The Advocate Aurora Research Institute will extend its laboratory and clinical research capabilities to emerging biotech companies through its new sponsorship of Madison biohealth startup incubator Forward Biolabs.
Advocate Aurora aims to accelerate new technologies and interventions that will ultimately help its patients, the research institute's director of biorepository and laboratory services Monika de Arruda Indig said in a March 16 statement.
Using resources from sponsors like Advocate Aurora, the 18 biotech startup companies that are currently Forward Biolabs members can keep overhead costs down and access possible patient participants and patient data for research. Forward Biolabs also provides access to lab equipment, office space and other resources through a co-working model.
"This is such an efficient model ... it's almost like the concept of a timeshare," Advocate Aurora Research Institute chief research officer and system vice president Amit Acharya said. "What it really does is attract a lot more talent to the region — Wisconsin — where they're looking at these synergies happening."
The research institute's assets include a biorepository of ethically discarded biological material, lab services like cell culturing and cryogenic storage, and a vivarium and other animal services.
The Advocate Aurora Research Institute is part of Advocate Aurora Health, the Milwaukee area's largest private-sector employer and the largest health care provider in Wisconsin. The health system, which serves 3 million patients at more than 500 care sites across Wisconsin and Illinois, doesn't have a Madison presence but has locations as far west as Summit and Oconomowoc.
Advocate Aurora's collaboration with biohealth startups is important so that its patients are represented in studies that could lead to innovative treatments, Acharya said. In some cases, clinical trials are the only treatment options available for patients, he added.
"We've always worked very closely with pharma companies and other device companies at the national level," Acharya said. "Now engaging at the local and regional level ... is a great opportunity."
In 2020 — the most recent year for which data is available — the research institute supported more than 1,100 research projects, including pre-clinical trials, clinical trials and other studies, with nearly 4,000 consenting participants.
Advocate Aurora aims to double the size of its research institute over the next three to five years, Advocate Aurora senior scientific writer and editor Nick Bullock said. Areas that are ripe for health care innovation include personalized medicine, preventative care and chronic illness management for geriatric populations, Acharya said.
Acharya said he's excited about Forward Biolabs companies like Madison's AyrFlo Inc., which is developing a wearable device to monitor respiratory changes in patients under sedation, and Madison-based Endsulin, which is developing gene therapy for diabetes.
Among other Forward Biolabs sponsors are the University of Wisconsin-Madison's University Research Park, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
