Portfolio
ANOxA Corp.
1264 N. 870 Rd.
Lawrence, KS 66049
www.anoxacorp.com
Summary of firm:
ANOxA Corp. is a startup biotechnology company dedicated to the development of nitric oxide based technologies for the treatment of a range of veterinary medical disorders. ANOxA was created to develop and commercialize selected technologies within the animal health industry. The lead product is a treatment for exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in performance horses. ANOxA has completed proof of concept studies of EIPHISOL at New Bolton Center, one of the world’s premier equine research facilities at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. The unique patented treatment has shown significant potential for reducing the severity of EIPH, which is a common disorder in the equine racing industry. EIPH has no current FDA approved treatments and represents substantial financial losses for the racing industry and health consequences for equine athletes.
The KBA has invested $300,000 in ANOxA.
CritiTech, Inc.
1321 Wakarusa Dr., Ste. 2102
Lawrence, KS 66049
www.crititech.com
Summary of firm:
CritiTech is a startup company in the demonstration stage of development of pharmaceutical products which conducts business in the arena of chemical particle size reduction. The company’s strength derives from a patent portfolio licensed from the University of Kansas. This technology can be used for the following technologies:
- Drying of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from a formulation
- Bulk drying of an API
- Coating of compounds on medical devices which enhance the activity of the medical device
The technology uses liquid carbon dioxide as a co-solvent to remove an organic formulation solvent from a non-water solution.
CritiTech has a product Nanotax in Phase I clinical trials at the University of Kansas.
The KBA has invested $312,748 in CritiTech in two grants.
Edenspace
1500 Hayes Dr.
Manhattan, KS 66502
www.edenspace.com
Summary of firm:
Edenspace is an early stage company in the demonstration stage of development that seeks to transform the energy, agricultural and environmental industries through innovative applications of plants for renewable fuels and environmental sustainability. Edenspace designs its products and services to help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, improve human health and nutrition, and restore and protect the environment. The company is focusing it strengths on modification of genes in seeds to enhance the production of food crops and ethanol.
The KBA has invested $649,724 in Edenspace.
IdentiGEN North America, Inc.
4824 Quail Crest Pl.
Lawrence, KS 66049
www.identigen.com
Summary of firm:
IdentiGEN is a leading commercial provider in the market entry stage of development of DNA-based solutions to the agri-food industry with major operations in Ireland and the U.S. The company’s core expertise is in genetic identification and uses this technology to develop and market a range of products designed to improve the safety, quality and integrity of the food supply.
IdentiGEN’s principal product, DNA TraceBack, provides food retailers, processors and producers with the capability to identify and trace the source of meat products through the entire supply chain.
The KBA has invested $125,000 in IdentiGEN.
ImmunoGenetix Therapeutics
8527 Bluejacket St.
Lenexa, KS 66214
www.immunogenetix.com
Summary of firm:
ImmunoGenetix is a startup stage biotechnology company in the later stage of incubation developing advanced DNA immunotherapies for HIV infection. DNA immunotherapies offer a promising approach to reducing the dependency on anti-HIV drug cocktails and diminishing the emergence of drug-resistant HIV strains. They are relatively inexpensive to produce, readily scaled up, and stable at ambient temperatures.
GenePro, the company’s lead product candidate, incorporates a proprietary DNA construct that yields high levels of gene expression and non-infectious HIV protein production, and induces a robust antibody and cellular immune response in animal models. In preclinical efficacy studies, this immunotherapeutic candidate controlled viral replication and provided protection against a deadly AIDS causing virus in monkeys without viral protein boosts and without anti-viral therapy.
The KBA has invested $420,000 in ImmunoGenetix.
Innovia Medical
8527 Bluejacket St.
Lenexa, KS 66214
www.earcheck.com
Summary of Company:
Innovia is in the market entry stage of development with a medical device. The company’s product, EarCheck Middle Ear Monitor, is commercially available, and the device accurately and painlessly detects the presence of middle ear fluid with gentle sound waves. This is the same patented and proven acoustic reflectometry technology used by physicians since 1997 and is a technique recommended by the American Academies of Pediatrics and Family Physicians.
The KBA has invested $650,000 in Innovia.
KCBioMedix
23733 W 83rd Terr.
Lenexa, KS 66227
www.kcbiomedix.com
Summary of Company:
KCBioMedix is a commercial company in the market entry stage of development with innovative medical products to solve feeding issues in premature infants. Its first breakthrough device, the NTrainer System, enables neonatal care units to assess and then provide therapy to develop infant sucking, a vital skill that has been linked to faster transition to oral feeds, more rapid weight gain, shortened hospital stays, and reduced hospital costs.
The KBA has invested $566,693 in KCBioMedix.
NanoScale Corporation
1310 Research Park Dr.
Manhattan, KS 66502
www.nanoscalecorp.com
Summary of Company:
NanoScale is a commercial company in the market entry stage of development with its proprietary line of safe metal oxides powders called NanoActive. The company’s synthesis methods were developed with a goal of enhancing adsorption kinetics, increasing chemical reactivity, and maintaining the earth mineral safety in nanocrystalline forms for the destruction of toxic materials, including air and water pollutants, hazardous chemicals, biological organisms, and chemical warfare agents.
