Date: Jun 22, 2010 Author: press release Source: Tech Fort Woth (
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HOUSTON -- June 22, 2010 -- The Rice Alliance announced the most promising Life Science companies at the 8th Annual Life Science Venture Forum in Houston last week. Life Science companies showcased their new ventures for an audience of more than 400 attendees, including investors, venture capitalists, industry representatives, business leaders, advisors/mentors, service providers, and entrepreneurs.
Cynthia A. Doerr, M.D., partner, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures said of the presenters, "This is one of the most mature groups of healthcare-related company presentations that I have reviewed in Houston, and I intend to follow their progress closely."
The one day event culminated in an announcement of the Most Promising Life Science Companies chosen from more than 40 competitors and judged by the Rice Alliance Information Technology Advisory Board, based on the companies' elevator pitch presentations. The exercise simulates meeting an investor on an elevator and having only 90 seconds to convince them to invest in your company.
In addition, five other new life science technology companies were pre-selected to present their 10 minute business plan presentation at the forum, and as one of the chosen five, were also named a Most Promising Life Science Technology Company.
Rice Alliance Managing Director Brad Burke, announced the winners of the Most Promising Life Science Company awards at the event. "Every year the quality of companies improves. Many of the companies at this year's event have developed prototypes, obtained proven results and are on their second round of funding. This makes them more appealing to investors, who have also expressed appreciation for the quality of the companies."
Top Five Most Promising Companies, based on their business plan presentations:
America Stem Cell -- Helotes, TX -- developing and commercializing products to enable successful stem cell therapy outcomes, initially for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation for cancer.
Encore Vision -- North Richland Hills, TX -- developing a pharmaceutical compound for use in treating presbyopia.
LaserGen -- Houston, TX -- developing products that detect sequence variations in the human genome for use as diagnostics tools for the management of common diseases.
Nimbic Systems -- Stafford, TX -- developing medical device technologies to minimize the incidence of surgical site infections.
Vapogenix -- Houston, TX -- developing novel, non-opioid analgesics for pain management.
Most Promising Companies based on their elevator pitch:
CB2 Pharma, Inc. -- Austin, TX -- Chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is the 2nd largest dose-limiting toxicity of chemotherapy. To date, neither prevention nor treatment strategies for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy have been effective. CB2 Pharma, Inc. plans to commercialize a drug with an indication for prevention of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy,
Eyelten Therapeutics, Inc. -- St. Louis, MO -- is developing new therapies to treat age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the United States. The technology allows for the inhibition of a protein--distinct from VEGF--that is linked to retinal neovascularization.
HPT / Axis, Inc. -- Houston, TX -- is developing a treatment for the adverse effects that occur from the condition androgen-induced hypogonadism (AIH). AIH is the condition which occurs after stopping androgen use, both prescription and nonprescription.
MedHab, LLC -- Mansfield, TX -- has developed a technology affording medical care prescribers (such as orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists) the ability to customize the rehabilitation protocol to meet each patient's unique needs.
Norwell, Inc. -- Houston, TX -- has an ongoing Phase IIb clinical trial for its lead therapy, GP2, a novel peptide immunotherapy to reduce the recurrence rates of breast cancer following surgery.
Ortho Kinematics, Inc. -- Austin, TX -- is a spine diagnostics company focused on spine motion analysis products and services.
PCCA Technologies, Inc. -- Pittsburgh, PA -- has developed a contact lens is a medical device that allows for the continuous-sensing of glucose levels in tear fluid, unlike traditional glucose testing strips, which require the need to carry around a separate testing device as well as painful and frequent needle pricks to draw blood.
Respiratory Research, Inc. -- Austin, TX -- has developed a non-invasive laboratory test identifies the underlying cause of chronic cough affecting the 35 million Americans with Asthma and COPD and resulting in 3-6 million physician visits per year.
Soft Imaging, LLC -- Houston, TX -- specializes in the development of advanced imaging technology for biomedical applications.
Waldo Health -- Austin, TX -- is developing low-cost easy-to-use equipment and systems for home health care and remote monitoring applications.
The Forum was supported by Baker Botts, LLP, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Winstead Attorneys and Santé Ventures with Supporting Organizations Greater Houston Partnership and Houston Technology Center and media sponsors Houston Business Journal and the BusinessMakers Radio Show.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
CJ Pappas
The Padgett Group
713-590-3771
cj@thepadgettgroup.com
Contact:
Mary Lynn Fernau
Rice Alliance for
Technology & Entrepreneurship
713-348-5374
mlfernau@rice.edu
