Six life sciences startups are receiving almost a combined $3 million worth of loans from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to expand their product offerings, scale production and tap new markets.
“This funding has been instrumental in advancing our commercial go-to-market strategy in the US, which represents almost half of our target market,” said Alex Dunphy, CEO of Halifax-based Adaptiiv, in a statement. “In addition, the company has been preparing to bring some manufacturing in-house which will eventually lead to further expansion in the region through digital manufacturing.”
Here’s a look at the funding recipients:
Halifax
Alexa Dunphy, CEO
$963,164
Halifax-based Adaptiiv Medical Technologies uses 3D printing to create customized medical devices called boluses.
Non-customized boluses have for years been placed over the cancerous part of a patient undergoing radiation therapy. The bolus itself becomes increasingly radioactive, transferring that radiation to the patient in a targeted manner.
But there can be no air pockets between a radiation bolus and the patient’s skin, historically representing an obstacle for doctors. Adaptiiv’s solution is designed to solve that problem.
The money from ACOA will go towards expanding the company’s sales and clinical staff, as well as commercializing its Adaptiiv on Demand program, which is intended to let clinics order custom boluses for patients within days, thanks to the involvement of Palo Alto printer giant HP.
Daxsonics Ultrasound Incorporated
Halifax
Jeff Leadbetter, CEO
$725,910
Founded in 2011 at Dalhousie University, Daxsonics sells next-generation ultrasound equipment. Specifically the company specializes in array-based, high-frequency ultrasound devices.
High-frequency ultrasounds produce far sharper images than their conventional equivalents, but they are unable to penetrate deep into tissues. That means they are used to produce images of shallow tissue and for endoscopic procedures in which a catheter goes into the body to view internal organs.
The ACOA money will go towards expanding Daxsonics’s production facility including buying specialized micromachining equipment.
Halifax
Hamed Hanafi, CEO
$555,386
NovaResp is developing an algorithm to help manage sleep apnea via a process called continuous monitoring of airway pressure, or CMAP — a more targeted derivative of continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP technology.
The system is compatible with existing CPAP machines and aims to predict sleep apnea events, which cause patients to stop breathing during the night and can contribute to health problems like heart disease. The machine then forces air into the patient’s lungs to restart their breathing. Unlike conventional CPAP systems, NovaResp’s technology is designed to only activate if the patient is actually experiencing a sleep apnea event, rather than running continuously.
The ACOA money will go towards further clinical testing of NovaResp’s system as it eyes an eventual regulatory approval push.
St. John’s
Mark Opauszky, CEO
$504,624
St. John’s-based Sparrow BioAcoustics has developed a stethoscope app for smartphones, called Stethophone.
The app uses a phone’s internal microphones, along with software processing, to allow the device to function as an ad hoc stethoscope when it is held against a patient’s chest.
Sparrow also describes its system as medical grade, with trials conducted at Newfoundland and Labrador’s Eastern Health Medical Centre finding that 70 percent of the medical professionals who tried the app rated it as offering better sound quality than competing products. It also produced higher rates of correct diagnoses.
The ACOA money will go towards hiring staff to gather and analyze data for improving the software.
Halifax
Kent MacLean, CEO
$140,625
Allumiqs provides scientific testing services to the life sciences industry. The company is also preparing to launch its own product line for the sector, which will include offerings like sample prep kits, reagents, which are compounds for chemical analysis, and well-plates, which are essentially trays for holding test tubes.
The ACOA money will go towards a soft launch of the new Allumiqs products, with an eye towards developing relationships with larger customers.
Halifax
Aaron Short, CEO
$99,750
B-Line has developed a software and hardware suite that logs users’ movements within commercial buildings for contact tracing, as well as to help building owners identify ways to use space more efficiently.
The company’s technology is tied to a building’s access control system, such as keycard-controlled locks that can be used with the B-Line app.
The ACOA money will go towards hiring technical staff to help with a planned expansion into the United States market.