NanoScale’s manufacturing techniques produce advanced materials with small crystallite sizes, which agglomerate into micron size particles and have very high porosity. This porosity allows for the entire particle to be utilized in the reaction. Specifically, the molecular structure allows for higher chemical reaction and faster binding affinity to reactive agents on surfaces or airborne. This highly porous structure enables the materials to absorb substances into the pore space by contact with coordinated unsaturated atoms/ions on the corners and edges of the crystal lattice structure.
The KBA has invested $50,000 in Nanoscale.
Nowa Technology, Inc.
Meadowbrook Executive Building
5250 W. 94th Terr.
Prairie Village, KS 66207
Summary of Company:
Nowa Technology is a demonstration stage company that has developed a patent-pending technology that takes municipal wastewater sludge and chemically extracts marketable products. A key aspect of the process is the use all of the sludge, returning nothing to the waste stream. Using the Nowa Technology process, a municipal wastewater treatment facility can eliminate the need to incinerate or landfill its sludge. In addition to eliminating the cost and adverse environmental impact of disposing of sludge, treatment facilities can reap the benefits of an income from the sale of the extracted products.
The KBA has invested $1.5 million in NOWA.
Oncimmune USA
8960 Commerce Dr., Bldg. 6
De Soto, KS 66018
www.oncimmune.com
Summary of Company:
OncImmune is a commercial company in the market entry stage of development. It has developed a diagnostic detection assay focusing onEarlyCDT, which is a simple blood test to detect early stages of cancer. The mechanism behind this diagnostic procedure is measuring the presence of autoantibodies specific to cancer antigens. The antibodies are produced by the immune system as a defense mechanism to a growing tumor and can be used to aid in the early detection of cancer.
The KBA has invested $2.5 million in OncImmune.
OsteoGeneX
PO Box 3132
Kansas City, KS 66103
www.osteogenex.com
Summary of Company:
OsteoGeneX is a therapeutic products company in the incubation stage of development with novel products for the large and rapidly growing area of bone repair and bone growth. The company is developing small molecule inhibitors of the new bone anabolic target sclerostin for the treatment of osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Sclerostin was identified as a master regulator of bone mass affecting men and women. Specifically, manipulation of sclerostin increases bone density, which leads to reduced bone fracture and, therefore, may have significant positive impact on osteoporosis, spinal fusion, skeletal reconstruction and fracture repair.
The KBA has invested $505,000 in OsteoGeneX.
Pinnacle Technology, Inc.
2721 Oregon St.
Lawrence, KS 66046
www.pinnaclet.com
Summary of Company:
Pinnacle Technology is a commercial company in the market entry stage of development offering equipment designed for data acquisition and biotechnology products. The equipment is designed so lab animals are able to move about freely using a transmitter to send data to the central processor. Chemical electronic sensors have been developed to determine concentrations of specific compounds of interest in the brain during experiments.
The KBA has invested $750,000 in Pinnacle.
TVAX Biomedical
8060 Reeder St.
Lenexa, KS 66214
www.tvaxbiomedical.com
Summary of Company:
TVAX is a pharmaceutical company in the demonstration stage of development commercializing a unique, patented cancer treatment that has completed Phase IIa human trials at the University of Kansas Medical Center and Wayne State University. The technology (TVI) is a personalized immunologic treatment that exploits the ability of cancer specific immune cells to kill cancer cells. The product combines attenuated autologous cancer cells and an immunological adjuvant, GM-CSF, which, when injected, stimulates the patient’s immune system to produce high numbers of killer T cell precursors. Collection of these precursor cells form the patient and manipulation of these cells, results in high numbers of highly activated killer T cells from the precursors, which are then returned to the patient’s bloodstream, resulting in the elimination of cancer.
The KBA has invested $187,622 in TVAX.
VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
8527 Bluejacket St.
Lenexa, KS 66214
www.vasogenix.net
Summary of Company:
VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals is in the late stage of incubation development. The company is developing intravenous and controlled release drug treatments for addressing Heart Failure (HF) and other cardiac diseases in order to reduce the recurrence of these diseases and their resulting hospital and medical costs. VasoGenix is initially focusing on a major unmet critical need in acute decompensated heart failure, when the symptoms of HF become severe enough to require hospitalization.
The company’s technology combines a potent drug and an established drug delivery system. The drug is based on human alpha calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and the company’s synthetic analogs. CGRP is the body’s natural choice when combating the damage caused by heart failure and heart attack. It is different from other drug treatments as it is a single drug that provides multiple mechanisms to treat heart failure and other cardiac diseases. Current HF therapy requires a cocktail of drugs to manage symptoms and often leads to drug intolerance. The company’s drug therapy will augment the current standard of care, potentially reducing episodes of drug intolerance of several drug classes.
The KBA has invested $600,000 in VasoGenix.
Ventria Bioscience
2718 Industrial Dr.
Junction City, KS 66441
www.ventria.com
Summary of Company:
Ventria is a market entry stage company with commercially available products. Ventria’s technology platform ExpressTec, a proprietary protein/peptide production system, is designed to create innovative human health products. ExpressTec uses self-pollinating crops (rice and barley) as the production host for these products, bypassing many of the technological constraints inherent in other protein production methods. Ventria is focusing on molecules either used by pharmaceutical companies in the fermentation process of manufacturing APIs or as the main API in the formulation of a product.
Ventria has been able to use the ExpressTec production system as a basis for forming more specialized systems which produce specific molecules. These platforms include ExpressPro for production of proteins, ExpressTide for production of peptides and ExpressMab for production of monoclonal antibodies.
The KBA has invested $3.75 million in Ventria.