19, 2021
9:00-10:00 AM
Register Here

PSBA Lunch & Learn: Steward Ownership
February 23, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration Page

PDXWIT Presents: Public Speaking
Tips for Empowering Yourself and Others
March 2, 2021
5:00-6:15 PM
Register here

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:

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

• 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

Happy Holidays from the OBI

What a year 2020 has been! We have been through a lot together, and we at the OBI are celebrating the holiday season and the end of a most unusual year. Look for a 2020 OBI recap in next month’s newsletter. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

2021 is almost here. Stay healthy and safe and we hope to see you in person in the new year!

OBI Client Company Wins

SUTUREGARD Medical has some great recent wins: 

• Highest revenue month achieved in October 2020, extending our runway
• 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
• Official approval as vendor for in hospital sales at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida – national leader in melanoma treatment and research
• Expanded clinical use by podiatry, dermatology, surgical oncology, cardiovascular surgery 
• First sales in Australia

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.

Caregiven is on a roll! Their wins include:

• The humbleness and excitement that came with two new investments from extraordinary women
• Seeing our expaning team coalesce as we refine our business model together (special thanks to CareFactor for providing access to Strategyzer)
• Receiving feedback from The Wave Pitch Showcase judges (Canaan, GingerBread Capital, Outlines Venture Group) that “with the right business model, nothing will stop you!”
• Since the end of October, we have been inviting 25 new beta testers each week onto the Caregiven platform
• We’ve received two new investments and have raised $150,000 on our convertible note
• Support me (Candice Smith, Founder & CEO) as I speak at the DIGIN Conference 2020 on the topic of “Evolving the Home Health and Insurance Paradigm in a Post-Pandemic World.”

Inherent Targeting won the Judges’ and People’s Choice awards at the early-stage startup pitch contest at Oregon Bio Digital Conference. Additionally, Inherent Targeting has been invited to present at the McKinsey & Co. Early Stage Investor Conference taking place Monday, December 7th.

Aronora announces clinical data to be presented at the 62nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. For more information, see the December 2, 2020 Newswire press release.

Promedix has had 3 large wins that have accelerated clinical adoption and validation:

• We have an ongoing clinical trial in the ICU and launching a trial in the ED to study our technology’s ability to both improve detection and monitoring of sepsis
• We had an abstract accepted and presented at the American Heart Association National Conference on our technology and patient data
• We had a manuscript accepted in a peer-reviewed journal

Keep the wins coming. We love to celebrate your successes!

Program Recordings on Demand

Great news! You now have the ability to view all of our Lunch and Learns from October, 2019 to the most recent program. These closed caption-enabled videos are available on our website and on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to the Oregon Bioscience Incubator YouTube channel to be notified when new videos are posted, approximately once per month. 

Welcome to Our Newest Client Company

Izon Science is the world leading manufacturer of nano-biological separation and characterization tools. Its TRPS measurement system is the most accurate, standardizable and practical method of measuring complex nano-bio particles, while its qEV platform has rapidly become the gold standard in extracellular vesicle separation.

Izon Science joined the OBI on December 1. Welcome, Izon!

Mentor of the Month:
Michael McGarry

Michael McGarry is one of our helpful and engaging mentors in our current Mentoring Program cohort. He is the Founder and President of Forvida, a customer-focused consulting firm passionate about developing health solutions that engage individuals and make health and every day event. Before founding Forvida, Michael had more than 20 years experience in the health care industry, developing innovative programs and medical devices from prototype through FDA approval within small start-up organizations as well as Fortune 500 medical companies.

Michael has been very supportive of the OBI and the larger health sciences ecosystem through his mentoring with OBI, assistance with last spring’s MIT COVID-19 Challenge, the OHSU Invent-a-Thon, and more recently as the presenter for an OBI Virtual Lunch and Learn.

Thank you, Michael, for all you to do to support the community!

Congratulations to Pitch Winners at Oregon Bio’s Digital Conference 2020

Two of OBI’s client companies were winners in the Oregon Bioscience Association’s Digital Conference 2020 pitch event:

• Connor Barth, PhD from Inherent Targeting won the Judges’ award and People’s Choice award for the Early-Stage Startup category
• Emmanuel Akporiaye, PhD from Veana Therapeutics won the Judges’ award for the Later-Stage Startup category

Ken Bates, PhD from Bates Medical Systems and Jeff King, PhD from Virogenomics Bio Development also pitched in this fantastic event.

Congratulations to all – you did a great job!

Events

OBI EVENTS

Virtual Lunch & Learn: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in R&D
December 9, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register Now – It’s Almost Full!

COMMUNITY & PARTNER EVENTS

University Lab Partners Presents:
Getting Your Tech Out of the Lab and Onto the Market
December 10, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register Here

PDXWIT Event: From Vision to Game Plan
December 10, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration Page

TAO CEO Leadership Exchange: 
Strengthening Oregon’s Innovation Economy
December 15, 2020
4:00-5:15 PM
Details Here

PDXWIT: Annual Celebration + Awards Ceremony
December 15, 2020
5:00-6:15 PM
Register Here

Oregon Bio’s Holly Jolly Finale
December 17, 2020
4:00-5:30 PM
Happy Hour Registration Page

AbSci Receives Series E Funding

Congratulations to OBI graduate AbSci for raising $65 million Series E equity financing. AbSci is a synthetic biology company focused on their Protein Printing™ technology for protein biomanufacturing. This financing round will enable AbSci to increase production, expand their facility, and fund research and development.

For more information on AbSci and their exciting news, please read the recent press release.

OBI Client Company Wins

Caregiven has been selected to participate in CareFactor. This represents a significant opportunity for us and we are very excited for the program that commences 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.

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.

Candice Smith of Caregiven and Emmanuel Akporiaye of Veana Thereapeutics and were featured in the newest edition of Techlandia, as The Faces of  Healthcare Innovation. You can read their stories on pages 44 and 45.

Madorra was a keynote presenter at Springboard Enterprise’s Women’s Health Innovation Coalition Menopause Round Table. 

Welcome New Client Companies

Inherent Targeting is developing nerve targeted fluorescent contrast agents to improve surgical outcomes. Nerve injury is a feared surgical complication affecting 50 million patients and incurring a $5 billion cost to the healthcare system annually. Currently, surgeons are entirely unassisted in nerve identification and preservation, relying solely on naked eye visualization or anatomical knowledge. Our technology provides direct highlighting of nerves during surgery in real time and is currently under clinical translation. 

Forbie, Inc. is developing an AI & NLP enabled solution that helps connect patients and providers in real-time offering full visibility into patient state and changing needs, thereby improving quality of care and enabling better outcomes.

Inherent Targeting and Forbie joined the OBI on November 1. Let’s give them a warm welcome!

Mentor of the Month: Sandra Shotwell

Sandra Shotwell has co-founded three startup companies: Alta Biomedical, DesignMedix, and Elex Biotech, and played a leadership role in all three. Her life sciences experience includes technology transfer, early-stage commercialization, and company startup operations and leadership. Sandy and her mentee are making great progress in their mentoring program, and her mentee always has glowing feedback. Sandy is also an OTRADI & OBI Board Member.

Of the OBI Mentoring Program, Sandy says, “The program has been great. It is rewarding to work with an early-stage entrepreneur and watch them spread their wings. I’d highly recommend it for both the entrepreneurs and the mentors.”

Thank you, Sandy, for all you do for the bioscience community!

Business Oregon SBIR Phase 0/00 Application Support Grants

From Business Oregon:
“Because the SBIR/STTR programs are very competitive, Business Oregon also provides application support grants to help businesses prepare better applications to give companies a better chance to receive federal funding. These grants are called Phase 0 and 00 grants. Phase 0 grants go to businesses that are pursuing federal Phase I SBIR/STTR grant funds, while Phase 00 grants help businesses pursuing federal Phase II or Fast-Track grants. Phase 0 or 00 grants can be for up to $5,000. Business Oregon has provided approximately $280,000 of these grants to companies that have then won approximately $10M in federal grant awards.

“Phase 0 Grants Can Be Used For:

• Professional fees to develop the SBIR/STTR Phase I application (e.g., technical consultants, writer, reviewer)
• Other professional fees (e.g., legal, accounting) directly related to preparing the SBIR/STTR Phase I application
• Other out-of-pocket costs directly related to preparing the SBIR/STTR Phase I application (e.g., market research, technical database research or statistical analyses)

“Phase 00 Grants Can Be Used For:

• Professional fees to develop the SBIR/STTR Phase II application (e.g., technical consultants, writer, reviewer)
• Other professional fees (e.g., legal, accounting) directly related to preparing the SBIR/STTR Phase II application
• Other out-of-pocket costs directly related to preparing the SBIR/STTR Phase II application (e.g., market research, technical database research or statistical analyses)

“How To Apply
Business Oregon is now offering application support grants as long as funding is available. To apply for a grant, please review the program guidelines document, complete an application form, gather the supporting documentation, and submit the materials. Details are in the guidelines.”

Technology Association of Oregon 
Digital Health Week

What an informative and interesting line up of topics at TAO’s Digital Health Week. Dates and topics include:

• AI & Data – Monday, November 16 9-10 a.m.
• International Digital Health Roundtable – Tuesday, November 17, 9-10 a.m.
• Human Centered Design – Tuesday, November 17, 11 a.m. to noon
• Innovation in Healthcare Delivery Models – Wednesday, November 18, 9-10 a.m.
• Policy & Innovation – Thursday, November 19, 9-10 a.m.

Speakers include OBI client company founders John Harkness from Rewire Neuroscience and Anil Kumar from RxHomeTest.

Register soon!
OTRADI & OBI is a proud sponsor of Digital Health Week.

Oregon Bioscience Association
Digital Conference 2020

Registration is now open for one of OregonBio’s biggest events of the year! Keynote, networking, Pitch & Partner event, and a Career event are the highlights of this multi-day program.

Four of OBI’s client companies are participating in the pitch event: Emmanuel Akporiaye, PhD from Veana Therapeutics, Ken Bates, PhD from Bates Medical Systems, Connor Barth, PhD from Inherent Targeting, and Jeff King, PhD from Virogenomics Bio Development.

OTRADI & OBI is a proud sponsor of the OregonBio Digital Conference 2020, and we hope to see you there!

Oregonian Cares Grant Program

To help local area businesses during these uncertain times, the Oregonian and Oregon Live is pledging up to $2.5 million in a matching marketing grant program called Oregonian Cares. Individual grants range from $500-1500 per month. Businesses are encouraged to fill out the application form now, for a quick turnaround.

Events

OBI EVENTS

Virtual Lunch & Learn: Market Research Deep Dive
November 10, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free to Attend – Register Here

Virtual Lunch & Learn: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in R&D
December 9, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration Now Open

COMMUNITY & PARTNER EVENTS

PSU Event: The Cube Demo Day
November 6, 2020
11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Free – Tickets Still Available

OEN Entrepreneurship Awards 2020: Disruption Edition
November 19, 2020
5:15-8:00 PM
Register Now

OTBC Event: SBIR-STTR Success Panel – the Inside Story
November 20, 2020
12:00-1:30 PM
Register Here

TechFest NW + PitchFest NW
December 2-4, 2020
$15 Early Bird Tickets Here

McKinsey & Co Early Stage Investor Conference
December 7-11, 2020
Information Here

OBI Companies Working on COVID-19

Virogenomics BioDevelopment (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.  Optimal sample collection is one that is safe and simple for health care workers and those being tested as well as being more comfortable than nasal swabs or blood draws.  Hypertonic oral rinse solutions increase the yield of analytes such as immunoglobulins that can be used to detect exposure and immunity to coronaviruses.  To develop the HyperHex rinse, VBD is working with Andrew Goldstein, a founding officer and director of Epitope, Inc. (now OraSure Technologies, Inc.), and was intimately involved in developing FDA approved saliva-based diagnostic assays for HIV antibodies, HIV and HCV point of care tests.

Vir Biotechnology has published an article which will appear in the November 12, 2020 print issue of Cell, focusing on differing antibody responses based upon COVID-19 disease severity, as well as structural characteristics of six different neutralizing antibodies. This study, conducted in the US, Switzerland, and Italy, was the largest of its kind with serum samples from nearly 650 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, will aid in the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and other strategies. In addition, Vir and GlaxoSmithKline have announced Phase 3 of the COMET-ICE (COVID-19 Monoclonal antibody Efficacy Trial – Intent to Care Early) study for treatment of COVID-19 patients who are at high risk for hospitalization. For more information on their research, please see Vir Biotechnology’s September 24, 2020 press release and October 6, 2020 press release.

