TUCSON, AZ (April 5, 2024) — The University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI), which serves as the science and technology startup incubator network of Tech Parks Arizona, is pleased to announce that three current UACI startups and one alum obtained four of six available opportunities statewide to participate in the exclusive Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program. Participation in the program opens doors to a wide range of resources, significantly accelerating the growth and development of the startups along their entrepreneurial journey.
The program provides $30,000 in non-dilutive funding support for up to six startups and a professionally developed yearlong plan specific to the individual companies’ needs that helps them advance to commercialization and become investor-ready. Participants will gain access to an exclusive network, enabling interactions with key leaders in the state's bioscience, academic, and policy sectors. Entrance into the program includes one-year memberships to Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee and the Arizona Bioindustry Association.
The selection of the following bioscience companies residing at UACI validates the startups’ potential. The competitive process evaluated the quality of their innovations and business models and recognized the feasibility of their ventures.
Winning UACI startups include:
- BioBolt Medical Corporation has developed surgical-stapler technology to allow surgeons to perform procedures with greater speed, efficiency, and precision. The patented deployment system is designed to work for all mesh types, enabling surgeons to utilize biologic meshes more often and improve patient outcomes.
- Macula Vision Systems is developing technology to fully automate clinical laboratory analysis and AI-based interpretation. The technology is being designed to address the critical labor shortages in medical test labs, testing costs, and the availability of timely clinical information in the well-established bioscience-focused incubator UACI at Oro Valley.
- Metfora is developing a blood test to diagnose four lung diseases differentially from a single blood draw. These include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, and asthma. Founded to commercialize technology developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine—Tucson, Metfora was spun out through Tech Launch Arizona, the university’s commercialization arm.
- Precision Epigenomics Inc., a molecular diagnostic company that features liquid biopsy tests based on research developed at the University of Arizona, has created a multi-cancer detection test called EPISEEK™ . This approach directly identifies cancer-specific methylation regions within the human genome. The technology was initially invented based on research from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, the UA Cancer Center, and the BIO5 Institute. It was also commercialized through Tech Launch Arizona. After commercializing their groundbreaking technology, Precision Epigenomics joined UACI to launch their business through the Sponsored Launch program fueled by the Town of Sahuarita and Freeport McMoRan, completing the program and proudly standing as an esteemed alum of UACI.
"We are honored to be recognized by the Flinn Foundation for our innovative approach to earlier cancer detection and to have the opportunity to work with the AZ Bioscience Roadmap team. The currently recommended conventional screening methods for cancer underperform and they do not detect most cancer types that are killing people," said Mark Nelson, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Precision Epigenomics. "Our goal is to change the way cancers are detected."
The Flinn Foundation launched the Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program to foster bioscience founders in developing their early-stage companies into successful and sustainable businesses to establish a critical mass of bioscience entrepreneurs and new enterprises across Arizona. Since 2014, the Flinn Foundation has selected 66 Arizona bioscience companies and offered nearly $2 million in funding
through a competitive process. UACI, with its steadfast focus on nurturing science and tech startups, consistently has companies accepted into the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurial Program annually, which is a testament to the credibility and potential of these innovative ventures.
UACI, the University of Arizona’s startup incubator network, works with scalable science and technology ventures, providing the people, programming, and place needed to launch and scale a business successfully. The incubation program provides its startups with office, laboratory space, and assistance through a 28-point roadmap. Since the program was developed, nine other UACI startups have been selected for the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship program. UACI is a critical component of Arizona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and is helping to pave the way for budding bioscience ventures. UACI’s laboratory space gives companies an environment for product development with a flexible, customizable, supported structure.