Startups

Thirteen new women-led healthcare startups join Springboard’s Health Innovation Hub

A new batch of 13 women-led life science and healthcare startups have been accepted into Springboard Enterprises' Health Innovation Hub, a year-long program for growth-stage companies preparing to expand and raise funds for new product development.

Opening the Stage

A new batch of 13 women-led life science and healthcare startups have been accepted into Springboard Enterprises’ Health Innovation Hub, a year-long program for growth-stage companies preparing to expand and raise funds for new product development.

It’s an opportunity for guidance, networking, and access to new resources. The program also aids visibility as the companies gain a foothold in their respective industries. For Geeta Singh of MAG Optics, acceptance into the new Health Innovation Hub class came at an ideal time.

“We recently began to tell our story at various Med/Biotech conferences and startup challenges,” explained Singh via email. “We have to approach it judiciously and strategically and, frankly, we need a little guidance on how to navigate our story. The powerhouse network, the breadth and depth of industry and domain experts as well as Springboard’s rigorous program couldn’t have presented at a more perfect time.”

Springboard has a solid track record of success. Over 17 years, the non-profit has supported 669 women leaders globally, from companies that have now raised a combined $7.5 billion. Four out of five of those startups are still in business today.

Here’s an overview of the 2017 class that will be formally welcomed at a networking event in Boston on Tuesday night.

Drug development

Federica Pericle, president and CEO of Agilvax
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Agilvax is working to develop new cancer therapeutics and vaccines using its virus-like particle (VLP) platform technology. It currently has three immunotherapeutic candidates in preclinical development, including AX09 for triple-negative breast cancer. Agilvax is also developing vaccines against infectious diseases, such as HPV. Along with NIH and small business grants, the six-year-old company has raised just over $4 million in private equity financing.

Robyn Goforth, CSO and cofounder of BiologicsMD
Doylestown, Pennsylvania-based BiologicsMD is developing targeted therapeutics for alopecia (hair loss) and severe bone disorders. The company has multiple assets in three therapeutic areas, including a portfolio of “hair cycle stimulators” (HCS) that have the potential to restore hair growth and prevent hair loss by stimulating certain receptors within hair follicles.

Stephanie Tagliatela, CEO of Encoded Genomics
South San Francisco, California startup Encoded is on a mission to create precision molecular therapeutics for a variety of genetic diseases. Encoded’s core technology is a sequencing-based approach to identify and repurpose non-coding regulatory elements for targeted gene delivery.

Emma Taylor, CEO and cofounder of Naked Biome
San Francisco, California’s Naked Biome is taking a microbiome-based approach to combating global antibiotic resistance. Specifically, the startup aims to identify novel therapeutic opportunities to treat skin disease, drawing on the foundational science and research published through the human microbiome project. Naked Biome’s lead program is working towards the first live biologic therapeutic for acne.

Carin Mueller Rollins, CEO and founder of Hinge Bio
Burlingame, California-based Hinge Bio is developing a range of protein therapeutics and diagnostics, including its proprietary “Flex-Hinge” and bispecific antibodies, and Fc fusion proteins. Hinge’s initial pipeline targets different oncology, metabolic disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. A collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company has already been made.

Diagnostics

Lynn Feldman, CEO of AlkaliDx
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts-based AlkaliDx is developing a test and stimulant-free treatment for what it calls “hypokalemic sensory overstimulation (HypoSO),” a type of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with four distinctive characteristics; muscle cramps, poor sleep, severe premenstrual pain (in females), and a worsening of symptoms when high salt or sugar meals are consumed. AlkaliDx has treated 16 HypoSO patients thus far and reports very positive effects.

Bethany Edwards, CEO and cofounder of Lia Diagnostics
LIA Diagnostics develops and commercializes water-dispersible, biodegradable diagnostic kits and products. Its lead product, Lia, is a flushable pregnancy test. The company believes the approach can deliver greater sustainability, privacy, improved user experience, reduced supply chain, and the elimination of costly landfill-bound plastic parts. Lia’s IP portfolio and unique know-how support three distinct areas for expansion.

Manjiri Bakre, CEO of OncoStem
Based in Bangalore, India, OncoStem is an Oncology diagnostics developing personalized tests that can assess an individual’s risk of cancer recurrence. With this information, patients and their doctors can plan an optimum therapeutic timeline and plan. OncoStem’s first focus is breast cancer, with secondary programs in oral and colon cancers.

Dana Watt, CSO and cofounder of Pro-Arc Diagnostics 
Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Pro-Arc Diagnostics is developing JCVerify, a novel screen for the JC virus, which causes a deadly complication in patients taking immunosuppressant medications. JCVerify looks for mutations in the JCvirus that are associated with the disease, providing more accurate risk stratification information.

Patti White, CEO of Hemex Health
Based in Portland, Oregon, Hemex Health was founded with a global view for connecting innovative medical technology with the underserved populations that need them most. It brings together top university scientists and serial entrepreneurs for projects like a one-minute, sensitive malaria diagnostic and the first rapid, accurate sickle cell diagnostic.

Devices

Geeta Singh, CBO and cofounder of MAG Optics
Headquartered in London, with a secondary base in Chicago, Illinois, MAG Optics is an early-stage ophthalmic device company working to re-engineer vision for patients with presbyopia (loss of near focus) and broader refractive errors. Combined, those conditions affect almost half of the world’s population. With a proof-of-concept under its belt, MAG is now ready to raise capital and transition to the clinic.

Carolyn Cross, chairman and CEO of Ondine Biomedical
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Ondine Biomedical is a global leader in so-called “photodisinfection technology,” a medical device approach to treating and preventing topical multidrug resistant infections. Ondine has 6 different products in its development pipeline, four of which have cleared Health Canada requirements and are now available in Canadian clinics and hospitals.

Misti Ushio, founder and CEO of TARA Biosystems
New York City-based TARA Biosystems is engineering predictive cardiac tissue models that enable faster, safer, and more reliable development of new medicines. The technology includes stem cells grown on a Biowire platform, which create a functioning model for human testing.

“After many years investing in early stage technology, I valued the people and the unmet need the most when starting TARA,” Ushio said via email. “I am very fortunate that TARA’s scientific co-founders, Prof. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic and Prof. Milica Radisic, are world-class cardiac tissue engineering researchers.  The three of us closely collaborate as we build TARA, which is dedicated to pioneering predictive cardiac tissue models to enable the discovery of next generation heart failure medicines and ensure cardiac safety of new medicines.”

Photo: Joshua Blake, Getty Images

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