OBI Client Company Wins

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 will also be reviewed by New York Angels in October; they are 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.  

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 is a medical device company aiming to develop technology to simplify diagnostic home healthcare as well as ER/Critical Care.

Rewire Neuroscience was a semi-finalist in the 2020 Bend Venture Conference Growth competition. Rewire Neuroscience offers artificial intelligence services for biomedical image analysis in clinical, veterinary and research applications. Rewire has a machine learning platform, Sightologist.ai as well as a consumer-facing analysis software, called Pipsqueak AI, which is used by thousands of researchers around the world to quantify tissue samples.

Madorra will be presenting an oral abstract presentation at the North American Menopause Society Annual Meeting this month. 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 will also be published in the December 2020 issue of Menopause.

Congratulations to Hemex Health and Medtronic for winning third prize at the NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge. They won $100K for their finger cuff technology to detect malaria, anemia, and Sickle Cell Disease.

Mentor of the Month: Lynn Sheehan

Lynn Sheehan, Business Strategist from Evolve Strategic Ventures, joined our Mentoring Program in June and hit the ground running with his mentee. Lynn is a consultant working with startups and fortune 500 companies globally. He has a special focus on the startup community in the Portland/Vancouver area. He’s a member of the MAPS Program at WSU Vancouver Carson College of Business both as a mentor and a board member. Lynn has been a guest lecturer at PSU’s business programs, and is an Executive in Residence with Technology Association of Oregon, supporting members through mentorship.

Lynn says, “The OBI Mentoring Program is a great way for entrepreneurs to receive guidance from industry veterans. The complex areas these companies work in really benefits from mentor experience. In the end this accelerates them to revenue and team growth.”

Thank you, Lynn, for all you do for the startup community!

Applications Now Open for Mentoring

We are now accepting Mentee applications for OBI’s structured, 6-month program. Are you an entrepreneur who has a company (or are seriously considering starting one) and need guidance, accountability, and support from a Mentor to help you set and reach your goals? This program is free for Oregon entrepreneurs and runs from January – June, 2021. Take your business to the next level by joining OBI’s Mentoring Program.

Here is what some of our current Mentees are saying:

• “[My Mentor] worked with me to hone my pitch, participated in pitch presentations to three investment groups, one of which has now expressed an interest in investing in [my company]!”
• “Obtained very helpful advice and guidance on the strategy from a business and clinical perspective going forward.”
• “[My Mentor] introduced me to a potential collaborator.”
• “Exceeded my expectations. We are on track to meet the goals I set.”

Applications are being accepted until October 31, so apply now! 
See important details here

OBI’s Advising Program

Did you know? 

We have a network of more than 90 Advisors who are available to provide short-term free advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. Our Advisors have valuable expertise in a wide range of business topics that are integral to the success of early-stage life science companies, including:

• Accounting
• Business Plans
• Digital Health
• Government Funding
• Health IT
• Legal/IP
• Licensing
• Machine Learning/AI
• Management, including HR/Talent
• Manufacturing
• Market Analysis
• Marketing
• Private Funding
• Product Development
• Regulatory/FDA

To request assistance, please fill out this entrepreneur registration form and we’ll match you with an Advisor who can help. This service is free of charge.

Business Oregon Launching Funding Opportunities

From the October 7, 2020 press release: “The Business Oregon Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) Matching Grants are intended to help Oregon companies that have received a federal award be successful as they move forward. Companies can use matching funds to fill gaps in the federal award or further commercialize or scale their technology. Oregon-based businesses with more than half of employees based in Oregon who have been awarded a federal SBIR or STTR grant on or after Jan. 1, 2019 are eligible to apply.

“The application will be open through November 8, 2020. Awards can range up to $100,000 depending on eligibility and other parameters, with a total of approximately $1,000,000 available for funding.

“The High Impact Opportunity Project (HIOP) program looks for proposals that support the growth of emerging industries that individual businesses cannot address on their own. Projects could support these industries by addressing barriers to commercialization or support product development and testing. Projects must directly support the growth of an industry sector, not an individual business or its proprietary technology.

“Oregon-based organizations with at least half its employees based in Oregon are eligible, and the application period will be open through November 4. There is approximately $1,500,000 available for funding in this round of the HIOP program.”

OHSU Invent-a-Thon

Applications open for OHSU Invent-a-thon 
Online event, October 23–25, 2020

Make Healthcare Better. From anywhere. 

Grab your virtual raincoat and apply for our first Pacific Northwest-focused event, in partnership with Oregon Health Sciences University.

Building on MIT Hacking Medicine’s successful model, this weekend convenes teams and a wide range academic and industry partners to address problems in the medtech tracks of surgical care and early disease detection, and digital health/health IT tracks of rural and low resource setting health care and management of chronic conditions.

$40,000 in prizes will be awarded to the most promising teams, with a special emphasis on reducing health disparities and addressing COVID-19. Anyone with an interest in improving healthcare is invited to join the clinicians, researchers, designers, investors, and many others joining this dynamic weekend event.

Propel an idea into action!

Learn more and apply by October 14 at inventathon.org. #OHSUInventathon

Pitch Oregon 2020

In its fifth year, Pitch Oregon is TiE Oregon’s marquee event, attracting hundreds of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors each year. Entrepreneurs from all around Oregon pitch for free services and a cash prize of $2,500! We are looking for traded sector businesses in technology, new market innovation, and CPG in two categories – Concept and Seed.

Concept – you either have an idea or you’ve just started working on your product
Seed – you have a product and have taken some funding or are bootstrapping
 
Timeline
October 16, 2020 —  Application Deadline
October 30, 2020 — Finalist Announcement
December 1, 2020 — Pitch Oregon
 
Details
When: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: Zoom Webinar (login available after registration)
Cost: Application Fee – $10 members | $25 Nonmembers; Registration Fee – $15 members | $30 Nonmembers

McKinsey & Company Early Stage Investor Conference

December 7-11, 2020

Grow. Connect. Expand.

Early Stage Investor Conference (ESIC) is an annual flagship event designed to inspire and advance innovation across industries. Each year, we bring together an ecosystem of entrepreneurs in emerging technology, established industry-leaders, researchers from top universities, and individual and corporate investors looking for the next big idea.

Building off our 2019 success with more than 300 attendees and 50 presenting startups, in 2020 we are raising our ambitions even further by introducing new investor tracks that include biotech, medtech, healthtech, fintech, femtech, and sustainability. We are also holding a virtual forum to create a truly global community of ideas, expertise, and investors.

Applications accepted through October 31. For more information on applying or attending, see Overview page.

Upcoming Events

TiE Women: Functional Working Session on Marketing
October 13, 2020
2:00-3:30 PM
Register here

Oregon Bio, Business and Good Beans:
Latest Updates on PPP Loans and COVID Paid Leave Tax Credits
October 14, 2020
9:15-10:00 AM
Free – register here

TAO Leadership Exchange Fall Series:
Liability & Returning to Work
October 15, 2020
9:00-10:00 AM
All the details here

Bend Venture Conference
October 15-16, 2020
8:00 AM-5:30 PM
Register now

Under the Boughs with Dr. Thomas Lynch Jr., Fred Hutch
October 21, 2020
9:30-10:45 AM
Free to attend

Women in Science Lunch and Learn:
BIPOC Imposter Syndrome in STEM
October 21, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free to attend

TiE Event: Confessions of an Entrepreneur
October 27, 2020
5:30-7:30 PM
Details and registration

TAO PDX Lunch & Learn: Strategic Plan for Exit
October 28, 2020
11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Register here

TAO Resilient Leadership Workshop Series: Gathering Well
October 29, 2020
4:00-5:30 PM
Series and registration information

Oregon Bio Digital 2020 Annual Conference
November 17-19, 2020
Read all about it and register

Alpha Version of the Caregiven App is Launched

OBI client company Caregiven has some very exciting news: their mobile app has been “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 is also seeking private beta testers: people who are currently giving care or who have recently lost a loved one. Contact candice@caregiven.co for more information about the beta testing program.

Caregiven recently 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. To visit with Caregiven in a virtual kiosk, see the promotional videos, and maybe even get a sneak peek at the beta version of their new mobile app, register for the InsurTech Connect (ITC) Conference September 21-23, 2020. 

OBI Client Company Wins

RAW Molecular Systems finished recruiting for their GWAS study of microbiomes and genetics in recovered COVID-19 patients, received ICorp funding from UW, and hired new engineers to work on detection devices.

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.

Health Technology Innovations, Inc. (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.

Mentor of the Month: Curt Jennewine

OBI launched its revamped Mentoring Program this summer and is proud to give a September Mentor of the Month shoutout to Curt Jennewine. Curt is the President of Asia MedPartners, which provides consulting services for a variety of medical start-ups looking to introduce their technologies into the US market.

Curt’s background in consulting for many different medical fields combined with his insightful input, creative problem-solving, good understanding of the customer, systems-approach, strong understanding of business strategy, and excellent communication makes Curt an ideal mentor. Curt is currently mentoring two mentees in OBI’s 6-month structured mentoring program. He’s receiving high praise from his mentees, too. As one of his mentees, Anil Kumar of RxHomeTest states, “We went through our business in more detail, brainstormed ideas that needed help, and came up with strategies for further growth. We specifically planned few action items for me to follow. This mentoring program has been extremely helpful for my business, thanks to OBI and my mentor!” 

Thank you Curt, for volunteering as a mentor. We appreciate you!

Mentoring Program Seeks Applicants

OBI is gearing up for our January, 2021 mentoring cohort. We will begin accepting Mentor and Mentee applications for this structured, 6-month program next month, so now is your opportunity! If you have experience working with startups in the bioscience and digital health industry, please consider applying to become a Mentor. We are also looking for entrepreneurs who already have a company but could use guidance, accountability, and support from a Mentor to help you set and reach your goals.

Here is some nice feedback we’ve received from Mentees in the program:

• “[My Mentor] worked with me to hone my pitch, participated in pitch presentations to three investment groups, one of which has now expressed an interest in investing in [my company]!”
• “Obtained very helpful advice and guidance on the strategy from a business and clinical perspective going forward.”
• “[My Mentor] introduced me to a potential collaborator.”
• “Exceeded my expectations. We are on track to meet the goals I set.”

Applications accepted in October. Details about the OBI Mentoring Program here!

OHSU Invent-a-Thon Applications Open Now

Applications open for OHSU Invent-a-thon 
Held online, Oct. 23–25

Make Healthcare Better. From anywhere. 

Grab your virtual raincoat and apply for our first Pacific Northwest-focused event, in partnership with Oregon Health Sciences University.

Building on MIT Hacking Medicine’s successful model, this weekend convenes teams and a wide range academic and industry partners to address problems in the medtech tracks of surgical care and early disease detection, and digital health/health IT tracks of rural and low resource setting health care and management of chronic conditions.

$40,000 in prizes will be awarded to the most promising teams, with a special emphasis on reducing health disparities and addressing COVID-19. Anyone with an interest in improving healthcare is invited to join the clinicians, researchers, designers, investors, and many others joining this dynamic weekend event.

Propel an idea into action!

Learn more and apply by October 7 at inventathon.org. #OHSUInventathon

OMSI’s New Fall Programs and Fundraising Goals

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is answering the call to help during the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing new programming to support K-8 students, teachers, and caregivers. Their OMSI Homeroom program will serve 120 students per week with hands-on learning and STEAM enrichment education.

Any financial assistance you can give toward their fundraising goals for families in need will be much appreciated. See the link to their flyer describing OMSI Homeroom and their other virtual programs, and the financial support needed to bring this important education to those who need it most. 

Upcoming Events

OBI Virtual Lunch & Learn: Bioscience Career Panel
Join us for this interactive event
September 23, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register now!

