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2016
Dec 2016 | Download as pdf

Soluble Therapeutics Acquired by CytoBioscience more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

Young Living Essential Oils Partners with TFS Sandalwood Farms more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

Beaufort Memorial Using Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot to Destroy Pathogens That Can Cause Hospital-Acquired Infections more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix to Present Clinical Data at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

Cartersville Medical Center Unveils Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix enters into license agreement with University of Florida to develop new oncolytic virus platform more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix Licenses Myxoma Virus for New Immunotherapy Platform more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

Supportive Data for the Use of Santalis Pharmaceuticals’ East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) for the Treatment of Psoriasis is Presented at International Conference more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Obtains FDA Allowance To Start A Phase 2 Clinical Study For The Treatment Of Mild To Moderate Atopic Dermatitis (AD) more

Nov 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix Announces First Patients Treated in Phase 2 Trial with DNX-2401 and KEYTRUDA more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Robotics: Germ-Zappers Are Saving Lives more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

DHR first in RGV with xenon UV disinfection systems more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

neoSurgical® Announces CE Mark Approval of the neoClose® Laparoscopic Port Closure Device more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Germ-zapping robot named 'Gronk' helped kill MRSA at Mass. high school more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Doctors Hospital at Renaissance is First in Rio Grande Valley to Deploy Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Bio2 Medical's Angel Catheter successfully placed in first two patients more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Cardiovate Develops First Bioabsorbable Vascular Graft more

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

Funding San Antonio’s Biotech Ecosystem

The risks involved in starting a new biotech company differ greatly from those encountered in more typical tech startups. The creation of new biotech startups in San Antonio requires more than critical mass in a robust research community and the dedicated drive for innovation.

It also takes money – incredible amounts of venture capital.

In 2008, Alan Dean and Dr. Paul Castella co-founded Targeted Technology, an early stage investor in more than 20 medical and life science companies, working through its two portfolio companies, Fund I and Fund IICytocentrics, for example, is in the Fund II portfolio.

“When I first moved here in 2001, there was much less biotech in general,” said Castella, Targeted Technology’s senior managing partner, as he explained to the Rivard Report how biotech startup capital works. “San Antonio’s high quality of life and low cost of living helped bring the first biotech companies.

“Alan (Dean) and I have been working together since 2001, maybe earlier,” Castella continued. “He was the head of technology licensing at the (UT Health) Science Center, and I had licensed some materials for a diagnostic test at my first company. We ended up moving the company (Xenotope Diagnostics) to San Antonio from California and developed the (world’s only rapid) test. (After) I licensed the test through Genzyme, I decided to stay in San Antonio and was invited by Alan to work with his office to look at other available technologies and formed two companies.”

In starting these companies, Castella’s biggest hurdle was raising money.

“We had good support from the local investment community in San Antonio but there was no dedicated venture fund for life science companies, especially in the early, risky stage,” he said. “This need was identified from my experience in starting these companies.”

Dean and Castella formed the Targeted Technology venture fund – the first one launched in 2008, the second in 2013-14. To date, Targeted Technology has invested in 20 companies, the majority of which are in San Antonio or have been brought in from places like Kentucky or Germany, such as Cytocentrics.

“There are so few funds that will invest in these types of (biotech) companies because it’s so management intensive,” Castella said. “It’s so specialized, you have the normal issues of funding, plus the specific issues relating to science, medicine, intellectual property, regulatory requirements, and the longer life cycle for development. The average medical tech device approval route is over $20 million, and for drugs it is much more.”

Typically, the risk in biotech ventures is short-term because a drug or medical device either works or fails in clinical trials.

One of the greatest questions is whether there is enough venture capital once a product reaches the final stage of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Companies need to raise enough money to continue research during a development period that can take a decade or longer and easily cost upward of $1 billion.

The risks are even higher in emerging biotech fields like gene therapy, where new companies are developing applications in a scientific field that is relatively new to both FDA regulators and potential investors.

