Thank you for Subscribing to Life Science Review Weekly Brief
In the simplest sense, medical biotechnology revolves around the concept of using living cells and cell materials to bring innovative pharmaceutical and diagnostic products to the table for the prevention of diseases. The last few years have witnessed several advancements in biotechnology that have been saviors for human civilization. One example will be the development of vaccines to fight the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. Biotechnology researchers have also found novel treatment methods for cancer as well in the forms of immuno-oncology and gene therapy. They are on a mission to replace the time-consuming and painful chemotherapy and other traditional treatment options (that often fail to save patients) with more effective treatment methods. That’s not all! Biotechnology is also reshaping the paradigm of other chronic inflammatory-based diseases, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions.
Such advancements in biotechnology would not have been possible without the emergence of some innovative start-ups. Led by industry veterans, expert physicians, and scholars, these entities are constantly striving to change the status quo—and this is not limited to discovering unique treatment methods. To elucidate, companies need to rely on clinical research organizations (CROs) to bring a new drug to the market. But in many cases, CROs fail to assess the risk to budget. This lack of funding ultimately leads to drug trial failure. To address this quandary, many biotech start-ups are helping drug manufacturers take a more data-driven approach to understand the efficiency of their outsourced partners or CROs.
Needless to say, such agile start-ups will drive biotech research to new heights in the coming years. Life Science Review has compiled a list of leading biotech start-ups to help readers have a better understanding of this field.
We present to you Life Science Review’s “Top 10 BioTech Startups - 2021"
Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing (BSM) provides the safest sterile drug products for clinical use and small-scale requirements through the use of modern technology, 100% isolator-based filling lines, and skilled staff. BSM offers sterile filling of syringes, vials (RTU and bulk), cartridges, custom containers, and lyophilized products. BSM also provides onsite analytical support and stability programs. BSM is a customer-focused, quality-driven contract manufacturer of sterile injectables
Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing
100-500
Management
Shawn Kinney, CEO
BioTech Startups by Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing :
A global leader in stem cell therapy and research, dedicated to alleviating pain and suffering from autoimmune and degenerative diseases and help people enjoy longer and healthier lives. Based on innovations at the cutting edge of life sciences and regenerative medicine that was impossible to envision even a few years ago, BioXcellerator helps patients who suffer from a wide range of diseases, disorders, and injuries. The company is also focused on treating chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) because many veterans and athletes who are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may actually be suffering from a physical brain injury that stem cell therapy can help treat
bioXcellerator
Less than 100
Management
Eric Stoffers, Founder and CEO
BioTech Startups by bioXcellerator :
ClearLight Biotechnologies is a California-based company that empowers researchers to See More Biology™within the tissue microenvironment. The company provides CLARITY Tissue Clearing, 3D Immunohistochemistry (IHC), and Tru3D® Image Analysis services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic researchers. ClearLight works with larger undisturbed tissue volumes as compared to 2D thin section tissue slices.With the company’s tehnology researchers gain greater insights into the tissue’s subcellular structure when the third dimension is added. This technology has the potential to reduce the cost and failure rates of potential drug candidates during the costly drug development process
ClearLight Biotechnologies
Less than 100
Management
Sharla White, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development
BioTech Startups by ClearLight Biotechnologies :
Eikonoklastes, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company, brings a novel approach to treating multiple solid tumors, including triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and malignant melanoma. By developing novel immunotherapies that target tissue factors, a cell surface receptor prevalent in certain pathological cells, the company is making a breakthrough in cancer treatment. Eikonoklastes immunoconjugate technology was discovered by its scientific founder, Dr. Zhiwei Hu, who licensed it from the Ohio State University. He had realized the ubiquitous nature of tissue factor while working at Yale many years earlier. In his research, he identified tissue factor as a common biomarker and therapeutic target on various cancer cells and various types of solid tumors
