Six Arizona biotech startups will be get a chance to pitch to investors and interact with other potential partners at a prestigious event that is part of the 2023 BIO International Convention.
The fledgling businesses will be part of the Start-Up Stadium at the convention, which runs June 5-8 in Boston. The BIO International Convention is designed to promote collaboration between large corporations and new biotech businesses.
The companies from Arizona are Anticipate Bioscience, ElectraTect Inc., Reference Medicine and FAKnostics LLC — all based in Phoenix — as well as Reglagene of Tucson and Prizm Tx of Chandler.
As part of the Start-Up Stadium, they’ll get the chance to share quick pitches of their technologies or therapies to investor judges and then get live feedback. Winners will be named in two categories — seed-stage (less than $1 million raised) and emerging company ($1 million to $10 million raised).
Three of the startups — ElectraTect, FAKnostics and Reference Medicine — will be among nearly 30 companies and organizations representing the city of Phoenix pavilion during the conference.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and other city officials said the bioscience industry is growing fast in the metro.
"Companies are flocking to Phoenix, making it number one in life science job growth among the nation's emerging life science markets," Gallego said in a statement. "The bioscience health care workforce has increased by over 60% since 2008, which drives our economy forward. Watching businesses such as ElectraTect, FAKnostics, and Reference Medicine take the global bioscience stage and represent Phoenix is exciting."
Phoenix Community and Economic Development Director Christine Mackay agreed, highlighting the increase in investment in bioscience in the Valley.
"Investors from across the globe are doubling down on their commitment to bioscience in Phoenix,” Mackay said in a statement. “I’m confident that the emerging life science opportunities and extraordinary innovation ecosystem in Phoenix will only continue to thrive. Our delegation is the best of the best, and we are ready to show off all Phoenix has to offer at BIO 2023."
About the startups
Anticipate Bioscience is a therapeutics company focused on breast cancer, according to the LinkedIn page of Founding CEO Steve Potts, who lists his time in that position as starting in April. Potts is also the founder of Phoenix-based OncoMyx Therapeutics.
ElectraTect is working to develop cannabis detection technology similar to an alcohol breathalyzer to improve safety and boost testing accuracy. The company was co-founded in 2020 by Valley native and Arizona State University graduate Evan Darzi and Neil Garg, a synthetic chemist and University of California, Los Angeles professor. It recently moved into new space at the downtown Phoenix Bioscience Core.
Reference Medicine is focused on making it easier for cancer researchers to find biospecimens they need at lower prices. The company was one of several Arizona bioscience startups to join Flinn Foundation’s entrepreneurship program earlier this year. It is also one of the finalists for the Phoenix Business Journal’s 2023 AZ Inno Fire Awards this year in the Biotech/Health Care category.
Reglagene is developing novel therapies to treat brain cancers, including an orally administered option that is nearing human clinical trials. The company was a competitor featured in this year’s AZ Inno Madness bracket-style contest.
FAKnostics is a research company working on pharmacological therapies. The startup says it has developed a focus on structure-based drug design to complement and extend cancer biology capabilities. In the future, FAKnostics plans to continue the development of drugs to provide new therapies for cancers and other diseases that lack effective treatment options.
Prism Tx, on its website, describes itself as a late-stage clinical biotech company developing therapies for ultra-rare pediatric orphan diseases.
