Arizona Bioscience News: ASU’s “Panch” tapped to lead NSF; UArizona tech transfer has $586M impact; eVisit, VisionGate raise funding

January 9, 2020

By Matt Ellsworth

ASU head of research Sethuraman Panchanathan nominated to lead National Science Foundation / Arizona Republic

Sethuraman Panchanathan, or “Panch,” an executive vice president and chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State University, has been nominated as the next director of the National Science Foundation by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Read more: ASU leader tapped to head National Science Foundation


Report: UA’s tech-transfer arm had $586 million economic impact over 3 years / Arizona Daily Star

In the last three years, Tech Launch Arizona, the University of Arizona’s tech-transfer agency, has helped launch 71 startup companies that had a combined economic impact of  $585.7 million while creating 5,236 direct and indirect jobs in Arizona and $250 million in wages and salaries, a recent UArizona report shows.


University of Arizona to use big data to seek Alzheimer’s insights / Health Data Management

Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Center for Innovation in Brain Science will use a $1.6 million federal grant to apply a big-data approach to better understand the systems biology of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.


Phoenix lab uses artificial intelligence to slow, manage Alzheimer’s disease / KTAR

Phoenix-based Sonora Quest Laboratories is working with tech company uMETHOD Health to collect patient data that is then interpreted by artificial intelligence to develop individualized life course plans for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.


Construction to begin soon on largest SkySong building / Phoenix Business Journal

Construction on the sixth and largest office building in the SkySong development in south Scottsdale will begin in May and leasing activity is already underway for the $135 million, 90-foot-tall building.


These industries are taking Arizona’s tech sector to the next level / AZ Big Media (Op-ed)

Steven Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, writes about the success of Arizona’s technology ecosystem, including biotech, and how Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap continues to place the bioscience sector at the forefront of growth and innovation.


New pharma manufacturer building facility to make generic drugs on FDA shortage list / Phoenix Business Journal

Medivant Health is investing more than $8 million to build a 33,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Chandler to start making generic drugs on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shortage list, starting with lidocaine, a local anesthetic injected to numb tissue.


Mesa software startup raises $5.3M to expand remote patient monitoring / Phoenix Business Journal

Mesa-based telehealth software startup eVisit Inc. raised $5.3 million to expand its remote patient monitoring platform, which is used by Scottsdale-based HonorHealth, Blue Cross Blue Shield and other health systems and clinics.


Phoenix biotech company raises another $3M for early lung cancer detection  / Phoenix Business Journal

VisionGate Inc., a Phoenix-based clinical stage oncology pharmaceutical and diagnostics company focused on the early detection and prevention of cancer, has raised $3 million in equity, bringing the latest round of funding up to $36.6 million.


Upcoming Events

Jan. 21: AZBio PEERS, Arizona Commerce Authority, Phoenix

Jan. 21: Women in MedTech, iTether Technologies, Phoenix

Jan. 23: AZBio 2020 Kickoff Reception, Medtronic, Tempe

Jan. 25: Connect2STEM, UArizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix


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