As the name implies, PDX Biotech has roots in the Portland, Oregon, metro area (PDX being the airport code for that city) but in recent months it has moved the heart of its operations to Louisville as it looks to ramp up production.
Founded in 2019, the startup is the maker of OraStripdx, a product that can be used to test a pet for periodontal disease — a gum infection that can damage the soft tissue around teeth and result in loss of both ligament and bone — in a matter of about 10 seconds. To run the test, a person only needs to rub a strip along an animal’s gingival margin (between the teeth and gums).
If the strip remains white, the test is negative; any hinge of yellow, positive. The strip will turn positive if there is a saturation of what are known as thiols that have proven to be directly linked to the disease when found in oral fluid.
The key is that the test is a preventative measure, as the disease can be proactively addressed through better oral care.
“If I could tell you six months earlier [before signs show up], wouldn’t you want to know and do something about it?” said Reggie Gresham, PDX Biotech's CMO and also one of its four original partners/owners.
Gresham is one of the `company’s six team members based in Kentucky — four in Louisville (including CEO/Partner/Owner John Beran) and two in Lexington — out of its 10 total employees. The startup has raised approximately $2 million since its founding but is “always looking for investments.”
Currently, PDX Biotech only has a business-to-business (B2B) revenue model, in which it sells to veterinary clinics in four countries (U.S., U.K., China and Australia), with international clients accounting for approximately 60% of the business. In the U.S. alone, though, Gresham said the company has only reached about 10% to 15% of the market when it comes to vet clinics.
In 2023, the company grew its gross profits to $480,000 after earning $43,000 in 2022.
The tests, which were introduced to the market in 2021, are available on the company’s website for a tube consisting of 40 tests going for $160.
By the third quarter, the PDX Biotech team hopes to be fully established in the business-to-consumer space (B2C) for groomers and pet owners by selling both online and in major pet stores.
This initiative has been bolstered by a partnership with Purina after OraStripdx was named as the winner of its Pet Care Innovation Prize in 2023.
In addition, the startup also earned national recognition for its marketing efforts through an award by the North American Veterinary Community in January.
“Our process that we have is B2B, but we do have the roadmap for B2C, and that roadmap is pretty short because we’re seeing a lot of groomers pick up on this,” Gresham said. “We see a lot of pet owners picking up on this.”
The pricing and amount size is still being determined, but the costs should still run $4 a test.
In December, the startup began manufacturing the strips at an appropriate 5,000-square-foot facility it is renting on Fern Valley Road — after originally making them in the Portland area.
In response to the increased packaging responsibilities that go along with adding a B2C element to the operation, Gresham and the rest of the PDX Biotech team are scouting for locations for a packaging, shipping and logistics facility in West Louisville, which could add 10 to 20 more people to its headcount.
“I’ve been mentoring kids for some 20-odd years … and one of the things that I'm seeing is that — and this goes for anybody, not just African-American boys — you can teach them and mentor about things, but then there needs to be opportunities that they can get in and showcase what they learned, specifically jobs," said Gresham, who also serves as the president of 100 Black Men of Louisville. "So that’s why I’m passionate about OraStripdx having a location in the West End.”
Future aspirations for the startup includes developing an app that can definitely tell a user if the test is positive or not — as well as the human version of the tests.
