BIZBarcelona - Salón Emprendedor

Cordatec is a company that develops, manufactures and commercialises innovative ideas and technologies for cardiology, cardiac surgery, anaesthesiology and intensive care.

Company Overview
For our first product, the A-View catheter, we managed to obtain CE label and FDA approval.
As we thrive on IP rights, we already have one product fully internationally patented and patents pending for 2 follow-up products.

Product or Service
Cordatec NV has one commercial product on the market, the A-view balloon catheter.  The A-View catheter makes it possible to see the degree of atherosclerosis in the ascending aorta prior to sternotomy.  This way, the surgeon has the possibility to change the operation strategy and thus drastically reduce the possibility for postoperative neurological complications, caused by emboli merging from 3% to 1%. For the Netherlands this accounts for an annual reduction of 450 to 150 patients or a structural cost saving of 6 million Euros per year.

Market
Within the medical industry, Cordatec NV focuses on the niches of cardiology, cardiac surgery, anaesthesiology and intensive care products.  Management believes that Cordatec’s products will facilitate the treatment of heart diseases which include arrhythmias and heart failure, as well as vascular diseases which include coronary and peripheral artery disease, and aortic aneurysm.  Heart disease afflicts nearly 22 million people worldwide each year, of which about 5% receive therapy annually.

Team and Shareholders
Cordatec NV is a development stage company which effectively started in 2003.  We have already attracted international private investors.

Business Proposition
As an international-oriented company Cordatec NV wishes to seek international capital. Funds will be used to invest in sales and marketing, especially in order to expand European sales, as well as to enter into the US market

Echopixel is a medical imaging company that has positioned itself to become a leading player in a market that will double in size within the next 10 years—Colorectal Cancer (CRC) screening.

Every year, there are 14 million optical colonoscopies (OC) performed in the U.S. at an average cost of US$2,000_US$28 billion. CRC is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the western world. It affects men and women 50 years and older and, when detected early, is curable in 90% of the cases.

Despite this, every year there are still 138,000 deaths in Europe and 150,000 new cases and 60,000 deaths in the U.S. from CRC.

The prefered early detection procedure for CRC is ‘optical colonoscopy‘ (OC), in which a camera is introduced rectally through the patient’s abdomen to detect polyps and flat lesions, the malformations that become cancer. Because of the nature of the procedure, more than 70% of people at risk do not undergo screening for CRC. Recent studies have shown that OC can miss more than 22% of polyps and at least 35% of flat lesions, which are twice as likely to be cancerous.

Echopixel is introducing Gastro Therapy Planning (GTP), a non-invasive CRC screening solution that enables doctors to use computed tomography (CT) images of a patient’s abdomen to display a 3D model of the colon and, by using a navigate-anddetect approach, to visually locate polyps and flat lesions. Our patented software/hardware solution incorporates stereoscopic 3D visualization software that adds a new visual cue_diagnostic depth perception_that significantly enhances the identification of polyps and flat lesions, becoming a significant complimentary procedure to OC.

Echopixel has attracted a world class team of Silicon Valley veterans and radiology industry leaders who are positioning our company for success with OEM partners such as Philips Medical and Olympus.

The magnitude of the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic is immense – more than one third of the world’s population is currently infected. There are nearly 9 million new TB cases annually and five thousand deaths every day.  Sputum microscopy is the most common test currently used to diagnose TB, but it only detects roughly 20-30% of all pulmonary TB cases.  Improved diagnostics are crucial for combating this growing epidemic.

AutoTB is dedicated to improving the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of sputum microscopy, while remaining inexpensive and accessible to healthcare professionals in developing countries.  The AutoTB device automates sputum microscopy, thereby decreasing analysis time, increasing sensitivity and eliminating human error present in current procedures while also integrating into existing infrastructures and remaining affordable for developing countries.  AutoTB provides a clear advantage – a simple, rapid, automated, sensitive, and inexpensive TB diagnostic test.

The medical and economic benefits of this device provide a competitive advantage over existing technologies and make it marketable to a wide range of customers including NGOs, governmental health departments, and private foundations.  AutoTB will initially target high-burden TB countries in the developing world and will capture a significant portion of the $1 billion global market for TB diagnostics.

In the long-term, AutoTB will expand into other bacterial infections (e.g. malaria) and will provide a robust point-of-care diagnostics platform that can be applied to both developing and developed world markets.  AutoTB addresses a clear, unmet and growing market need while also providing an opportunity for future diversification and growth.