OBI Virtual Lunch & Learn: Cultivating High-Performance Teams
October 6, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free – register here

VertueLab Cleantech Innovation Summit FUEL 2020
September 9-25, 2020
All the details here

Oregon Bioscience Association Biotech Summit
September 16, 2020
9:00 AM-1:30 PM
More information

Technology Association of Oregon 2020 Technology Awards
September 23, 2020
3:00-5:00 PM
Register here

Oregon Bio Coffee Talk: Retirement Benefits
September 24, 2020
9:15-10:00 AM
Link to registration

Founders Live PDX Virtual Experience
September 24, 2020
5:30-8:00 PM
Free – more information here

Oregon Bioscience Association has converted their
BioPro classes to a new virtual format!
Link to full class schedule

OBI Appoints Two New Members to Its Board of Directors

Aditi Martin was recently elected as an OBI/OTRADI Board Director. She is the Senior Director of Collaborations and Entrepreneurship at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Aditi is a strategy and innovation professional with extensive experience in building partnership and negotiating a variety of commercialization agreements. She was also a recipient of Portland Business Journal’s 2018 Forty under 40.

Ken Wilson was recently elected as an OBI/OTRADI Board Director. He is the Vice President of Campus Development at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Ken is a multifaceted real estate executive with expertise in transactions, project management, portfolio management, sourcing and managing outside vendors, managing in house real estate departments as well as third party providers. In his role at OMSI he is responsible for leading the organization’s development of 11 riverfront acres around the museum’s primary facilities.

Welcome RAW Molecular Systems to the OBI!

Our newest client company is RAW Molecular Systems. Their services include biological pathogen monitoring to tackle untreatable antibiotic/antifungal resistant diseases or diseases without current therapy for plants, animals, and people. We are excited to have them join us, and they have hit the ground running with some great wins last month:

• Successfully filed an IRB for a COVID19 study and got it approved
• Acquired lab space at OBI
• $36,000 contract with a private sponsor
• $15,000 award from Jones Milestone Accelerator
• $2500 from iCORE at UW
• 450% RAW team expansion

Congratulations to the team at RAW!

More OBI Client Company Wins

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. 

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. 

SUTUREGARD Medical, Inc. shares their wins:

• Recently completed 2nd round fundraising
• Signed a distribution agreement with Federated Healthcare Supply
• Sales have returned to pre-COVID19 levels
• Multispecialty use has expanded to include podiatry and emergency medicine

Health Technology Innovations, Inc. presented poster sessions on CryoDiscovery at the ACA 2020 (American Crystallographic Association) and M&M 2020 (Microscopy & Microanalysis) events August 2nd-7th. CryoDiscovery is a machine learning platform for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) image processing, currently in Alpha stage testing at OHSU and University of Washington, showing strong results.

Caregiven was recently profiled by HITLab and their Women’s Health Tech Initiative. This profile includes the creation of a case study they are planning to share with their stakeholders in the coming weeks. Caregiven is also making great strides in their platform content following their research with Particle Design.

Last month we reported on Hemex Health‘s release of their Gazelle Diagnostic platform for malaria and sickle cell disease. Hemex Health also has a strong collaboration with Novartis, which is focused on Sickle Cell Disease treatment in Ghana. Novartis recently featured Hemex in their company’s World Sickle Cell Day video.

Madorra‘s recent wins: 

• The NIH sponsored our pitch at the ACA innovation showcase where we won the Best Pitch and Most Venture Taps awards
• We were featured in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) SBIR Peer Learning and Networking Webinar: How to Prepare and Perfect Your Pitch, where we gave tips to our fellow NCI awardees  
• We were mentioned in Forbes article about one of our favorite menopause telehealth companies, Gennev

Bend Venture Conference Applications Open Until August 13

One of the features of the Bend Venture Conference (BVC) is an Early Stage competition. Companies applying in the early stage competition typically:

• Have a great idea, and are close to “proof of concept”
• Are pre, or very early, revenue
• Are in the process of testing their product in the market

All applicants, regardless of whether or not they are a finalist, have the opportunity to receive feedback from the investor group. The winner of this category could be awarded a minimum $30,000* investment, courtesy of Portland Seed Fund. Applications must be received by August 13, 2020. See details and apply here.

In addition, Portland Seed Fund is also offering limited Early Stage Access Scholarships and coaching. To be considered for a scholarship, at least one company founder should identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and have a financial barrier to the company’s ability to participate in the conference. For more detailed information and how to apply, please see the BVC Early Stage Competition and Scholarship page.

Apply Now for the 2021 Beaverton Startup Challenge

In its 6th year, the Beaverton Startup Challenge is a collaboration of the City of Beaverton, the Westside Startup Fund, and the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC). Each year, they select five Startup Challenge companies who receive:

• A $25,000 convertible note investment
• Introductions to Legal, Accounting, HR and marketing services
• OTBC’s top-rated mentoring services
• OTBC entrepreneur workshops
• … and more!

For more information, see the Beaverton Startup Challenge FAQ. To apply, use this link.

Need Seed Funding? Deadlines Approaching Soon

National Science Foundation’s America’s Seed Fund (SBIR-STTR) invests up to $1.75 million in seed funding for early-stage research and development, and takes no equity in your company. Submit a project pitch now, before September 3, 2020. Details here.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) SBIR/STTR funding application proposal dates are September 5, 2020; January 5 and April 5, 2021. For more information on what the NIH funding entails, see this link.

Upcoming Events

OBI Virtual Lunch & Learn: Valuation of Life Science Companies 
August 11, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register soon – nearly sold out!

TIE Women Pitch Competition
Applications due August 14, 2020
Pitch Competition September 2, 2020
Details here

TAO Virtual Cybersecurity Meetup
August 20, 2020
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
More information and registration

Badass Womxn Entrepreneurs
August 25, 2020
4:00-5:30 PM
Free to attend

TRAILS Competition Launch: Bringing Solutions to Palliative Care
Kicks off September 9, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
More information here

VertueLab Cleantech Innovation Summit FUEL 2020
September 9-25, 2020
All the details here

Oregon Bioscience Association Biotech Summit
September 16, 2020
9:00 AM-1:30 PM
More information

Technology Association of Oregon 2020 Technology Awards
September 23, 2020
3:00-5:00 PM
Register here

Oregon Bioscience Association has converted their
BioPro classes to a new virtual format!
Link to full class schedule

Congratulations to Floragenex!

Floragenex graduated from the OBI last month, 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. Since 2007, Floragenex has been a leader in genomics and next-generation DNA sequencing. From the early days when generating a million sequence reads was considered impossible to the 200M read runs of today, they have been helping scientists by providing expert guidance and support in genomics research.

Upon graduation, Floragenex relocated their lab and offices from OTRADI’s incubator in the Willamette Wharf building, to Nimbus Corporate Center in Beaverton where their parent company, Sedia Biosciences has a presence. In February, 2020, the Portland Business Journal listed both Floragenex and Sedia Biosciences on the list of the top 41 largest bioscience and health technology companies in Oregon and SW Washington, at rankings 38 and 10, respectively.

Hemex Health and HTI Awarded Business Oregon Enhanced Innovation Grants

OBI companies Hemex Health and Health Technology Innovations (HTI) have some great news! Out of 66 proposals Business Oregon received for their Enhanced Innovation Grant, they were two of the six awardees. Congratulations!

From the Business Oregon press release:
“Hemex Health is a medical diagnostic device company making tests for malaria and sickle cell disease. Enhanced Innovation Grant funds will be used for developing and validating a rapid test to detect COVID-related infection that targets viral proteins.

“HTI is developing digital imaging technologies to capture high-resolution 3D images from the molecular level up to the tissue level. Enhanced Innovation Grant funds will be used to integrate their CryoDiscovery product (Cryo-electron microscope that uses machine learning) with the CryoSPARCTM, a commercial grade software product.”

More OBI Client Company Wins

SUTUREGARD and their product HEMIGARD has been 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! Check out the video and feel free to share it with others:

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.

Hemex Health announced the launch of their Gazelle diagnostic platform. Gazelle is a multi-test platform to test for malaria and sickle cell disease. Its affordability and portability makes it an important tool for use in low resource, remote areas of the world, and it was featured in this Devex article as well as this article in Lancet eClinicalMedicine. Watch the Gazelle video to see it in action. #GazelleTakesOff

OBI Alumni Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. won the Start-Up Stadium pitch competition that was held during BIO Digital in June. Out of the 30 finalists who submitted a pitch presentation, Sparrow was one of five winners. Here’s a link to BIO’s press release. Sparrow Pharmaceuticals is developing novel, proprietary new standards of care for Cushing’s syndrome.

Congrats to all!

New Mentoring Program Begins

July 1 marked the start of our new and improved mentoring program at OBI. This 6-month cohort consists of 7 mentors and 6 mentees. Mentor-mentee pairings are one-to-one or two-to-one. They are all excited to begin working together to set and reach the mentees’ business goals.

We will have a new cohort of mentors and mentees in January, 2021. Keep an eye on the mentoring page on our website and newsletter for more information in the fall on how you can participate in our mentoring program.

OBI’s Advisors Help Entrepreneurs

In addition to mentoring, OBI has a list of over 80 Advisors who are ready and willing to help entrepreneurs seeking assistance. If you are an entrepreneur with a question or needing advice in the areas of…

• Accounting
• Legal/IP
• Licensing/Partnering
• Private Investment Funding
• Government Funding
• Product Development
• Regulatory/FDA
• Manufacturing
• Market Analysis
• Marketing
• Management
• Business Plan/Strategy

… simply fill out this form and we will match you with an Advisor with expertise in the areas you need assistance in. This service is free of charge, and designed to help entrepreneurs build thriving businesses in Oregon! 

Looking for Seed Capital for Early-Stage Product Development?

NSF’s America’s Seed Fund (SBIR-STTR) invests up to $1.75 million in seed funding for early-stage research and development, and takes no equity in your company. Submit a project pitch now, before September 3, 2020.

Details here.

Upcoming Events

OBI Events

Virtual Lunch & Learn: They Said it Couldn’t be Done!
De-Risk Your Projects 
July 22, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free – register here

Virtual Lunch & Learn: Valuation of Life Science Companies 
August 11, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free – more information

Other Community Events

Bio, Business and Good Beans: Virtual Facilitation with Finesse
July 15, 2020
9:15-10:00 AM
Free to attend – more info here

Oregon Bioscience Association has converted their
BioPro classes to a new virtual format!
The next class begins July 21, 2020
Link to full class schedule

TAO Virtual Lunch & Learn: Marketing in Times of Crisis
July 23, 2020
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
More information here

PSBA Virtual Lunch & Learn: Allyship and Confronting Prejudices in the Workplace
July 23, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free to attend

TAO and Catalyte Webinar: Process Resiliency | Keeping Everything
from Hitting the Fan
July 28, 2020
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
More information and registrationSciEducate Webinar: Business Plans are a Research Endeavor
July 28, 2020
1:00-2:00 PM
More info here

Oregon Bio Event: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dialogue
July 30, 2020
11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Registration is free

PSBA Virtual Lunch & Learn: Conflict to Conversation
August 4, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Registration is free

Founders Live PDX
August 5, 2020
5:30 PM-8:00 PM
Free to attend – register here

Heather Ellis Named as Executive Director

OTRADI/OBI’s board of directors has promoted Interim Director Heather Ellis to the position of full-time Executive Director for OTRADI and OBI.

“During my time at OTRADI and OBI, I have gained an even greater appreciation for the potential for innovation in healthcare – and Oregon’s opportunity to play a part in that innovation. OTRADI has been the forefront of healthcare innovation in the state of Oregon for more than a decade. I am honored and excited to leverage that history of work as we continue to support Oregon entrepreneurs in improving healthcare for people everywhere. I am incredibly excited to step into this role and continue supporting OBI and Oregon health innovation companies in my new position,” said Ellis. Read full press release here.

Big congratulations to Heather!

OBI Client Company Wins

Veana Therapeutics presented a poster at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, which was held virtually 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.

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.

Caregiven‘s Candice Smith recently 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.

Vir Bio 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.

Hemex Health‘s medical diagnostic device, Gazelle, was tested in the field alongside other malaria testing protocols, as 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.

COVID-19 Resources for our Business Community

Business Oregon, alongside the Oregon Employment Department, the Oregon Secretary of State, and the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services compiled the information on this page to assist Oregon small business owners, employees, and others dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.

Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) has a COVID-19 Workplace Preparedness Assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to recommend/suggest ideas you may wish to consider as Oregon moves toward reopening in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Take the assessment here.

