Denver is now home to a new lab and biotech startup developing an early ovarian cancer detection tool.
AOA Dx was founded in 2020 in Boston, but after raising a $17 million round in October it announced its next stage of growth would take place in Colorado.
The company began moving into an 8,000-square-foot lab at 6860 Broadway in north Denver in January and celebrated the facility’s grand opening on March 12.
Now headquartered in Denver, AOA has more than 20 employees, with about 16 in Denver. The remaining four employees work in Florida, Texas, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The company’s CEO and co-founder Oriana Papin-Zoghbi still lives in New York but flies to Denver at least once a month. She said this allows her to connect with investors and board members in New York and Boston more easily.
Although AOA’s move to Denver didn’t officially take place until this year, it’s had a small presence in Denver nearly since its founding. One of its co-founders moved to Denver during Covid and shortly after, the company hired two more employees in the Mile High City out of pure coincidence, Papin-Zoghbi told the Denver Business Journal.
“At the time, we were really not on the path to open up our own lab, believe it or not,” Papin-Zoghbi said.
AOA’s initial plan was to develop its product through academic co-labs, she said. However, given that three of the startup’s seven employees were in Denver, company leaders decided to transition to in-person operations at a small coworking space in the Denver metro.
“From there, the means of the business were also changing, and we realized that we were going to need to have our own lab space,” Papin-Zoghbi said.
AOA Dx Denver grand opening
Denver has not only provided AOA with top talent in the scientific field but also allowed the startup to find an affordable lab space. Papin-Zoghbi said AOA was priced out of Boston real estate.
AOA signed a five-year lease at 6860 Broadway and is paying just shy of $20 per square foot.
The facility is equipped with a large office, three independent lab facilities, a few smaller breakout rooms and a wellness room.
AOA was co-founded by Papin-Zoghbi, Alex Fisher and Anna Jeter, who all worked together for 10 years at other women’s health companies before launching the biotech startup. AOA has been building its early detection tool for almost four years, Papin-Zoghbi told the DBJ.
The company said its platform, GlycoLocate, can differentiate between cancers down to their tissue of origin in both symptomatic and non-symptomatic patients. It is still going through development and the regulatory process through the Food and Drug Administration but more than 20 clinical trial sites are underway across the U.S., Papin-Zoghbi said.
AOA is initially focusing on ovarian cancer.
The startup has raised $24 million to date, including a $7 million seed round last year.
AOA isn’t the only startup moving to north Denver. Earlier this month, Denver-based Maybell Quantum Industries, which develops systems to make quantum technology more accessible and scalable, announced plans to open a new facility at York Street Yards in Denver.
AOA's platform has more than 20 clinical trial sites underway.
