Full article reprinted from IN VIVO 9-01-09
A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Looking Forward to Pharma's Decade of Predictive Efficacy," features profiles of Champions Biotechnology, Cytox, Immuneering and Rhenovia. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Freedom Meditech, MedShape Solutions, Molteni Therapeutics and TARIS Biomedical. Read On...
Full article reprinted from IN VIVO 9-01-09
A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of START-UP: Windhover's Review of Emerging Medical Ventures This month's profile group:
Looking Forward to Pharma's Decade of Predictive Efficacy
Champions Biotechnology Inc.'s preclinical screening technology uses xenografts that it creates by implanting primary human cancer tumors into immune-deficient mice. The tumor cells are never passaged in cell tissue culture and therefore maintain the fundamental genotypic features of the original cancer because the risk of mutations through successive generations in culture is eliminated. The company has signed preclinical screening deals with a number of partners and it's also building its own therapeutic pipeline.
Cytox Ltd.'s diagnostics and research services are all based on the cell division cycle theory of Alzheimer's pathogenesis. The firm thinks its diagnostic, a blood test biomarker that measures the integrity of the cell cycle G1/S restriction point in peripheral blood lymphocytes, will detect AD in pre-symptomatic stages and that it can predict which patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment will convert to Alzheimer's. Furthermore, Cytox maintains that its lead program, a neuroblastoma assay, can screen compounds for their potential to affect Alzheimer's disease.
Immuneering Corp. is developing mathematical models to predict whether a drug is likely to activate a patient's immune system to aid in fighting cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company's modeling application works with data from patient blood and tumor samples. Immuneering plans to offer its services to drug makers as a way of sorting patients into subpopulations, to understand the workarounds cancers develop against therapies, and to predict efficacy.
Rhenovia SA believes it can help companies looking to improve existing Alzheimer's disease therapies by using computational models of the brain to identify chemical combinations capable of positively impacting disease symptoms. The start-up aims to build a service-based business running its specialized "biosimulations" on compounds that other companies currently market, have in development or have previously rejected for lack of efficacy.
Start-Ups across Health Care
Freedom Meditech Inc.'s noninvasive ophthalmic glucose monitoring technology uses a beam of red light to detect the concentration of glucose in the eye. In vivo data collected thus far on the device indicate that it overcomes accuracy and reliability problems of previous optical monitoring technologies. The company also plans to use the technology in an in-office diabetes screening system to identify individuals who may have undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Imagine an implanted device that can be inserted through a small opening in the body but expands to a much larger size once inside. Moreover, it's a permanent device that can adjust to changing conditions within the body following implantation. Such is the biocompatible shape-memory polymer technology being developed by MedShape Solutions Inc. The company is initially focused on sports medicine, with an emphasis on rotator cuff and shoulder repair and anterior cruciate ligament repair.
<t1>Molteni Therapeutics SRL is creating small-molecule photosensitizers activated by visible red light that destroy fungal and bacterial cells, in an approach known as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. The combination of light and photosensitizer creates singlet oxygen and other reactive oxygen species that disrupt the cell membrane. Molteni's approach can be used alone or in combination with conventional antibiotics and other antibacterials.
With a trio of esteemed co-founders and a healthy Series A round under its belt, TARIS Biomedical Inc. thinks it has what it takes to become a pioneer in minimally invasive drug delivery devices for underserved diseases. Its first product offering will be a pretzel-shaped device the size of a paper clip that will use osmotic pressure to release medication inside the bladder, initially as a treatment for interstitial cystitis.
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