Upcoming Events

OBI Events

Virtual Lunch & Learn: Pivot with Purpose –
Build Your Business Around Your Greatest Strength 
June 17, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register here – Free to attend

Virtual Lunch & Learn: They Said it Couldn’t be Done!
De-Risk Your Projects 
July 22, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Free – Register here

Other Community Events

Cooley Healthtech Talks: Funding for Your Early Stage Startup:
A Roadmap to Seed + Series A Financing
 June 11, 2020
9:00-10:00 AM
Register to attend – Free

Current Trends in Venture Funding:
Perspective on Investments Post-Pandemic
June 16, 2020
10:00-11:00 AM
Register now – Free to attend

FAN BASE: Competitive Edge
 [PREGAME] Summer Business Coaching Series
 June 16, 2020
12:00-1:30 PM
More information

PDXWIT and PIE June Happy Hour
June 16, 2020
5:00-6:30 PM
Registration – Free to attend

University Lab Partners: 3 Steps to Make Your Boardroom
Team a Competitive Weapon
June 18, 2020
3:00-4:30 PM
Register here – Free

Founders Live PDX Virtual Experience
June 18, 2020
5:30-8:00 PM
Free to attend – Register here

Oregon Science Startup Forum
June 20, 2020
8:00 AM-7:00 PM
More information here

Bio, Business and Good Beans – Data Security and Privacy:
Managing Risks of Remote Work
June 24, 2020
9:15-10:00 AM
Free to attend – Registration link

NOW CFO Roadmap to Recovery Weekly Webinars
Wednesdays at 2 PM, Fridays at 12 noon
Learn more here

SciEducate Webinars
Series of upcoming webinars
More info here

Business Oregon Announces Enhanced Innovation Grant Program

The May 6, 2020 memo from Business Oregon states: “The Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC) supports companies with high-growth potential emerging from science and research. In 2018-2019, Oregon InC invested in 27 companies through the Enhanced Phase 0 program, providing critical gap funding between very early research and development funding sources and larger federal grants and/or private investment. These early investments supported innovative companies to scale up in Oregon, develop new technologies and products, create or retain jobs, and move products and services closer to market.

“Given the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, continuing this support of innovation-based entrepreneurship is vital for Oregon’s economic recovery. In recognition of this crisis, Oregon InC is re-launching the Enhanced Phase 0 program, now named the Enhanced Innovation Grant program. The Enhanced Innovation Grants will be awarded to early-stage Oregon companies that:

• are advancing innovation-based solutions related to the resolution or the management of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or
• have received previous Oregon InC funding and has made progress toward commercialization since that funding

“Proposals will be accepted until Wednesday, May 20th and will go through a formal review process. Full details can be found in the RFP document on Business Oregon’s website.”

OBI Client Company Wins

Health Technology Innovations, HTI, received the NSF Phase1 STTR award for CryoDiscovery ™ : An integrated cryo-EM intelligence solution. CryoDiscoveryTM: A Machine Learning Platform for Automated Cryo-electron Microscopy Particle Classification paper has been accepted to the Microscopy & Microanalysis August 2020 Conference. CryoDiscovery ™ Alpha released and being tested at OHSU. HTI LLC is now HTI Inc. Dr. Gershon Wolfe joined HTI as Director of R&D. HTI is looking for a machine learning development engineer and computer science interns.

On April 6, 2020, 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. 

Hemex Health is partnering with PAI Life Sciences in Seattle to create a rapid COVID-19 test on Hemex’s Gazelle Diagnostic platform. The test is designed for affordable use in remote locations with limited resources. The Portland Business Journal recently reported on this important collaboration. Link to full article here.

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.

Madorra‘s first patent has 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. They 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. And later that month, the Portland Tribune wrote an article about how they are leading a revoluation in women’s healthcare.

OBI’s Mentoring Program Now Accepting Mentee Applications

Last month we told you about our newly expanded Mentoring Program. We are pleased to announce that we’re now accepting applications to become a mentee.

Are you an entrepreneur with an early-stage or developing company in the bioscience or digital health industry? Did you know that mentoring helps you grow your business? A recent survey from Kabbage found that only 22% of businesses had mentors when they started their company, and 92% of business who have a mentor say mentoring has directly impacted their business growth and survival.

OBI’s mentoring program is a 6-month structured program, with our next cohort beginning July 1, 2020.

Apply now to become a Mentee! But act quickly – mentee applications are only open until May 15. Note: This program is open to all; however, priority will be given to OBI client companies.

Please see our Mentoring page for Fast Facts about mentoring, and a link to the application.

Welcome to our new Administrative Assistant, Kaci Garcia!

Ms. Garcia joined OBI in March 2020 as an Administrative Assistant. She is responsible for daily operations, the main point of contact for the companies in the incubator, and will be the office receptionist when we’re back in the office after Governor Brown’s Stay Home order is lifted.

Ms. Garcia graduated summa cum laude in 2019 from Portland State University with a B.A. in Arts and Letters and a minor in Art History. She also has an AAS in paralegal studies and an AGS from Portland Community College. Her professional background includes general office administration and work as a legal assistant in the field of business immigration law.

Upcoming Events

TAO Event: Virtual Lunch & Learn: Preventing Burnout
May 13, 2020
11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Details here

VertueLab/BBC Webinar: ABCs of SBIR/STTR Funding
 May 13, 2020
12:00-1:30 PM
Register to attend – Free

OEN Event: BYOB May Pubtalk – It’s Time to Build
May 13, 2020
5:30-7:00 PM
Information here

PSBA Virtual Lunch & Learn: What Leaders Need to Know About Negotiation
May 20, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
More information here

PSBA Virtual Lunch & Learn: Conflict to Conversation
June 3, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
More information here

NOW CFO Webinars: Roadmap to Recovery Weekly Webinars
Wednesdays at 2 PM, Fridays at 12 noon
Learn more here

SciEducate Webinars: SBIR Miniseries
Series of 4 webinars
More info here

Stay Home. Save Lives.

OBI staff is complying with Governor Kate Brown’s directive to Stay Home, Save Lives. The employees in the administrative office of OBI/OTRADI is teleworking during this time, but please know that we are still here for you. Some of our client companies have staff working from home, while their staff working on essential research may continue working in their offices and laboratories, utilizing safe distancing and hygiene practices. We’re all working diligently to take steps to reduce the spread of Coronavirus and avoid getting sick with COVID-19.

Oregon and Federal Resources for Business

This pandemic is affecting businesses large and small. Here are some resources that we hope you find helpful during this time:

• Portland area small business resources
• COVID-19 emergency response resources and information
• Oregon Secretary of State business information
• Oregon Secretary of State Coronavirus resources for business
• Business Oregon Coronavirus resources for business
• Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 updates (updated daily)
• Johns Hopkins Coronavirus map
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation press release
• BARDA Coronavirus partnership opportunities
• DRIVE with information on accelerators
• InfoEd Global COVID-19/Coronavirus resources
• FDA Emergency Use Authorization information
• NSF request for SBIR/STTR Phase 1 proposals addressing COVID-19
• Small Business Administration COVID-19 small business guidance and loan resources
• SBA Paycheck Protection Program

Caregiven Featured in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine 

Caregiven, one of OBI’s digital health startup companies, was featured in the AIMed March 5, 2020 special report entitled “Women in AI – DeathTech.” Caregiven’s digital health platform guides families to the appropriate end-of-life support and services so they can spend less time overwhelmed by administrative tasks and more meaningful time with their loved one. If you are unable to view the entire article, please email candice@caregiven.co (not .com) for a PDF copy.

Dr. David Farrell of Gamma Therapeutics gives TEDx Talk 

Can We More Accurately Predict Heart Attacks and Strokes? Dr. David Farrell, TEDxMcMinnville, March 6, 2020

“Can we more accurately predict heart attacks and strokes? The clot thickens…” (Read full OHSU article here)

OBI Companies Combat Covid-19

Hemex Health is working on a fast, low cost and accurate point of care diagnostic for COVID-19. It is built on our miniaturized electrophoresis platform. We are applying for grants to do the needed work.

Nelson Bio Lab is working with other companies to develop COVID-19 diagnostic kits. We already have samples and have obtained samples from other Chinese companies. The FDA has accepted them. If necessary, we can provide kits.

Rewire Neuroscience is a provider of artificial intelligence technologies intended to quickly and accurately detect biomarkers for diseases and other physiological states in tissue samples and cell cultures. We offer core AI, machine learning, and computer vision services for integration into biomarker detection workflows. This technology can be used for automated analysis of diagnostic testing kits and assays. Rewire Neuroscience is an Oregon startup that is funded by state and federal grants and located at the Oregon Bioscience Incubator.

RxHomeTest has launched a COVID-19 PCR test kit that can be ordered by clinicians for their patients with symptoms (not available for direct-to-consumer yet). You can contact them at test@rxhometest.com for more information.

Sirona Dx can accelerate your COVID-19 studies! Our expert team offers the industry’s most comprehensive immune profiling of blood samples using state-of-the-art CyTOF technology. We’ll help you maximize results from precious blood samples of COVID-19 patients and translate new discoveries into better clinical outcomes. Using antibody panels developed for single-cell mass cytometry, we can simultaneously analyze 44 immune markets in less than 300 µL of blood and help you identify immune signatures to reveal the best treatment and immunization strategies.

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.  The approach is to use Sonivate’s High Frequency Linear array to scan the lung. Up to 80 participants will be evaluated in North Carolina comparing their ultrasound images to those of their CT-Scans. The AI algorithms will be based on these findings and integrated with early images/findings from China. It is expected to be a 6-9 month program. The objective is to evaluate a patient’s condition on a 20 point scale with a minimally trained clinician. This is a proposal and does not have any certainty of being awarded.  

StoneStable, Inc. is not directly working on SARS-CoV-2, but are working on how to make vaccines better, including potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and testing kits.

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.

OBI’s NEW Mentoring Program

Exciting news! We have listened to your feedback and have ravamped our biomentor program!

The newly expanded program is in two separate parts:

• A structured 6-month Mentoring Program
• And a more informal Advising Program

Apply now! Applications to become a Mentor are open now! Applications for Mentees will open in May.

Please see our Mentoring page for Fast Facts about both programs and links to the applications.

Upcoming Events

OBI Event: Virtual Lunch & Learn – Negotiate Like a Boss by Being Yourself 
April 14, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register here
Free to attend – join us from the comfort of your home or office,
but register soon because tickets are going fast!

OBI Event: Virtual Lunch & Learn – Financial Projections in the Time of Coronavirus 
April 21, 2020
12:00-1:00 PM
Register here
Free to attend – join us from the comfort of your home or office!

OBI Partner Event: Pacific Northwest Healthcare Demo Day
This virtual event launches April 8, 2020
Information and Registration

OBI Companies pitching in this event include: 

Bates Medical Systems
Caregiven
Hemex Health
Madorra
OmnEcoil Instruments
StoneStable
Suturegard Medical, Inc.
HealthSaas (OBI Graduate)
Sparrow Pharmaceuticals (OBI Graduate)

TAO Webinar: Maintaining Connection & Collaboration While Teleworking
April 9, 2020
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Information and Registration

Boulder Care Partnering with Blue Cross for Addiction Treatment

The Portland Business Journal featured Boulder Care‘s new partnership with Blue Cross in helping its members access opioid addiction treatment. “Portland startup . . . Boulder Care is trying to make medication-assisted treatment accessible to more people, especially those in rural areas, with the hope of scaling its telemedicine-based buprenorphine program to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans in the next couple of years.” (Read article here)

OBI Client Company Wins

• Rewire Neuroscience (photo of Founder & CEO John Harkness, above) was recently featured in a Portland Business Journal article about how artificial intelligence is changing the way humans and machines work.
• Hemex Health was highlighted in the Elevate Capital monthly newsletter. The article discussed Hemex Health’s efforts in a clinical study in Ghana, to screen for and monitor sickle cell disease.
• OBI graduate AbSci had an Expansion Celebration and ribbon cutting at its new location.
• Senju Pharmaceutical Co. recently launched a new treatment with Otsuka for glaucoma and ocular hypertension.
• On February 8, 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.
• SUTUREGARD Medical just 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.
• Want to know more about Aronora‘s new antithrombotic, AB002? Check out the latest Blood Podcast from the American Society of Hematology. 

OBI Mentoring Program

Our BioMentor program is in the process of being revamped. Look for more information in the next month!

