The second Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference brought together a diverse group of 31 companies and investors at the Brown Palace hotel on Friday. The program included discussion of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and The Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology at the University of Colorado along with a lunchtime presentation from Roy Davis of Johnson & Johnson, who urged new companies to stay focused on value creation. The focus of the day, however, was on the presenting companies who each presented for 15 minutes and answered 10 minutes of questions. The companies, 23 of whom hailed from Colorado, spanned the life science spectrum including drugs, devices and diagnostics. The companies also represented a wide variety of stages of development from companies with currently marketed to products to those just getting of the ground.
Among the companies in the later stages is Sophono, whose Alpha 1 system to treat conductive hearing loss was approved by the FDA in June (the device has also received the European CE mark). Sophono’s device offers unique advantages over competing products because it does not require an abutment – a screw that is anchored to the skull passes through the skin – instead relying on implanted magnets to anchor the external audio-processor. The company is seeking additional capital to expand sales and marketing efforts.
Another veteran presenting company was Barofold. Although the name is the same, Barofold is a new company after folding in 2009 due to a lack of capital. The new company bought the assets of the prior company and exclusively licensed its lead molecule to Nuron Biotech, which has continued development of the Interferon Beta Products. Barofold is now serving as a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) helping companies refold protein drugs made in E. coli. Barofold’s pressure folding technique, its PreEMT™ Technology, offers significant cost advantages over traditional chemical refolding methods.
Other pre-revenue companies were able to announce significant milestones at the event. Among them, was ValveXchange, a company that manufactures heart valves with replaceable leaflets. This novel design will obviate the need for additional open-heart surgery as leaflet replacement is a much simpler procedure than inserting a new valve. CEO Larry Blankenship announced the company’s product would undergo its first implantation into a person on Monday, September 26.
The conference also afforded some companies just getting off the ground the chance to present to investors including Mosaic Biosciences, a company that provides a novel method for wound healing, and Siva Therapeutics, which is seeking to treat skin cancers by injecting gold nanorods and then heating the area with a laser to kill cancer cells.
