Three Nova Scotian biotech companies will compete today for $45,000 in prizes in the BioInnovation Challenge.
The finalists, selected from a final round of six competitors, are Biofix Medical Technologies, Help Method and RetiCAD.
The fifth annual BIC competition is organized by BioNova, BioNB and PEI BioAlliance and is the pitching component of BioPort Atlantic, the annual life sciences conference in Halifax.
The winner of the BioInnovation Challenge will take home $15,000 in a cash investment to cover development costs and $30,000 in in-kind services.
The finalists are:
Biofix Medical Technologies, Halifax, Caitlin Pierlot, CEO – Biofix is developing a non-toxic bone cement that can be injected into the vertebrae of osteoporosis patients who have suffered a fracture. Pierlot and CTO Brett Dickey have produced the cement and are now doing clinical studies. They are seeking $1.3 million in equity investment, with the goal of gaining Federal Drug Administration approval for the product by the second quarter of 2018. They would then hope to gain regulatory approval in the EU and Canada.
Help Method, Halifax, James Drage, Acting CEO – Help Method analyzes brain patterns to diagnose mental illness, and is focusing at first on treating soldiers suffering on post-traumatic stress disorder. The company recently conducted tests on 50 veterans and was able to determine which suffered from PTSD as opposed to other afflictions. Once PTSD is diagnosed, Help Method can help therapists choose the proper treatment for the patient’s particular problem. The company is trying to raise $1 million in equity funding (which it can leverage with a further $2 million in non-dilutive funds, largely from the military) which will help among other things to conduct further tests on 300 more soldiers.
RetiCAD, Halifax, Lyn Kamintsky, CTO – The company uses imaging technology to fight diseases caused by leaky blood vessels, such as dementia, epilepsy and – the initial focus of the company – blindness caused by diabetes. Kamintsky said physicians now diagnose blindness caused by diabetes by personally studying a series of images of the retina. RetiCAD amalgamates all the data contained in these images to produce a map of the retina, and uses technology to detect leaks that are too small for the human eye to detect. The company has laid out a budget totaling $1.7 million over the next three years and hopes eventually to sell its technology to a large camera maker.
The other semi-finalists were:
ChimieCell, Halifax, Azadeh Kermenshahipour, Acting CEO – The company is developing a sustainable product that can break down KDO, one of the building blocks of gram-negative bacteria, which is responsible for 70 percent of the infections in the U.S. ChimieCell produces KDO at $5 a milligram, one-tenth of the cost of existing processes. The company is looking for $800,000, which could help it to attain a licensing agreement with a major pharmaceutical company within two years.
Heterogenous Nanosystems Ltd., Halifax and Charlottetown, Clarke MacDonald, President – The company is working on a cancer treatment that involves opening up cells to what are known as polar molecules.
IOBio Inc., Halifax, Guy Earle, Head of R&D – IOBio is developing a software product that will create a development environment for researchers. The company is seeking $140 000 to take its product, the BioBox, from prototype to the market.