Upcoming Events

OBI Event: Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour
March 5, 2020
5:30 – 7:00 PM
Join the Waiting List. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Lunch & Learn – Aus-Trial-ia: Early Phase Clinical Trials in Australia
March 10, 2020
12:00 -1:00 PM
Register now, just a few seats left! Free to attend.

OBI Event: Lunch & Learn – Financial Projections – NOW CFO Financial Series #3 
March 24, 2020
12:00 -1:00 PM
Register here. Free to attend.

OEN & OTBC Event: Workshop – Startup 411 – How to Start Your Startup
March 5, 2020
11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Details here

Oregon Bioscience Association Event: BIO on the Rocks
March 12, 2020
5:00 – 8:00 PM
Details here

Congratulations to OBI/OTRADI graduate AbSci for starting off the new year with a $10 million funding round and more growth on the horizon!

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

From 2015 to 2019, OBI Client Companies have:

2019 OBI Client Company Wins

• Aronora has completed a first-in-human clinical trial of their unique FXI inhibitor. 
• Aronora announced a $9M+ deal for drug royalties from their novel stroke, clots and heart disease products.
• Aronora was just awarded a new Fast Track Phase I/II SBIR grant from the NIH for $2.5 million to help support the phase 2 clinical trial of AB002 (E-WE thrombin).
• Aronora has started a phase 2 clinical trial of AB002, a novel recombinant antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory enzyme. This is their third product candidate, in addition to AB012 and AB023, that had passed phase one. Information on this trial is available here.
• Aronora was awarded an SBIR matching grant from Business Oregon at the end of 2019.

• Bates Medical Systems pitched at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. At this event, they attracted the attention of Willamette Valley Capital Principal Bill Byers.
• Bates Medical Systems pitched at TAO’s Ignite: Health in November.

• Caregiven pitched at the Elevating Impact Summit (https://www.pdx.edu/impactentrepreneurs/elevating-impact-2019) .
• Caregiven was offered an opportunity to pitch at Techfest NW.
• Michele Houke joined Caregiven in May to oversee marketing efforts coming from WebMd.
• Caregiven participated in the Onramp Healthcare conference in Green Bay, WI.
• Caregiven participated in a Women’s Startup Lab event in Silicon Valley.
• Caregiven was selected to participate in Silver Moonshots Accelerator that concluded with a Demo Day to 50+ investors in aging-tech nationwide.
• Caregiven pitched at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. At this event, they attracted the attention of Willamette Valley Capital Principal Bill Byers.
• Caregiven was invited to be part of the HITLab.
• Caregiven was nominated into the Founders Network and was sponsored to attend their annual retreat in the Bay Area.
• Caregiven presented to LP’s of Rogue Venture’s Rogue Women Fund.
• Caregiven was a finalist and pitched at Plug-n-Play’s Tokyo’s Insurtech program.
• Caregiven was a finalist at PitchOregon presented by TiE.
• Caregiven was selected to participate in the Global Insurance Accelerator. Check out the press release.  

• CytoImage received a Phase 0 grant award of $100,000 from Business Oregon for their miniaturized imaging platform using nanoparticles to detect drug resistant cancer.

• Floragenex saw a 13% increase in sales in 2019.
• Floragenex tested and validated operational plans to improve:
  • Efficiency of lab processing by 5%
  • Lab throughput by 15%
  • Reduce cost by 5%

• Gamma Therapeutics pitched at Oregon Bioscience Association’s Company Pitch Fest.

• Health Technology Innovations was awarded a $99,825 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant for integrated cryogenic electron microscopy intelligence solution for large imaging datasets in life sciences.
• HTI’s CryoDiscovery™ alpha was released and is being tested at OHSU/PNCC’s Cryo-EM center.

• Hemex Health was invited to present at the RESI Conference during JP Morgan week in San Francisco.
• Hemex Health was awarded a $150,000 SBIR grant to design and automate an affordable microchip-electrophoresis for sickle cell disease using a test cartridge that can be used in Hemex Health’s portable, easy-to-use analysis equipment.
• Hemex Health was invited to Ghana to discuss therapy for sickle cell patients. They also toured Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which has been working to institute sickle cell screening for all newborns.
• Hemex Health won a $45K Catalyzing Pediatric Innovation Grant from CTIP (Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics). The Grant will fund a study in Ghana to determine if a large number of infants can be screened efficiently for sickle cell disease during the vaccination process. Hemex presented at the CTIP Symposium held in Los Angeles.

• Madorra completed their Human Factors Study with great results.
• Madorra was featured in the UCSF Rosenman Health Technology podcast. 
• Madorra was awarded a $500K Phase IIB SBIR extension grant from the NSF.
• Madorra delivered their pilot study device. Fully tested and documented: Madorra has finished its first medical device!

• Motusi pitched at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. 

• OmnEcoil performed initial imaging-only testing of the OmnEcoil device on 7 patients.
• OmnEcoil finalized device design and prototype manufacturing after their initial patient testing.
• OmnEcoil obtained a Business Oregon SBIR matching grant of $50,000
• OmnEcoil submitted a pending $1.5M NIH grant application to fund a clinical trial of the device (both prostate imaging and biopsy) in ~40 patients.

• ProMedix was awarded a $100,000 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant for their medical device to measure dehydration.
• ProMedix received an investment from Ideaship LLC, which is a patent equity firm, to further establish their patent portfolio.

• Refeyn was a winner of The Scientist Top 10 Innovations in 2019.
• Refeyn was a winner of R&D 100 Awards in 2019. Refeyn was recognized under the Analytical / Test category for its work on mass photometry.
• Refeyn was one of the winning technologies under the Enabling Technologies category of Royal Society of Chemistry in 2019.

• Rewire Neuroscience pitched at and won Founders Live PDX in September.
• Rewire Neuroscience pitched at Oregon Bioscience Association’s Company Pitch Showcase in October.
• Rewire Neuroscience pitched at TAO’s Ignite: Health in November.
• Rewire Neuroscience has been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program. 
• Rewire Neuroscience was awarded a Phase I SBIR grant from NIH in September
• Rewire Neuroscience was awarded a SBIR matching grant from Business Oregon in December
• Rewire Neuroscience was awarded a Kiesow research grant from the Legacy Research Institute in March
• Rewire Neuroscience pitched at the Life Science Innovation NW “fast-pitch” competition in April
• Rewire Neuroscience pitched at the at TechFest NW’s PitchFest competition in April

• Sirona Dx expanded pharma/biotech client base from 10 to 33
• Sirona Dx launched the Immune Portrait TME panel, enabling comprehensive analysis of the tumor microenvironment at sub-cellular resolution
• Sirona Dx expanded capabilities with addition of secure server and document control room to meet requirements of pharma clients
• Sirona Dx expanded executive leadership team with key strategic hires including:
  • James Rader, Chief Financial Officer
  • Camille B. Troup, Ph.D. Chief Technology Officer
  • Anup Madan, Ph.D. Chief Operating Officer
  • Ken J. Pennline, Ph.D. (RED Consulting), Business Strategy Advisor

• Sonivate Medical has raised more than $2 million, according to a form filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission according to Elizabeth Hayes of the Portland Business Journal. Click here to see the full Portland Business Journal article.

• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals presented at the following events.
  • Keiretsu Family Office Forum, 7 March in Seattle
  • Angel Capital Expo, 8 March in Seattle
  • Cascadia Venture Forum, 11 March in Vancouver BC
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was named the best seed-stage company at Cascadia Venture Forum.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was awarded $100K Business Oregon Enhanced Phase 0 grant to support certain regulatory, IP, and drug supply management activities. Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was also selected as a podium presenter during Life Science Innovation NW.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was awarded a $100,000 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant to develop new drugs that work in combination with corticosteroids while mitigating adverse effects. 
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals completed Keiretsu Forum due diligence and has now received initial investments from Keiretsu members.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals passed $1M capital attracted to support development of safer steroids.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals received an FDA agreement to conduct their next clinical trial as designed, they converted US provisional to PCT patent application, and have allowance of 101st composition of matter patent.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals pitched at Oregon Bioscience Association’s Company Pitch Fest and won.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was granted their 102^nd patent in 2019.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals received preliminary examination of the PCT application that found novelty, non-obviousness and utility.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals initiated Phase 2 development activities for their lead product SPI-62.

• StoneStable was awarded a $49,930 STTR grant for stabilization of influenza vaccine by silica-coating. The company will conduct additional experiments to demonstrate efficacy of silica-coated flu vaccines that are much more stable than existing means.

• SUTUREGARD Medical was chosen from many startups to participate in the Innovation Pitch Competition and JP Morgan/RESI in San Francisco January 8th.
• SUTUREGARD presented at the Med Tech Monday in Costa Mesa on January 28th.
• SUTUREGARD completed round 2 of Willamette Valley Capital’s pitch series.
• SUTUREGARD participated in a surgical trade show in Las Vegas on February 3rd.
• SUTUREGARD has completed their seed round. Kaiser Permanente has approved their device for a 3-month product trial and surgeons from multiple specialties will be involved in this clinical trial.
• SUTUREGARD in introducing another Class I product, the HEMIGARD^TM.
• SUTUREGARD now has 4 patents and 7 pending patents including international submissions.
• SUTUREGARD has partnered with OPERATION SMILE, the most prestigious global plastic surgery organization serving the underprivileged peoples of the world.
• SUTUREGARD has partnered with 9 sales consultants, covering the sunbelt regions of the US and all have existing relationships and accounts in SUTUGARD’s target specialties (dermatology, Mohs, general surgery and plastics).
• WebMarkets has updated SUTUREGARD’s website and is working on optimizing their SEO. Check out their new website (www.suturegard.com) and store (www.suturegard.store).
• SUTUREGARD has finalized their supply chain. The SUTUREGARD ISR is manufactured by Molded Devices Inc in Tempe, AZ, and the HEMIGARD by MBK Adhesives in Chatsworth, CA. Both products are sterilized and packaged by DemeTECH in Miami Lakes, FL.  SUTUREGARD has partnered with Preferred Depot in Tustin, CA for domestic order fulfillment. 
• SUTUREGARD recently recently returned from MEDICA, the worlds’ largest MedTech exposition, held this November 18-21 in Dusseldorf Germany! Thank you to Business Oregon for the support!

• Veana Therapeutics pitched at PitchfestNW. Out of 137 companies that pitched, Veana Therapeutics made the top 10 list. 
• Veana Therapeutics recently received FDA approval to conduct a first-in-human clinical trial of its lead product, VIMO-001, an oral capsule, in combination with HerceptinTM for HER2 positive breast cancer patients that have failed all previous curative therapies.
• Veana Therapeutics recently entered into a collaboration with The University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle WA to clinically evaluate its first-in-class lead product, Veana Immune Modulator (VIMO-001) in combination with HerceptinTM in patients with advanced HER-2+ breast cancer. This FDA-approved trial is now open for patient enrollment.

• VIR Biotechnology’s vaccine technology shows promise against malaria.
• Vir Bio was featured in Xconomy highlighting their approach to tackling infectious disease. Check out the article.
• Vir Bio went public. In October, Vir raised $142.9 million in gross proceeds from an initial public offering. 

• Virogenomics BioDevelopment was awarded a $99,173 SBIR Phase II Matching Grant to work on protein therapeutic treatments for multiple sclerosis, stroke and meth addiction.
• Virogenomics BioDevelopment was awarded a phase 1 sttr in March DRα1-MOG as a Next-Generation Immunotherapy for Methamphetamine Use Disorder”, collaborating with Jennifer Loftis and Marilyn Huckans, at OHSU & the VA. $300k
• Virogenomics BioDevelopment was awarded a phase I SBIR in September, “Developing novel fibrillin biomarkers for aortic disease”, collaborating with Lynn Sakai, OHSU & Shriner’s Children’s Hospital. $268k
• Virogenomics BioDevelopment applied for and was accepted into the NIH Commercialization Accelerator Program (CAP) program, as part of our ongoing Phase II STTR work for “Development of DRα1-MOG-35-55 for treatment of DR2 negative MS subjects”.  The NIH CAP program provides mentoring and consultants to advise and help overcome hurdles to commercialization. 

OBI WELCOMED ELEVEN
NEW STARTUPS TO OUR INCUBATOR IN 2019

Click here to learn more about our new companies.

Upcoming Events

 OBI EVENT:
Lunch & Learn

OBI EVENT: Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour
March 5, 2020
 5:30-7:00 PM
Register Now!