G-diet is a startup company aimed to develop products and services based on the new knowledge arising from the human genome studies. In particular g-diet is focused on the role of genes in nutrition (nutrigenetics), taste and lifestyle. The business idea stands in defining “nutritional and lifestyle profiles” to better design personalized nutritional and lifestyle plans as well as diets: g-diet sells custom strategies for long-term wellness and healthy lifestyle through services based on leading-edge technologies (DNA analyses, genetic and phenotypic taste examination, computerized lifestyle dissection).

G-diet’s goal is to make customers discover their own genetic profile, personal taste (by analysis of genes and phenotypes), and nutritional profile, and help them to understand which is the best strategy for well-being.

G-diet process is based on the analyses of some genes involved in different aspects of lifestyle (taste, physical activity, smoking habit, food metabolism, bone structure, etc.), and on the definition of individual needs, goals, and nutritional profile. This enables g-diet to draw up a customized lifestyle program perfectly tailored to individual habits - based on current lifestyle, favorite foods and most liked and suitable sport activity.

Thanks to its internal R&D team and to well established national and international links with leading research groups in the field of genetics of taste and food preferences, nutrigenetics, population studies, g-diet products and services are continuously updated to provide customers with a unique, highly scientific and professional service.

Good decisions are taken by having the right information. Today g-diet gives you the real information you need for a focused, comprehensive approach to healthy lifestyle, anti-aging and weight management, for a long-term wellness.

“The small (though growing) amount of funds available for new companies means that many are underfunded”

Alec Mian is currently a co-founder and CEO of Genmedica Therapeutics, a Barcelona-based biotechnology start-up focused on developing therapeutics for diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Genmedica Therapeutics focus on the discovery and development of innovative human therapeutics for diseases within the so-called metabolic syndrome, namely, diabetes, obesity and inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases.

In many Western nations, metabolic syndrome diseases currently affect about 20% of the population and are growing at epidemic rates. Recent epidemiological and biological data suggest that the etiologies of these diseases share unexpected and overlapping genetic and biochemical mechanisms, thus offering synergy in the discovery and development of therapeutics of otherwise unrelated diseases. This overlap in biology is the focus of Genmedica’s drug discovery and development efforts.

Genmedica’s lead drug candidates are oral therapies for diabetes type 1 and 2 that represent a new class of potential diabetes therapies, and a novel class of anti-inflammatory compounds. These drug candidates are currently in pre-clinical studies.

Genmedica Therapeutics is being run by CEO Alec Mian and strives to be capital efficient and quasi-virtual with minimal office and laboratory space in Barcelona, Spain.

Bitotech & Design

Previously, Alec Mian was CEO and co-founder of Gamera Biosciences Corporation in Boston, USA, which was founded in 1993 to develop high speed, microfluidics technology for the drug discovery and genomics industries. The company was financed by local and internacional venture capital sources, including Advent internacional, Bessemer Venture Partners and Oak Investments Partners.

Mian had been living in Barcelona and was considering moving to London to head another biotech company when he was contacted by Antonio Zorzano at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine: IRB to head a company based on Zorzano’s research into an oral replacement for insulin. This was a high-risk project, but “if successful, such a discovery and development would put Barcelona on the international biotechnology map,” says Mian.

In Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Mian founded the design company La Evolution Barcelona SL with a small group of designers and marketing people. Dr. Mian is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Santa & Cole, Spain’s largest design company.

Dr. Mian completed his Bachelors in biology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He completed his doctorate in genetics at University of Cambridge, UK, with Gabriel Dover; and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, with George Church. He is author or co-author of over a dozen patents and publications. Dr. Mian is a Spanish resident and citizen of Canada and Germany.

Horizon Discovery Limited
Providing missing tools that enable “the right cancer drugs to be matched to the right patient”
Horizon Discovery Limited

Historically, pharmaceutical companies have taken a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in search of new cancer treatments. The resulting therapies have been: marginally effective and poorly tolerated by patients; cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and; difficult for healthcare providers to ensure the most effective treatment is prescribed to patients.

Horizon Discovery (Horizon) is an Anglo / Italian translational medicine company providing R&D tools that enable the development of a new generation of drugs that target the unique genetic profile of an individual patient’s cancer.