Eikonoklastes Therapeutics
Less than 100
Management
Bruce Halpryn, CEO
BioTech Startups by Eikonoklastes Therapeutics :
Keystone Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. It is pioneering novel disease-modifying, precision, anti-bacterial bio- therapeutics/preventive along with companion diagnostics to target an important and largely unaddressed chronic bacterial infection and driver of systemic chronic inflammation that significantly contribute to multiple inflammatory disease states such as heart disease and dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. The company’s lead bio-therapeutic, KB-001 precision monoclonal antibody, disrupts the later stages of the major protein surface processing machinery. It also prevents the maturation of the unique subunit toxin —needed for its survival and the creation of its secreted outer membranes vesicles (OMVs), resulting in the bacteria shutting down it metabolic functions
Dr. Daniel Sindelar, DMD CEO and Dr. Peter Nara, D.V.M., Ph.D., FAAAS,CSO/V.P BDChronic inflammatory diseases have turned out to be a worldwide epidemic. KB-001 has equipped us with the ability to better help these patients and offer them a better life
Keystone
Less than 100
Management
Dr. Daniel Sindelar, DMD CEO and Dr. Peter Nara, D.V.M., Ph.D., FAAAS,CSO/V.P BD
Dr. Garth Ehrlich, Ph.D., FAAAS/SAB, Dr. Marc Penn MD, PhD CMO
BioTech Startups by Keystone :
Levitas, Inc. is redefining cellular processing with its next generation levitation technology. LevitasBio’s disruptive technology overcomes cellular processing’s current technological shortcoming by providing a label-free, simple, and gentle method of isolating specific cell populations. Its flagship product, the LeviCell platform, enables studies and beneficial uses of previously inaccessible, high-value primary samples and sensitive cell types regardless of the starting cell number, viability, or sensitivity to processing
LevitasBio
Less than 100
Management
Paul Steinberg, Chief Commercial Officer and Martin Pieprzyk, CEO
BioTech Startups by LevitasBio :
Nanotein Technologies offers protein-based solutions that allow biopharma companies to produce longer-lived and more clinically effective CAR-T cells in a larger quantity, and more quickly. Its tunable and flexible platform technology accelerates CAR-T expansion and increases the number of cells produced per treatment. By providing more control over the types of T-cell subsets that are produced in an expansion, this platform technology allows manufacturers to shift therapeutic profiles, enhancing the longevity and effectiveness of the final cell therapy product. Its novel cell activation and expansion reagent dramatically accelerates the development process and enables manufacturers to grow T-cell cultures with new cell population profiles in unusually large amounts
Nanotein Technologies
Less than 100
Management
Curtis Hodge, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO
BioTech Startups by Nanotein Technologies :
R3 Stem Cell has been at the forefront of performing regenerative therapies for the past decade. With over 16,000 regenerative therapies worldwide, they have never experienced a single significant adverse event. This is indeed a crowning achievement when compared to conventional treatment practices such as surgery and narcotic prescriptions. R3 Stem Cell’s therapies include PRP therapy, umbilical cord stem cell therapy, adipose cell therapy, and exosome therapy. The company is also among the most cost-effective regenerative therapy providers, thanks to its broad presence in the U.S. and abroad, spanning 45 centers
David Greene, MD, MBA, Founder and CEOR3 Stem Cell’s growth trajectory entails partnering with practices that are looking to leverage regenerative medicine
R3 Stem Cell
Less than 100
Management
David Greene, MD, MBA, Founder and CEO
BioTech Startups by R3 Stem Cell :
Rakuten Medical is a global biotechnology company developing precision, cell-targeting investigational therapies on its IlluminoxTM platform, which, in pre-clinical studies, has shown to lead to rapid and selective cell killing and tumor necrosis
Rakuten Medical
100-500
Management
Carlos Garcia, Chief Technology Officer
BioTech Startups by Rakuten Medical :
Seneca Therapeutics is all set to move the needle in the cancer treatment space with its revolutionary cancer therapy. It is developing a pipeline of novel cancer agents utilizing Seneca Valley Virus-001 (SVV-001)—an oncolytic virus—that binds to the TEM8 (a single-pass cell surface protein predominantly expressed in tumor endothelium) receptor in solid tumors such as neuroendocrine tumors, breast cancer, and lung cancer. More importantly, SVV-001 converts cold tumors into hot tumors that enables T cells to recognize the tumor cells and destroy them
Seneca Therapeutics
Less than 100
Management
James Hussey, CEO
Paul Hallenbeck, President
BioTech Startups by Seneca Therapeutics :