OEN EVENT: PubTalk – Learning From Failure
February 19, 2020
5:15 – 7:00 PM
Details Here

BIOCOM EVENT: Biocom’s Global Life Science Partnering Conference
February 25-27, 2020
San Diego, CA
Details Here

OEN & OTBC EVENT: Workshop – Startup 411 – How to Start Your Startup
March 5, 2020
11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Details Here

OREGON BIOSCIENCE ASSOCIATION EVENT: BIO on the Rocks
March 12, 2020
5:00 – 8:00 PM
Details Here

Applications NOW OPEN for
Springboard Enterprises’ 2020 Health Innovation Hub: Life Sciences

Springboard is now recruiting women-led life science and healthcare companies seeking growth funding and connections to experts and strategic partners for product development and expansion. Areas of focus for the program include (but are not limited to) drugs, therapeutics, diagnostics, medtech, and medical devices.

The 2020 Health Hub programming has a special focus on women’s health innovation. Applications will be open through February 19th-24th (priority deadline February 19).

Apply Now!

Cascade Seed Fund Invites Early Stage Companies to Apply for Funding

Entrepreneurs seeking investment capital have an opportunity to present their early stage businesses to Cascade Seed Fund with the opening of its first application period running from from November 12, 2019 to January 17, 2020. This is the first of several planned application periods for 2020. Entrepreneurs interested in applying can do so via Gust.

The Fund anticipates investing in 5-8 companies annually. Investments are made in early-stage technology and consumer products companies with those initial investments anticipated to average $250,000 per company.

The Fund’s mission is to create regional opportunities for businesses to drive economic growth, fuel prosperity, and generate a return for investors. Cascade Seed Fund is managed by 44North Ventures, under the leadership of Julie Harrelson and Robert Pease. Harrelson, an entrepreneur, investor and leader in Oregon’s startup community, founded Cascade Angels Fund in 2013 and managed all five predecessor funds to Cascade Seed Fund with over $5 million invested in 30 companies. Pease has over 20 years of experience as an investor, founder, operational executive, and consultant. He joined Julie in the management of Cascade Angels Fund V and serves as a Venture Partner to the previous Cascade Angels Funds.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Madorra was awarded a $500K Phase IIB SBIR extension grant from the NSF. Madorra also delivered the pilot study device. Fully tested and documented: Madorra has finished its first medical device!
• Rewire Neuroscience has been busy pitching recently. They pitched at and won Founders Live PDX in September, pitched at Oregon Bioscience Association’s Company Pitch Showcase in October, and pitched at TAO’s Ignite: Health in November. They have also been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals competed in and won Oregon Bioscience Association’s Company Pitch Fest (photo above).
• Vir Bio went public. In October, Vir raised $142.9 million in gross proceeds from an initial public offering.

Welcome OBI/OTRADI’s Newly Appointed Board Chair Joseph Janda

Joe has served on OBI/OTRADI’s board of directors for 3 years and was recently voted on as OBI’s Board Chair. He is Assistant Vice President in Research and Graduate Studies at Portland State University. As Assistant Vice President, he leads the innovation commercialization activities including intellectual property development and licensing, entrepreneurial training and support, engagement with the entrepreneurship ecosystem, and engagement with faculty and research groups to grow their research portfolios with an awareness of impact, commercial, and IP considerations.

Grace Bio-Labs has a special offer for the OTRADI and OBI community. Email info@gracebio.com if you would like to partake.

Upcoming Events

OBI Event: Join us for the Lunch & Learn – Who’s on your Board of Directors on December 18th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

OHSU Event: OHSU’s Invent Seminar Series on January 7th from 12-1pm will focus on “How to approach market research.” Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us at our first 2020 Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour on January 9th from 5:30pm – 7pm at OBI/OTRADI. Register now. Free to attend.
Thank you to Oregon Bioscience Association for sponsoring this event.

BIO International Event: BIO International Convention will be in San Diego from June 8-11th. Start-Up Stadium was designed to provide start-up companies with the opportunity to engage key members of the investment community, venture philanthropy groups, strategic partners, and non-dilutive capital at the world’s largest biotechnology event. Apply now. 

OBI on Social Media

OBI recently joined Facebook. Follow us and stay tuned to see how we will be using Facebook Live.

Other Social Media Platforms:

• Follow us on Twitter @OTRADIBio
• Link in with us on LinkedIn
• Check out our Website and Events Calendar

Now Accepting Applications for Matching Grants

Business Oregon is seeking applications for matching grants of either federal Phase I SBIR/STTR awards or Phase II awards. An Oregon company that has received a Phase I SBIR/STTR award may submit a proposal for projects up to $50,000. A company with a Phase II or Fast-track award may submit a proposal for projects up to $100,000. Open now through 11:59 pm October 31, 2019—Get the request for proposal (RFP); download the application form. 

Check out Business Oregon’s SBIR Web Page for more information.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Bates Medical Systems pitched at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. At this event, they attracted the attention of Willamette Valley Capital Principal Bill Byers.
• Caregiven also pitched at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. At this event, they attracted the attention of Willamette Valley Capital Principal Bill Byers.
• Hemex Health won a $45K Catalyzing Pediatric Innovation Grant from CTIP (Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics). The Grant will fund a study in Ghana to determine if a large number of infants can be screened efficiently for sickle cell disease during the vaccination process. Hemex presented at the CTIP Symposium held in Los Angeles last month.
• Gamma Therapeutics is an Oregon Bioscience Association Company Pitch Fest Finalist. Register now to see them present. 
• Rewire Neuroscience is an Oregon Bioscience Association Company Pitch Fest Finalist. Register now to see them present.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals is an Oregon Bioscience Association Company Pitch Fest Finalist. Register now to see them present.
• Vir Bio was featured in Xconomy highlighting  their approach to tackling infectious disease. Check out the article.

OBI’s BioMentor Program is available throughout the entire state of Oregon

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon.

We have a network of >90 BioMentors with valuable expertise in a wide range of business topics that are integral to the success of early-stage life science companies, including:

• Accounting
• Business Plan
• Government Funding
• Legal / IP
• Licensing
• Management
• Manufacturing
• Market Analysis
• Marketing
• Private Funding
• Product Development
• Regulatory / FDA

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

To connect with BioMentors, please fill out this form. We are here to help!

Join us for these upcoming OBI programs:

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on how to Pregame Your Business on October 22nd from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for our Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour on November 7th from 5:30-7pm at OBI/OTRADI. Register now. Free to attend.

Join us for these upcoming OBI-Partner programs and events:

Partner Event in Bend: The 16th Annual Bend Venture Conference will be October 17th & 18th. Register now. $135-$329 to attend.

Partner Event : Catalyze is hosting The Future of Digital Health and Wearables on October 22nd from 5-8pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting their 2019: Innovating and Scaling our Region’s Growth conference on October 29th from 8am – 6:30pm. Register now. $95-$180 to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is hosting their 26th OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards Dinner on October 29th from 5pm – 9pm. Register now. $255 – $2,750 to attend.

OBI Appoints New Board Chair and Two New Members to Its Board of Directors

Dan Snyder has been elected as OBI/OTRADI’s new Board Chair. He was most recently the President and CEO for MolecularMD, which was recently acquired by ICON. His experience as a bio-entrepreneur benefits us by ensuring our client companies and all bio-entrepreneurs in the community are well represented.

Liisa Bozinovic was recently elected as an OBI/OTRADI Board Director. She is the Executive Director of the Oregon Bioscience Association, a trade/industry organization. Her experience in workforce training and development along with academia and industry partnerships will bring a new prospective to OBI/OTRADI.

Sandra Shotwell was recently elected as an OBI/OTRADI Board Director. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Designmedix and Co-Founder and Board Chair of Elex Biotech Inc. Her experience in technology transfer and licensing, active angel investor and as a bio-entrepreneur will bring new levels of experience to OBI/OTRADI’s Board of Directors.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Bates Medical Systems is pitching at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. This pitch will be in San Francisco on September 18th.
• Motusi is pitching at MedTech & Digital Health Demo Day, a pitch event to showcase promising medtech and digital health startups from outside the bay area. This pitch will be in San Francisco on September 18th.
• Sonivate Medical has raised more than $2 million, according to a form filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission according to Elizabeth Hayes of the Portland Business Journal. Click here  to see the full Portland Business Journal article.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals passed $1M capital attracted to support development of safer steroids. They also received an FDA agreement to conduct their next clinical trial as designed, they converted US provisional to PCT patent application, and have allowance of 101st composition of matter patent.

OBI BioMentor Highlight

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting Brad Hathaway, Senior Consultant of The Mountain Group.

As a BioMentor, Brad can best assist early-stage companies with guidance in three areas:

1. Planning and analysis – forecasting, modeling, analysis of financial results, product costing.
2. Reporting – a review cycle with reports and metrics aligned with strategy and intended for the management team and other stakeholders.
3. Accounting operations – setting up systems, consulting on bookkeeping strategies and processes.

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

If you would like to connect with our BioMentors, please fill out this form.

Join us for these upcoming OBI programs:

OBI Event: Join us for our Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour on September 5th from 5:30-7pm at OBI/OTRADI. Register now. Free to attend.

Collaboration Event: PSBA and OBI are partnering to bring a Finance Lunch & Learn series. Join us for the first session on “Understanding the Basics” on September 17th from 12-1pm at the PSBA. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Setting Up Your Books & the Importance of Financial Statements on September 26th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Funding in Connection with Women Inventorship on October 2nd from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on how to Pregame Your Business on October 22nd from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Join us for these upcoming OBI-Partner programs and events:

Partner Event: Tonkon Torp is hosting a Tonkon Talk on Accelerators & Incubators – How They Can Help on September 4th from 4-6pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: OTBC, OEN TiE and Ater Wynne are partnering on an online series “How Early Stage Startup Funding Works.” The next topic will discuss How the Series Seed Works on September 10th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend this webinar.

Partner Event: VertueLab is hosting their Impact Summit 2019 on September 13th. They are also hosting a Funding Startups Lunch with SBIR Grants and Other Funding Options at 12pm. Register now. $10-$125 to attend.

Partner Event: Women in Science is hosting their Annual Gala on September 18th from 6-9pm. Register now. $75-$100 to attend.

Partner Event in San Francisco: Catalyze is partnering with Runway Innovation Hub to bring MedTech and Digital Health Demo Day on September 18th from 2-8pm. Register now. $35 to attend.

Partner Event: OCTRI is now accepting applications for BIP Corp, 4-week experiential course. BIP Corp runes October 4 – November 1. Applications are due September 20th. Apply now.

Partner Event in Medford: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting a Medford Meet Up 2.0 on September 24th from 5-8pm. Register now. $20 to attend.

Partner Event in Bend: The 16th Annual Bend Venture Conference will be October 17th & 18th. Register now. $135-$329 to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting their 2019: Innovating and Scaling our Region’s Growth conference on October 29th from 8am – 6:30pm. Register now. $95-$180 to attend.

Best Wishes to OBI/OTRADI’s Executive Director, Jennifer Fox, in her new position as Autodesk’s Director and Chief of Staff

“The last eleven years at OTRADI and the OBI have been the most exciting and professionally rewarding time of my career. I am immensely proud of the work that we have been able to accomplish — opening Oregon’s first bio-focused startup incubator and growing Oregon’s bioscience and digital health startup sector. While I hate to leave OTRADI/OBI, in July 2019, I accepted a position in Portland with Autodesk as a Director and Chief of Staff.

While my new role is a fantastic opportunity that promises to be exciting and challenging, it was very difficult for me to leave our outstanding team, organization and the OBI community. Autodesk is a leader in working with innovators, makers, engineers and community builders, which is why it will be a wonderful next step for me. Moving forward, I will continue to be an active member of the bio and digital health community here in Oregon. I remain incredibly excited to continue to see the phenomenal growth of bioscience startups and health and wellness innovators across Oregon.

I look forward to seeing you all again in the near future.”

-Jennifer Fox, Ph.D

OBI/OTRADI names Heather Ellis as Interim Director

OBI/OTRADI’s board of directors has named Heather Ellis as Interim Director. Heather has been with OBI/OTRADI for the past two years and has most recently served as our Assistant Director. She is well-informed, passionate about incubation and a wonderful contributor to our community. 

We are committed to supporting a smooth transition, and we have outstanding staff and board of directors that are committed and dedicated to supporting bio-entrepreneurs at the OBI and across Oregon. 