Horizon’s award winning (UK Medical Futures Innovation in Cancer 2008) GENESIS platform has enabled the development of X-MAN ‘Mutant And Normal’ cell-line pairs or “patients in a test tube”. These allow the definitive isolation of appropriately ‘targeted’ drug candidates and; the design of shorter (and more rational) clinical trials centred around the patients most likely to respond. Horizon co-founders are leading the emerging Personalized Medicine paradigm for colorectal cancer treatment.

Horizon has adopted a business model that is delivering: (1) 150+ ‘off-the-shelf’ cancer cell models; (2) custom drug screening and gene-engineering services and; (3) new equity assets via the formation of joint-venture or collaborative deal structures in the Rx, Dx and bio-production markets.

Horizon has closed 22 commercial deals since foundation including world-leading pharmaceutical companies like Genentech (5 deals), Novartis (2 deals), OSI Pharma, AstraZeneca and Millennium and has a 20% stake in the Cancer Research UK funded discovery company Senectus Therapeutics. Horizon has become profitable in its 1st year of commercial operation and projects revenues of £1,800,000 in 2009 with a profit (pre-tax) of £532,000 and with forward Sales of £2,500,000.

The innovation demonstrated by the company has been recognized by the receipt of two Medical Futures Innovation Awards for Best Drug Discovery Technology in Cancer and Best Business Proposition of 2008.

“The Broccoli Project is a life-affirming programme that approaches poverty alleviation and some of its attendant issues from a unique perspective.  Using a similar model to the many incentive and loyalty programmes targeting the rich, the Broccoli Project rewards the poorest members of society for positive, life-enhancing behaviour.

It’s actually really simple. Poor people who take advantage of free health screening programmes, actively seek work, or keep their children in school are rewarded with vouchers for basic necessities. So, for example, people who take an HIV test, or who are screened for hypertension or diabetes will get vouchers they can exchange for food, clothing or building materials.  But it doesn’t end there. If, say, someone does test positive for HIV, the system can be geared up to reward them for regularly taking anti-retrovirals. Now that’s a pretty cool thing, as there’s not much point taking the drugs if you can’t afford to buy decent food.

And it’s backed by a sophisticated biometric data base with some really sexy functionality so it’s easy to keep track of what’s going on. The organisations administering the programmes can effectively monitor the progress of individuals or communities, and donor organisations will receive comprehensive reports based on reliable data. Experience has shown that donors who know where every cent is going are more likely to hand out more. So everyone wins.

Like your mom always told you – broccoli is good stuff.

Outbreak of infectious diseases such as SARS, swine flu (H1N1 virus), avian influenza (H5N1 virus) and dengue fever can cause significant morbidity and mortality in addition to seriously affecting the national economies of tourism-centric countries.  Biological warfare employs pathogenic bacteria or viruses as an “invisible” weapon which can be deployed without warning at any time.  In 2001 nearly four million animals were slaughtered in Europe to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) during a massive veterinary pandemic.

The challenge during these crises is to rapidly detect such infectious agents, even at low levels, in both victims and the environment, to contain the spread of disease and to isolate the sources.  Today there is no diagnostic technology platform that can meet this challenge.  Centralised laboratory testing requires transportation of the sample to a distant location and takes several hours of testing to provide a result.

Our solution is the patent-pending  RAP*DNA platform which allows PCR (polymerase chain reaction) based detection of DNA or RNA from infectious agents in less than 15 minutes in the field, by untrained personnel. Our integrated and automated diagnostic device, with gold-standard PCR accuracy and very low cost assay format is practical and economical for wide-spread deployment across doctor’s clinics, border-crossings and remote locations.  The RAP*DNA platform can be configured for real time tracking via internet, GPS or SMS to provide centralised surveillance and monitoring, thus enabling local and international health authorities and agencies to have real time mapping of epidemiological information for immediate response and containment.

Singapore-incorporated Biochip Devises Pte Ltd’s hybrid business model includes direct sales in niche applications as well as a comprehensive out-licensing program to ensure maximum market penetration across a wide range of clinical, veterinary, military, food and environmental applications.

See an animation of the RAP*DNA platform.

Polyskin develops biomaterial-based innovative products for application in burn and wound healing. We use two biopolymers - Polylactic acid (PLA) and Polylactic-glycolic acid (PLGA), both USFDA approved biodegradable and biocompatible polymers that have been in use for the past 60 years, widely used as absorbable sutures in surgical procedures.

