Olathe-based biotechnology startup Ronawk has reached a new growth marker — the launch of a subsidiary that solves a big internal challenge while also filling a gap in the Kansas City region.
Called Stella, the new subsidiary is a non-clinical contract research organization (CRO) that provides core services of tissue and cell culture, histology and immunolabeling, bio-characterization and microscopy, which is using microscopes to take pictures of samples and then reporting basic observations. ("Stella" means star in Latin and pillar in Greek; the "a" at the end also signifies the Greek letter alpha, which in science typically denotes a first-time discovery.)
In a nutshell, Stella can analyze samples, such as cells and tissues growing in a Petri dish, and deliver findings to customers.
Although the Kansas City region has built a hub of CROs, many are geared toward clinical research, such as pharmacological therapies that will be tested in humans, Ronawk co-founder and CEO A.J. Mellott said. Stella fits in earlier in the research process, when scientists aren’t ready for the clinical phase and just need basic answers to advance their research.
Ronawk developed a Bio-Block platform to grow cells in a contoured 3D format that better mimics how cells would grow inside a human body. When cells need more room to grow, scientists can simply add more Bio-Blocks, which connect to one another like Legos. Creating a more realistic environment gives scientists a truer picture of how a new treatment might work inside a human. Ronawk’s offering also conserves resources, allowing scientists to grow millions to billions of cells from one culture.
Cells and tissues can form inside Ronawk’s Bio-Blocks, and the startup wanted to take a deeper look into what was happening inside. It turned to CROs but faced several challenges. Area CROs didn’t offer the services Ronawk needed, and universities and CROs outside the region either had a backlog of projects from Covid-19, which made it tough to fit in Ronawk, or the services were expensive. Ronawk crunched the numbers and realized it would be better to bring the work in-house. Ronawk’s team of scientists already had the expertise, Mellott said.
“We realized that there was a new business opportunity to get our work done but then help all of our friends and neighbors in the community that are in a similar boat,” he said.
Its target customer base includes small companies and startups, as well as university labs and other CROs that can outsource work to Stella.
In addition to accelerating Ronawk’s research and development studies, Mellott envisions Stella helping other entities reach success faster, including with launching next-generation therapies.
Ronawk plans to hire dedicated employees for Stella this year, but the exact number will depend on demand. The subsidiary has two clients, including a CRO. For now, Ronawk will share employees with the unit, but a future goal is to have Stella operate independently of Ronawk, which employs 14 people.
“It’s a really big milestone for Ronawk,” Mellott said of the subsidiary’s launch. “(It’s) something we take a lot of pride in because it shows that we’re growing. As we work on Ronawk’s mission to accelerate next-generation therapies, this is continuing to allow us to work more and more with the broader Kansas City community and spread how we can leverage science and bioengineering to actually help people. … We really want to help the amazing and brilliant scientists in the area advance their research more easily and more efficiently because they're the ones that are actually working to help the patients and have the big breakthroughs.”