Aditi Martin to lead new OHSU Collaborations and Entrepreneurship Office

OBI’s close partner, Aditi Martin, has be crucial to the entrepreneurial community, OHSU partnerships and business development since 2015. She will now serve OHSU as Senior Director of Collaborations and Entrepreneurship, a position designed to encourage the development of OHSU innovations.

Click here to see the full story on OHSU’s Research News.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Aronora has started a phase 2 clinical trial of AB002, a novel recombinant antithrombotic and antiinflammatory enszyme. This is their third product candidate, in addition to AB012 and AB023, that had passed phase 1. Information on this trial is available here.
• Hemex Health made the first cut on the CTIP Medical Device Grant Competition.
• Madorra prepared for and kicked off the second phase of their Human Factors Study. So far so good, and this study will be complete in Q3.
• Madorra was featured in the UCSF Rosenman Health Technology podcast.

New OBI Client Company Resource

OBI Client Companies now have access to a recording of a 3 hour SBIR Workshop “All About the SBIR Grant Process: An Insider’s Perspective” with Dr. O’Halloran. This seminar provides a comprehensive overview of the small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant process, with emphasis on how to get funded. 

• Understanding the Omnibus Solicitation and Application Process
• What the Solicitation does and does not cover
• Strategic planning
• Understanding the element of “Innovation”
• Writing a competitive grant application

Note: This is a resource for internal OBI Client Companies or OBI Alumni only. If you are an OBI Client or Alumni and would like access to this webinar, email Heather Ellis at hellis@otradi.org for access.

Join us for these upcoming OBI and OBI-Partner events:

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting a Finance Skills for Non-Finance People workshop on August 1 & 2. Register now. $625-$775 to attend.

Partner Event: OTBC, OEN TiE and Ater Wynne are partnering on an online series “How Early Stage Startup Funding Works.” The next topic will discuss How the Pre-Money SAFE and Post-Money SAFE Work on August 6th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend this webinar.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Executive Profile Building to Build Opportunities with Eric Schudiske on August 29th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for our Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour on September 5th from 5:30-7pm at OBI/OTRADI. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: VertueLab is hosting their Impact Summit 2019 on September 13th. They are also hosting a Funding Startups Lunch with SBIR Grants and Other Funding Options at 12pm. Register now. $10-$125 to attend.

Partner Event: OCTRI is now accepting applications for BIP Corp, 4-week experiential course. BIP Corp runes October 4 – November 1. Applications are due September 20th. Apply now.

Partner Event: The 16th Annual Bend Venture Conference will be October 17th & 18th in Bend, OR. Register now. $135-$329 to attend.

Grant Awarded to OBI to Build Out Lab Space in Portland Innovation Quadrant

For years, one of the primary factors limiting Oregon bio companies’ growth has been the complete lack of available lab space in the Portland Metro area. OBI has been diligently working on solving this problem by collaborating with local real estate developers and by actively participating on the board of the Portland Innovation Quadrant.

We previously shared the very promising lab building developments coming soon to the central east side of Portland’s Innovation Quadrant, and now we are thrilled to announce that the OBI has received grant funding to build-out ~10,000 square feet of labs in the first building to be completed. This funding will allow us to deliver turn-key lab space to lab-based companies of up to 40 people. Please click this link for more info on our upcoming OBI Bio Bridge space.

Also, the Portland IQ and our new lab-based bio buildings have recently been featured as the cover story of the Portland Business Journal. Here is the full article. 

If you would like to learn more about our upcoming lab space available in the Portland IQ, email us ASAP at hellis@otradi.org. We are currently meeting with interested companies and anticipate space will fill up quickly. We are happy to discuss these developments and the great progress being made to develop a hub for bioscience within Portland’s Innovation Quadrant. Thank you all for being part of this vibrant and rapidly growing bio community!

OBI’s Newest Employee

The Oregon Bioscience Incubator (OBI) is proud to welcome our newest employee, Alexander Coombs, as Operations Assistant.

Mr. Coombs joined the OBI in the Spring of 2019 and will aid in implementing our entrepreneurial programs, as well as provide operational support for companies within the OBI. Alex will help drive OBI’s newest initiatives and our digital and marketing presence to grow Oregon’s bioscience and digital health startup ecosystem.

Mr. Coombs graduated from Appalachian State University, receiving a B.S. in Cell biology with a minor in Chemistry.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Aronora was just awarded a new Fast Track Phase I/II SBIR grant from the NIH for $2.5 million to help support the phase 2 clinical trial of AB002 (E-WE thrombin).
• Health Technology Innovations was awarded a $99,825 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant for integrated cryogenic electron microscopy intelligence solution for large imaging datasets in life sciences.
• ProMedix was awarded a $100,000 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant for their medical device to measure dehydration.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was awarded a $100,000 Enhanced Phase 0 Grant to develop new drugs that work in combination with corticosteroids while mitigating adverse effects. 
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals completed Keiretsu Forum due diligence and has now received initial investments from Keiretsu members.
• Veana Therapeutics recently received FDA approval to conduct a first-in-human clinical trial of its lead product, VIMO-001, an oral capsule, in combination with HerceptinTM for HER2 positive breast cancer patients that have failed all previous curative therapies.
• Virogenomics BioDevelopment was awarded a $99,173 SBIR Phase II Matching Grant to work on protein therapeutic treatments for multiple sclerosis, stroke and meth addiction.

New OBI Client Company Resource

OBI Client Companies now have access to MathWorks Accelerator and Incubator Program benefits which include:

• All current OBI startups and alumni may request up to 10 Individual licenses of MathWorks desktop software
• This includes MATLAB, Simulink and over 90+ additional tools
• 50% discount on all MathWorks self-paced online training
• Full Tech Support
• Ability to purchase our software in years 2-5 under their Startup License program.

Note: This is a resource for internal OBI Client Companies or OBI Alumni only. If you are an OBI Client or Alumni and would like to utilize this resource, email Heather Ellis at hellis@otradi.org for more information.

OBI BioMentor Highlight

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting Ryan Dunlap, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer at MolecularMD.
 

As a BioMentor, Ryan can assist with issues around corporate and fiscal strategy development, business scale up, financial reporting, fundraising and financing preparation, budgeting, forecasting and financial modeling, investor relations, and risk management. He also has first-hand knowledge about mergers and acquisitions, business integration, decision support, deal structuring and other collaborative arrangements, out-licensing and in-licensing, business processes and internal controls, corporate governance and organizational leadership development/team building.

Also, as MolecularMD was recently acquired by ICON plc resulting in a successful shareholder exit, Ryan will be finishing up with business integration activities soon and will be available for more formal consulting and/or employment opportunities as needed. Ryan can be reached directly at ryan@dunlapadvisors.com.
 

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

If you are an entrepreneur that would like to connect with our BioMentors, please fill out this form.

Join us for these upcoming OBI and OBI-Partner events:

Partner Event: Tonkon Torp is hosting a Tonkon Talk on How to Achieve “Second Date” Success on June 5th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: NanoString GeoMx™ Digital Spatial Profiler Technology Day at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute on June 7th from 8:30am – 4pm. Register now. 

Partner Event: OEN is hosting their signature OEN event, Angel Oregon. This year’s event, the Angel Food Conference, is on June 19th. Register now.

Partner Event: Techstars startup weekend is in Independance, Oregon June 21-23. Register now. $0-$20 to attend.

Partner Event: Cambia Grove is hosting an Interoperability Summit: Empowering Consumers with Data, in Seattle June 20-21. Register now. $30 to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Commercializing using Healthcare Claims Data with Katie Vahle, Chief Commercial Officer at Carevoyance, on June 26th from 12-1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Portland State University is hosting their Invent OR Collegiate Challenge Finals on June 28th from 9am – 5pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Bioscience Growth and the Portland Innovation Quadrant

For years one of the primary limiting factors for local bioscience companies’ growth has been the complete lack of available lab space in the Portland Metro area. Many of you know that we have been diligently working on solving this problem by meeting with local real estate developers and by actively participating on the board of the Portland Innovation Quadrant (Portland IQ). The Portland IQ is a public-private partnership founded by Portland’s leading institutions (OHSU, PSU, PCC, OMSI) and expanded to include private industry, incubators, trade associations and local government (for more info, see www.portlandiq.org).

We are thrilled to report that the Portland IQ and the new lab-based, bioscience buildings are featured as the cover story of the Portland Business Journal. View the article here: https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2019/04/25/unleashing-portlands-emerging-bioscience-sector.html. 

If you are a lab-based company with up to 25 employees, and you’d like to learn more about our new lab space available in the Portland IQ, please email hellis@otradi.org to let us know. We are happy to discuss these developments and the great progress being made to develop an innovation quadrant in Portland. Thanks to you all for being part of this vibrant and rapidly growing bioscience community!

OBI’s Executive Director, Jennier Fox, was a panelist at TechfestNW discussing the Portland Innovation Quadrant (Portland IQ). She shared her excitement for the Portland IQ and how it is creating the next step in the pipeline for bioscience startups.
 

OBI proudly sponsored the following companies at PitchfestNW:

• Additive Care
• De Las Mías
• DesignMedix Inc.
• Dorsum
• Stonestable, Inc.
• Veana Therapeutics Inc.

OBI was proud to be part of such a worthy cause by actively participating in this year’s Girls Inc. Power of the Purse Gala. OBI Executive Director, Jennifer Fox, worked hard to secure all of the items the purse came with. The purse and contents were auctioned off and sold for $6,500. Thank you to McConnell’s Boxing Academy, Oregon Wine Board, RxHomeTest.com, Wildfang and Yellow Scope for donating to the cause.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Aronora has announced a $9M+ deal for drug royalties from their novel stroke, clots and heart disease products. (photo above)
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was awarded $100K Business Oregon Enhanced Phase 0 grant to support certain regulatory, IP, and drug supply management activities. Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was also selected as a podium presenter during Life Science Innovation NW.
• Suturegard Medical has completed their seed round. Kaiser Permanente has approved their device for a 3 month product trial and surgeons from multiple specialties will be involved in this clinical trial.

• Veana Therapeutics pitched at PitchfestNW. Out of 137 companies that pitched, Veana Therapeutics made the top 10 list. (photo above)

OBI BioMentor Highlight

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting Jurgen Vollrath, President of the Exponential Technology Counsel.

As a BioMentor, Jurgen can advise on, and put in place, an intellectual property strategy (on what patents to file, when to file them, where and how) that will help startups save money and will add value to the company at time of exit based on an overview of the competitive landscape.
 

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

To connect with BioMentors, please fill out this form.

Join us for these upcoming OBI and OBI-Partner events:

OBI Event: Our Accelerate Biotech & Digital Health Happy Hour is TONIGHT, May 2nd at OBI/OTRADI. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon State University Advantage is hosting an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit on May 9th. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: SoPE will be hosting their next meeting on May 16th. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting their signature event, Bio in the High Desert, on May 16th in Bend. Register now. $25-$35 to attend.

Oregon Bioscience Incubator Names Heather Ellis as Assistant Director

The Oregon Bioscience Incubator (OBI) is proud to announce that our previous Community Coordinator, Heather Ellis, has been promoted to the position of Assistant Director of the OBI.  Heather joined the OBI in the Fall of 2017 and has excelled at implementing our entrepreneurial programs, including OBI’s monthly Lunch and Learn events, Accelerate Bio and Digital Health monthly happy hours, SBIR grant writing workshops, startup company outreach and promoting partner events across the State’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In her new role as OBI Assistant Director, Heather will be spearheading OBI’s newest initiatives, developing entrepreneurial programs, growing OBI’s partnerships and collaborations, participating on the Portland Innovation Quadrant’s startup resources work group, growing OBI’s digital and marketing presence, as well as developing programs, workshops and events designed to grow Oregon’s startup bioscience and digital health ecosystem.

Ms. Ellis graduated from Portland State University, receiving a bachelor’s degree with minors in Business and Communications.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Aronora has completed a first-in-human clinical trial of their unique FXI inhibitor.
• Hemex Health was invited to Ghana to discuss therapy for sickle cell patients. They also toured Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which has been working to institute sickle cell screening for all newborns. (photo above)
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals was named the best seed-stage company at Cascadia Venture Forum.