“Critical mass is important,” Castella said. “We’ve worked with the City to bring in more companies like Cytocentrics. The fund operates like an incubator, so when Cytocentrics (executives) came to visit San Antonio, they saw a level of activity and local resources that support a biotech company. The City also showed them how inviting it would be to set up here and introduced them to other researchers at UTSA and the Health Science Center.”

The importance of “deal flow” also was stressed by San Antonio Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Ed Davis.

“Deal flow is the number of startup companies available locally for investors to look at for potential funding,” he explained. “You must have capital flowing for that deal flow to attract companies. You also need the infrastructure – the lawyers, accountants, lab facilities, mentors, and scientific networking community, along with your skilled people. All these help create the biotech ecosystem.”

Davis said deal flow has improved over the last several years. The City has done its part in improving the outlook from just a few years ago when San Antonio had a relatively small amount of venture capital focused on the local biotech industry.

“I think it has changed,” City Manager Sheryl Sculley said. “We helped recruit the 2014 World Stem Cell Summit here for the bioscience industry. We also created our San Antonio Economic Development Corporation in May 2010 to work with bioscience startups and have invested nearly $14 million into bioscience startups over time.

“We’ve got to get San Antonio on the map working with our partners,” Sculley continued. “We can’t do it alone so partnerships are key.”

San Antonio’s biotech corridor is informally located “up and down IH-10 between UTSA and the Health Science Center,” BioMed SA President Ann Stevens said. “The Texas Research and Technology Foundation set up space for about 10-12 small companies in a technology park near IH-10 and De Zavala, with Randy Goldsmith serving as the business mentor for the foundation’s accelerator, known as T3DC. That served as the city’s functioning biotech ecosystem for several years.

“InCube is also located here in this technology park and has ended up expanding its operations into one of the buildings formerly used by T3DC,” Stevens added. “As a result, there’s just not enough space – especially the kind of specialized wet lab space that many biotech companies need.”

Both UTSA and the Health Science Center are focused on developing bioscience incubators on their respective campuses, mostly for university-sponsored biotech research. There also are efforts to develop an incubator for private sector companies to start up in the biomedical industry.

“I can tell you that we’ve had a functioning biotech ecosystem for several years now, but that ecosystem is evolving,” Stevens said. “Bioscience needs specialized facilities like wet lab spaces and access to expensive research equipment at nearby universities, and there are lots of players devoting time and energy to this.”

While the growth of San Antonio’s biotech cluster has inspired much confidence over the past 10 years, there’s still work to be done. And all that work will require capital – lots of it, from multiple sources.

Source: http://therivardreport.com/ back

Oct 2016 | Download as pdf

A biotech groups to share in major military contract to manufacture stem cells more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

Robot disinfecting rooms at Life Line Hospital in Wintersville more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

Life Line Hospital is the First Long Term Acute Care Hospital in Ohio to Enhance Patient Safety by Deploying a Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

Robots show Marin, Sonoma hospitals the light on disinfection more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Announces Issuance of Patent for the Use of Sandalwood Oil to Treat Cancers more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Initiates a Phase 2 Study of Mild, Moderate and Severe Atopic Dermatitis - Enrolls First Patient Into Its Australian Clinical Trial Site more

Sept 2016 | Download as pdf

With Scaffold for Regenerating Arteries, Cardiovate Raises $350,000 more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

Bluegrass Vascular Secures CE Mark Approval and Announces Successful Commercial Use of The Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

Bio2 Medical® Closes on $3 Million of Venture Debt Financing more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

Tropical Forestry Services prepares for first Indian sandalwood shipment to China more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

Bio2 Medical® Announces 510(k) Clearance from the FDA for the Angel® Catheter, the First Ever Prophylactic Use Indication for a Medical Device for Pulmonary Embolism more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

International perfumery competition winner tours Indian sandalwood plantations in the Kimberley more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

SA biotech firm drawing global interest year after moving from Germany more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

TFS Corporation makes bond offer more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

