Renalytix, a publicly traded company using artificial intelligence to find clinical diagnostic solutions for kidney disease, has opened a new laboratory and office in St. Petersburg to aid in its expansion.
Tom McLain, president of New York-based Renalytix, worked with St. Petersburg site selection consultant Mike Gilson on a temporary facility located on Pasadena Avenue, according to the release.
“A dozen years ago, I worked on a startup in St. Pete, and we couldn’t get leadership to come here. Today, St. Pete and the Tampa Bay region are beautiful. People get excited about relocating here,” McLain said in a statement.
McLain said he chose the area due to options for facilities, access to commercial, clinical leadership in Florida, qualified personnel and recruiting options.
“Finding a place that can help accommodate the explosive growth we’ve had was paramount, and we need access to and the ability to attract talent to continue that growth,” McLain added, “A dozen years ago, I worked on a startup in St. Pete, and we couldn’t get leadership to come here. Today, St. Pete and the Tampa Bay region are attractive.”
Renalytix (Nasdaq: RNLX) uses an AI-enabled algorithm to analyze biomarker values from a patient’s blood sample and health record to determine a patient’s risk for a rapid decline in kidney function.
The company’s lead product, KidneyIntelX, has been granted Breakthrough Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is designed to help make significant improvements in kidney disease prognosis and treatment to slow or halt progression early and help patients avoid end-stage kidney disease, dialysis or transplant.
Future products are being developed to measure changes in kidney health over time, identify the most effective therapy for a specific patient and monitor their response to treatment.
Renalytix has three employees in St. Pete and expects to have six by the end of the year and 20 in 2024 once it has a permanent facility.
In the company’s third-quarter financial report, executives highlighted the business expansion is due to the direct primary-care-to-physician sales in the Florida and Texas markets.
According to the report, the company had a $32.3 million operating loss over the past nine months from medical testing and the cost of materials. The report also highlighted Renalytix’s milestones, including completing a $20.3 million equity financing led by institutional investors in February.
The Tampa Bay metro is home to several other health tech startups, with nearly half of all life sciences companies in the Tampa Bay region located in Pinellas County.