OBI BioMentor Highlight

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting Lisa Wernli-Hunt, Owner of Hunt Accounting Services and Accountant/Controller at Acumen Financial.

As a BioMentor, Lisa can advise on basic bookkeeping services, GAAP-based financial statements and preparation for audits or tax return filings.
Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

To connect with BioMentors, please fill out this form.

New client company, Rewire Neuroscience, joined the OBI in April!

Rewire Neuroscience is a Portland startup focused on empowering the future of biomedical research by providing intelligent research tools that are powerful and affordable. They offer an array of laboratory equipment and analytics software, ranging from real-time freezer power monitoring to artificial intelligence for analyzing biomedical images.

Website: https://rewireneuro.com/

Join us for these upcoming OBI and OBI-Partner events:

Partner Event: TechfestNW will be April 4-5th. Register now. $99-$275.

Partner Event: Science Talk ’19 will be April 4-5th. Register now. $125-$300.

Partner Event: SoPE will be hosting their next meeting on April 11, 6-7:30PM. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI, OCTRI, and TTBD Workshop: All About the SBIR Grant Process – An Inside Perspective will be April 12th from 9am-1pm. Apply now.

Partner Event: Girls Inc of the Pacific Northwest is hosting their Power of the Purse Gala on April 12th. Register now. $200 and up.

Partner Event: Cambia Grove is hosting a TRAILS Competition. Apply now; applications are due by April 14th.

Partner Event: Technology Association of Oregon is hosting their 2019 Oregon Technology Awards on April 17th from 5 – 9PM. Register now. $150-$2,400.

Partner Event: Oregon Science Startup Forum is on April 20th. Register now. $30-$60.

OBI Event: Join us for a Workshop on Sales and Marketing – Sales Strategy from a Company Planning Standpoint on April 24th from 10AM – 4PM. Register now. $35 to attend.

Portland biotech firm, MolecularMD, purchased by global drug development company Icon

Click here to read the article

OBI Client Company Wins

• Hemex Health was awarded a $150,000 SBIR grant to design and automate an affordable microchip-electrophoresis for sickle cell disease using a test cartridge that can be used in Hemex Health’s portable, easy-to-use analysis equipment.
• Sparrow Pharmaceuticals has been invited to present at the following events.
  • Keiretsu Family Office Forum, 7 March in Seattle
  • Angel Capital Expo, 8 March in Seattle
  • Cascadia Venture Forum, 11 March in Vancouver BC
• StoneStable was awarded a $49,930 SBIR grant for stabilization of influenza vaccine by silica-coating. The company will conduct additional experiments to demonstrate efficacy of silica-coated flu vaccines that are much more stable than existing means.

OBI’s BioMentor Program is available throughout all of Oregon

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science and digital health entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon.

We have a network of >90 BioMentors with valuable expertise in a wide range of business topics that are integral to the success of early-stage life science companies, including:

• Accounting
• Business Plan
• Government Funding
• Legal / IP
• Licensing
• Management
• Manufacturing
• Market Analysis
• Marketing
• Private Funding
• Product Development
• Regulatory / FDA

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

To connect with BioMentors, please fill out this form.

New client company, Bio Lab Analytics, joins the OBI in February!

Bio Lab Analytics, LLC, provides data management & analysis services for life science professionals and organizations. We assist clients with study design for research & quality improvement projects; statistics, biostatistics, and data analysis in R, SAS, Python, and Tableau; and SQL database design & development. Areas of expertise include clinical research, laboratory medicine, biotechnology, and plant biology.

Website: https://www.biolabanalytics.com/

Join us for these upcoming OBI and OBI-Partner events:

Partner Event: Tonkon Talks – The Story of Zoom is on March 6th from 12-1PM. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Our monthly Accelerate Bio & Digital Health Happy Hour is on March 7th at OBI/OTRADI Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Angel Capital Expo Northwest is on March 8th from 7:30am – 6pm. Register now. $0-$300.

OBI Event: OBI’s Life Science & Digital Health CEO Peer-Mentoring Roundtable is on March 12th from 12-1:30PM. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association’s signature event Bio on the Rocks is on March 19th from 5-8:30PM. Register now. $35-$75 to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Designing for Privacy and Security Compliance on March 21st from 12-1PM. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: OHSU’s 2019 Commercialization Conference will be March 27-28th. Register now. $20-$125.

Partner Event: TechfestNW will be April 4-5th. Register now. $99-$275.

Partner Event: Science Talk ’19 will be April 4-5th. Register now. $125-$300.

OBI, OCTRI, and TTBD Workshop: All About the SBIR Grant Process – An Inside Perspective, will be April 12th from 9am-1pm. Apply now.

Partner Event: Oregon Science Startup Forum is on April 20th. Register now. $30-$60.

Genentech to open Portland office, brings 300 jobs

“When we were looking for locations we took into account what would be a great location in terms of connectivity with the organization and patients and community,” said Claire Scott, Vice President of Access Solutions. “We love the mission driven culture we found in Oregon and Portland.”

NOTE: If you do not have access to the Portland Business Journal, click here for a PDF of this article.

Summit Development Group is excited to announce that the Eastside Innovation life science laboratory building at 808 SE Alder is under construction and open for pre-leasing, with estimated Summer 2019 move-in dates. The Eastside Innovation building features BSL-2 lab spaces and robust lab-specific mechanical systems never before offered in the Portland for-lease market.

To learn more, click here for a packet of information.

OBI Client Company Wins

• Hemex Health was featured in three articles:
  • Hemex accepted into the Novartis Biome as one of their four initial companies. See the PDF version of this article here.
  • Hemex featured in MedGadget for their Point-of-Care Diagnostic for Sickle Cell Disease and Malaria.
  • Hemex featured in Next Billion – Using Mobile Technology to Fight Disease: Three Tips for Social Startups in the Developing World.
• Sirona Dx launched novel urine-based bladder cancer assay with PD-L1 Quantification Based on IncellDx’s single cell Immuno-oncology/PD-L1 technology.
• VIR Biotechnology was featured in FierceBiotech announcing collaborations with RNAi biotech Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and infectious disease company Visterra, as well as four academic research labs, including groups at Stanford and Harvard.

Nature article by OHSU team, including OTRADI scientist Dylan Nelson, details

New Leukemia Research Harnessing the Power of Big Data

NOTE: Click here for a PDF of the Portland Business Journal

November BioMentor Highlight

OBI offers an extensive BioMentor program to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting Michael Phillips, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine.

As a BioMentor, Michael can bring not only the required legal expertise to help a company and its founders achieve their goals and succeed, he offers the experience of having been through complete histories of startups, from earliest stage through initial public offerings and acquisitions.

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

Now Announcing New Funding Opportunities for Oregon Startups!

SBIR/STTR Matching Grants from Business Oregon

Please note this grant DOES require a startup to have SBIR/STTR funding.

Business Oregon is looking for entrepreneurs and startups who would like to apply for this supplemental funding to match a portion of their SBIR/STTR grant/s. Business Oregon is accepting applications on a rolling basis, so you can apply as soon as you get all the materials together. All information is available on Business Oregon’s web page: www.oregon4biz.com/sbir

The application form and guidelines are in the resources box on the right side of the page.

Willamette Valley Capital

Now offering $100,000 capital investments for entrepreneurs and early stage businesses.

Oregon Venture Fund

Now offering up to $2M for startups and growth stage companies. OVP investors will contribute their expertise and leverage their network to help businesses succeed.

Join us for these OBI and OBI-Partner events in November:

Partner Event: OHSU’s Technology Transfer and Business Development is hosting their MedTech Alliance Showcase on November 1st. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Tonkon Torp is hosting a Tonkon Talks on Business Immigration for Startups on November 7th. Register now. Free to attend.

OBI Event: Accelerate Bio & Digital Health Happy Hour is on November 8th at OBI/OTRADI and will be featuring our sponsor, Summit Development. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Technology Association of Oregon is hosting their Ignite TAO: Health on November 9th. Register now. $3-$5 to attend.

OBI Event: OBI is hosting a Life Science & Digital Health CEO Peer-Mentoring Roundtable on November 15th at 12PM. Register now. Free to attend but limited to CEOs only.

Partner Event: SOPE is hosting a Portland Chapter Meeting the evening of November 15th. Register now. Free to attend.

LAST CHANCE to join us at our upcoming OTRADI & OBI 10-Year Anniversary Celebration on September 11, 2018.

You are invited to attend OTRADI’s 10-Year Anniversary and OBI’s 5-Year Anniversary Celebration and Cruise aboard the Portland Spirit. We’re inviting the entire bio and startup entrepreneurship community, as well as legislators, partners, collaborators and supporters, to attend and celebrate 10 years of bio-research and startup accomplishments for our OTRADI/OBI community.

SPEAKERS:

• Federal Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici
• State Representative David Gomberg
• Dr. Robert Guldberg, Executive Director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon
• Dr. Erin Flynn, board chair of the Oregon Innovation Council and the Founding Board Chair of the Portland Innovation Quadrant (IQ)
• Dr. Jennifer Fox, Executive Director of OTRADI and the Oregon Bioscience Incubator (OBI)

OBI Client Company Wins

• Hemex Health was awarded 3 NIH grants:
  • $1.725M fast-track SBIR award from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute to advance their sickle cell test.
  • $225K award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to enable their malaria diagnostic to distinguish between the two most common forms of malaria and to further lower their limit of malaria detection.
  • $225K award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to adapt their device to identify and measure HbA1C (flycosylated hemoglobin), which is an indicator of diabetes.
• Madorra closed the first tranche of their Series A raise. They also received IRB approval for their Human Factors study.

September BioMentor Highlight

OBI has an extensive BioMentor program available to provide pro bono advice and assistance to promising life science entrepreneurs across the state of Oregon. This month we are highlighting OBI BioMentor, and OBI Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dr. William Newman.

As a BioMentor, Dr. Newman provides advice and assistance in the areas of business creation, investment strategies and capital sources, market-entry and growth strategies, and, for companies with origins in the academic/research sector, advice and assistance in working with institutions and researchers.

Click here to learn more about our BioMentor program and to see our network of BioMentor contacts.

Now Announcing Two New Grant Programs for Oregon Startups!

SBIR/STTR Matching Grants from Business Oregon:

Please note this grant DOES require a startup to have SBIR/STTR funding.

Business Oregon is looking for entrepreneurs and startups who would like to apply for this supplemental funding to match a portion of their SBIR/STTR grant/s. Business Oregon is accepting applications on a rolling basis, so you can apply as soon as you get all the materials together. All information is available on Business Oregon’s website. The application form and guidelines are in the resources box on the right side of the page.

Enhanced Phase 0 Grants from Business Oregon:

Please note this grant does NOT require a startup to have SBIR/STTR funding.

Grants of up to $100,000 will be provided to Oregon startups commercializing promising science and research that aligns with Oregon InC’s targeted industry sectors: active lifestyle, advanced manufacturing, natural resources, life science applications, advanced materials, and clean tech/impact investing. This program will focus on companies that are not yet ready for commercial or institutional investment. Funds are meant to support proof of concept for innovations – development of a commercially viable product, market validation and other relevant expenditures. To be eligible, companies should have existing relationships with OTRADI/OBI, University Tech Transfer Offices and related Business Oregon innovation partner organizations.

Proposals will be accepted in September of 2018, December of 2018 and March of 2019 pending available funding. September applications are due September 28th.

Join us for these OBI events and OBI’s Partner Events in September:

Partner Event: Tonkon Torp is hosting a Tonkon Talks on Cybersecurity for Startups on September 5th. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: Oregon Bioscience Association is hosting Bio on the Vine on September 5th. Register now. $20 – $60 per person to attend.

OBI Event: OBI/OTRADI 10-Year Anniversary Celebration aboard the Portland Spirit on September 11, 2018. Register now. $35 per person to attend.

OBI Event: Join us for a Lunch & Learn on Financial Forecasting and What Data To Present on September 19 from 12pm – 1pm. Register now. Free to attend.

Partner Event: WIS is hosting their 1st Annual Women in Science Portland Fundraising Gala on September 20th. Register now. $75 – $100 per person to attend.

Partner Event: Life Science Washing Institute is hosting a Best of the Northwest Showcase on September 21st. Investors can register now and startups can apply now.

Partner Event: OCTRI is hosting the Biomedical Innovation Program fastPACE, a 4-week biomedical commercialization course. Register by September 20th to attend. Free to participate.