New robot system at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital uses UV light to disinfect hospital rooms more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix wins $2 million FDA grant for cancer immunotherapy more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix Awarded FDA Orphan Products Development Grant for DNX-2401 more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

TFS Corporation - July 2016 Update more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

StemBioSys reaches European distribution agreement for its products more

Aug 2016 | Download as pdf

BRIEF-Diamyd Medical: Cellaviva appointed European distributor for StemBioSys more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix Receives European Medicines Agency PRIME Designation more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix Announces Successful Intratumoral Delivery of DNX-2401 via Alcyone's MEMS Cannula for the Targeted Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

Australia forestry company TFS Corp gets two ratings upgrades more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

Tour of Texas: Valence, Stellarray, Flux Farms, A&M, StemBioSys more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

StemBioSys reaches distribution agreement for its products in South Korea more

July 2016 | Download as pdf

Camden Clark Medical Center Introduces Newest Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot more

June 2016 | Download as pdf

MPR Client Innovative Trauma Care Wins Gold at 2016 Medical Design Excellence Awards more

June 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Announces Positive Results From a Study Using 10% East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) Serum Formulation for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Plaque Psoriasis more

June 2016 | Download as pdf

Texas among top states in foreign investments more

June 2016 | Download as pdf

How Your Family Drives Business Decisions more

June 2016 | Download as pdf

StemBioSys enters distribution agreement for its products in Japan more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

San Antonio biotech firm takes big step toward global expansion more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

Vidant Edgecombe Hospital adds Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot to reduce HAIs more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

This hospital spent $300,000 on giant, superbug-killing robots more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Announces First Subject Enrolled in Phase 2 Trial of East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) to Treat Mild to Moderate Plaque Psoriasis more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

SA biotech company backing fed stem cell bill to cut red tape from regulatory pathway more

May 2016 | Download as pdf

Bexar County added 4,350 jobs last year, study says more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

Springfield Clinic unveils Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot for infection control more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

San Antonio venture capital funding fell last year more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

neoSurgical Limited Expands Indications For neoClose Device more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

Bio2 Medical Closes Series D Preferred Stock more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

TFS undertakes $60 million placement more

April 2016 | Download as pdf

Bluegrass Vascular Technologies’ catheter system used on first patient more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Cytocentrics refunds $100,000 in economic development funds to city more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Bluegrass Vascular Technologies Announces First Clinical Use of the Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System in Europe. more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Long-term acute care facility in California implements Xenex germ-zapping robot more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Robotic housekeeper disinfects the rooms at Modesto hospital more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Aerin Medical raises $16.7M, adds new board members more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

Brokers Sniff Sweet Potential In TFS Corp more

March 2016 | Download as pdf

East Indian sandalwood oil (EISO) is the key ingredient in these grooming products for dogs more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Completes the Spin-Off of Roxy’s Remedies Inc. more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

TFS Corporation - January 2016 Update more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

DNAtrix's Oncolytic Immunotherapy, DNX-2401, Awarded EU Orphan Medicine Designation more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Strategic partnering deal with Cytocentrics more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Cytocentrics CEO: San Antonio to get big boost from new deal more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

GhostBuster the Lab Mix Reviews Roxy’s Remedies Pure Relief Spray Gel more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Avera McKennan Addresses Patient Safety with Germ-Zapping Robots more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Pharmaceuticals Announces Positive Results from a Study of Pediatric Patients with Eczema more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis announces positive results for pediatric atopic dermatitis treatment more

Feb 2016 | Download as pdf

Here’s why the TFS Corporation Limited share price soared 28% today more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

Cytocentrics gaining traction in San Antonio more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

The Drugstore Acne Fighters Dermatologists Swear By more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

neoSurgical® Begins Postmarket Surveillance Study more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

Santalis Announces First Subject Enrolled in Phase 2 Trial more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

BiO2 Medical Reports Positive Advancement of the Series D Round of Funding more

Jan 2016 | Download as pdf

Germany’s Axiogenesis to collaborate with new San Antonio biotech company more