Pain Point we are addressing - Affordable solutions for burn wound management has been lacking in India and other developing countries. Existing solutions including tissue engineered skin, bio-active membranes, and grafting etc., are expensive and require specialized skills for administration, limiting their reach.

Our Solution is compelling - Polyskin has developed an innovative process, where biodegradable polymer particles encapsulated with drugs can be self-assembled into bio-membranes in a single step at room temperature and can be used immediately as artificial skin substitutes for burn and wound treatment.
1.    We prepare polylactide particles encapsulated with drugs at our facility and then distribute to hospitals where it can be stored without any special storage requirements.
2.    When a burn case arrives, the particles can be immediately fused using our simple process at room temperature and the polymeric membrane of desired size and shape can be immediately transferred to the wound site.
3.    This makes the process very easy to be done even in a small center and does not need any specialized equipment.
Thus Polyskin offers several benefits - easy to handle, reduces fluid loss and decreases the chances of infection, helps in faster clearance of infection and better regeneration of the skin, cheapest alternative for treatment of burn wounds, and increased availability of PLA leading to increased affordability.

Polyskin is a spin off company from National Institute of Immunology (NII), a premier biotech research center in India. The multidisciplinary team at Polyskin consists of a bioengineer, medical and pharmaceutical professionals.

“Creative and entrepreneurial research which is well protected with patents, copyright and trade marks, exploited through spin-out companies which are adequately funded by angel, VC or corporate investment leads directly to sustainable employment and the creation of wealth.

Chris Lowe is the Director of the Institute of Biotechnology and Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of Trinity Collage.

The principal focus of his biotechnology research programme over the last 30 years has been the high value - low volume sectors of pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and diagnostics, from pure science to strategic applied science, some of which has significant commercial applications and had led to the establishment of 7 spin-out companies.

His principal areas of expertise are: Downstream Processing of Biopharmaceuticals, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Enzyme and Microbial Technology.

The post-genomics revolution is still very much in its infancy

As Chris Lowe explains in an interview in businessweekly, “the Institute of Biotechnology is a centre of excellence in biotechnology research. It was established in 1988 to meet growing demands for highly skilled research personnel, and the new knowledge necessary for continuing expansion of the science platform upon which biotechnology innovations are based. Quickly became a leading centre of excellence conducting high quality biotechnology research, providing bioscience training and creating the academic, business and financial leaders of the future.

The Institute aims to create opportunities at the interface of several scientific disciplines and by integrating other business, teaching and training activities into an entrepreneurial culture, it promotes a seamless transition for exploitable research from bench to marketplace. The Institute was awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1996, the first such award for Cambridge, and I was named ‘Most Entrepreneurial Scientist of the UK.’
To date, the Institute has been uniquely successful in creating an entrepreneurial ethos in an academic environment. We plan to merge the Institute with the Department of Chemical Engineering to create a new Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, introduce a limited undergraduate curriculum, enhance our research profile with further staff appointments, engage in clinical translation via what we term Research-to-Patient (R2P), expand the MBE course, establish a small seed fund to support very early stage spin-outs and export our ideas worldwide. I believe that we have a unique model which could serve as an exemplar elsewhere in the world.

Research-based entrepreneurship

The University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor said: ‘Research-based entrepreneurship is playing an increasing role in driving the UK’s economic growth. The choice of the Institute of Biotechnology for the Queen’s Anniversary Prize is testament not only to its success in putting research at the heart of entrepreneurial learning, but also to its status as a model for others.’

The key headline figures are 10 companies employing over 250 people and worth more than £250m spun out of the Institute following some £10m of public investment in 15 years. The lessons learnt in this process are now being used to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Institute’s key concept is to gather together inter-related biological, chemical and physical sciences and medical and engineering disciplines to generate imaginative research at their boundaries and then use these advances to develop business activity and entrepreneurial training.”

Chris Lowe has 250 publications, 7 monographs and 40 patents. He is actively involved in many collaborations worldwide, is on the editorial boards of a number of academic journals, sits on a number of research council, grant awarding and government committees, and is active in various legal and entrepreneurial roles.

Chris Lowe es moderator and panelist at HealthCare Innovation, Wolrd Innovation Summit Hit Barcelona 2009.