Research + Innovation

AssureRx Health raises $11 million series B financing

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April 5, 2011

AssureRx, a Mason-based personalized medicine company, has just closed on an $11 million Series B round of financing.The company, founded in 2006, was formed to license and commercialize personalized medicine technology research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Mayo Clinic. Claremont Creek Ventures and Sequoia Capital led the round, which included existing investors Cincinnati Children's, Mayo Clinic and CincyTech. A new investor has joined as well, Allos Ventures. AssureRx is developing next-generation medicines, recently bringing to market its first product GeneSightRx, a test that measures and analyzes genetic variants in psychiatric medicine - in other words, how individuals respond to the drugs they get. The test, administered through a cheek swab will help doctors determine the appropriate drug and dosage for each patient's individual needs, which could lessen side effects in patients.The test is based on pharmacogenetics, or the study of how genetic makeup influences a person's reaction to drug treatments.This financing will allow the AssureRx to expand sales and marketing for GeneSightRx, and fund other product development work. "Our goal is to build the leading medical informatics company providing pharmacogenetic and other treatment decision support products to help physicians individualize the treatment of patients with neuropsychiatric and other disorders," said James S. Burns, president and CEO of AssureRx. Sequoia Capital, is a Menlo Park, Calif., start-up venture capital fund for seed stage, early stage and growth companies. Claremont Creek Ventures is based in Oakland and invests in healthcare/ IT, energy conservation and security markets."AssureRx has enormous potential as an early leader in the transformation of neuropsychiatric treatment toward individualized patient treatment. GeneSightRx and future treatment decision support products hold the promise for faster, better patient outcomes and less costly care for psychiatric conditions such as clinical depression, anxiety disorder, and schizophrenia."Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: CincyTechYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Latest in Research + Innovation

UC launches first comprehensive brain cancer research program with $6.5M

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Cincy In The News

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March 29, 2011

University of Cincinnati hopes to improve treatment strategies for brain cancer and has launched the first comprehensive brain metastasis-specific translational research program in the country to better understand how cancer spreads in the brain.Read the full story here.

Bexion Pharmaceuticals awarded $500K SBIR state grant for cancer research

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Health + Wellness

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March 29, 2011

Bexion Pharmaceutical's work to treat a deadly form of brain cancer has earned a $500,000 boost from the state of Kentucky.The Covington-based biotechnology company has been awarded a state Small Business Innovation Research matching grant for its ongoing research into a cure for glioblastoma multiforme, an invasive brain tumor that can't be effectively treated now. The grant offers a partial match to a $1.5 million, Phase 2 SBIR grant that the National Cancer Institute Awarded Bexion late last year."By Kentucky matching that grant it allows us to expedite the process, so that we can move to clinical trials a lot faster," said VP of Business Development Margaret van Gilse. "We are working on developing the drug that will ultimately be used in the Phase I clinical trial." Bexion expects human clinical trials will start late this year or early 2012, van Gisle said. "In order to cultivate breakthrough technologies, life science companies need early stage funding. In Kentucky, we are doing everything we can to support this important cluster of our local economy with sources such as the Northern Kentucky ezone as well as with state and local support," said Northern Kentucky Tri-ED Chairman, Steve Pendery. "Northern Kentucky is certainly open for business in the life sciences corridor."Bexion Pharmaceuticals is a startup focused on finding cures and treatments for a wide range of cancers. Currently they are working with technology licensed from Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The company has three primary focuses: oncology therapeutics, oncology diagnostics and nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) delivery. Bexion is located at bioLOGIC Corp, a global life science investment and management company with a Covington office."Bexion Pharmaceuticals was awarded the highest matching grant possible from the state program due to the potential for commercialization of the drug treatment therapies the company is developing," said Gene Fuqua, acting commissioner of the Cabinet's Department of Commercialization and Innovation. Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Northern Kentucky Tri-EDYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

UC undergrads present innovative medical devices to industry leaders at “Do It or mDIEp Day!”

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Entrepreneurship

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March 15, 2011

Teams of University of Cincinnati undergraduates will be unveiling more than a dozen new, viable medical devices they designed at the second annual "Do It or mDIEp Day!" event today.This event - part showcase, part competition - is presented by the Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (MDIEP) at UC's biomedical engineering department. Students have worked in teams, some with the help of other universities, to create innovative solutions to a wide variety of real-life medical challenges.The showcase is a culmination of work started in the fall, and the devices will be unveiled before industry professionals from across the country, said course director Mary Beth Privitera."They learn through experimentation and create a fully functional prototype," Privitera said.Among the devices is one that stimulates blinking in comatose patients (whose eyes often dry out from a lack of movement), one that improves rotator cuff surgery, one that captures tissue in the chest cavity and another that can rapidly detect stroke in patients during an emergency.In total, students will show 8 devices, including some that were created to solve problems at the request of industry partners including AtriCure, Inc. and Procter & Gamble. Those designs generated are the property of those organizations, Privitera said.Each team of students worked with a technical advisor, and participating students come from a variety of backgrounds including design, business and biomedical engineering. During the showcase, they'll have five to seven minutes to explain the design, then breakout into groups where people can ask deeper questions."It's kind of an investor's pitch to the audience. They lay out what the problem is, what the solution is, why their device is better, why someone would want to buy it," Privitera said.Once all the devices are described by the teams, each member of the audience will vote for the ones they like best with $1 million in"BearCash Dollars" they can invest. The device that gets the most BearCash wins the contest.But the real prize comes later. Where appropriate students have filed provisional patents through UC's tech transfer office, and will be listed as an inventor on any device that is patented and/or becomes a reality.The device technology can be licensed or used to start new companies. Last year, four provisional patents were filed with Intellectual Property developed by students and are actively being licensed by the University.In previous years, students have licensed this intellectual property and have started their own businesses.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program Director Mary Beth PriviteraYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites