Arizona Bioscience News: NeoLight wins Rise of the Rest; Tucson startup targets Zika; HTG has deal with Merck

October 13, 2016

By Matt Ellsworth

neolight2This Scottsdale startup received a $100K investment from AOL co-founder Steve Case / Phoenix Business Journal

NeoLight LLC of Scottsdale beat out seven other startups to win Friday’s Rise of the Rest startup pitch competition in Phoenix, receiving a $100,000 investment from AOL co-founder Steve Case. NeoLight is a medical-device company that designs and develops phototherapy technology to treat and eradicate jaundice in newborn infants.

Succeeding Outside of Silicon Valley: How the Rest Will Rise / Entrepreneur

After five Rise of the Rest tours, and 25 cities, most recently Phoenix, what have we learned about how the Rest can Rise? Steve Case calls it the “Three I’s”: Interconnectedness, Inclusiveness, and Impact.

Avella grows from humble roots to pharmacy powerhouse / Phoenix Business Journal

This year, Avella Specialty Pharmacy made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for the 10th straight year in a row. With $1.3 billion in revenue in 2015 — up from $800 million in 2014 — the company employs 520 people at 11 locations across the country. Half of those employees are in Arizona.

Data Harvested Like Never Before / Ag Professional

In the dry desert air at the University of Arizona’s Agricultural Center, a massive robot is hovering over a 1.25-acre field of sorghum and gathering unprecedented amounts of crop data. Sliding along a 717′ rail, a 30-ton steel gantry is hauling a host of sensors over the canopy and reaping a staggering harvest—5 terabytes of vital crop information each day.

UA professors receive grant for breast cancer research for Latinas / Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to a team of University of Arizona professors to study strategies to increase breast-cancer awareness, according to the project’s co-principal investigator, Jorge Gomez, the associate director for UA’s Center for Elimination of Border Health Disparities.

Is Entrepreneurialism at Odds With Deep Thinking? / The Atlantic

What’s the point of college? At Arizona State University, it’s often about “the entrepreneurial mindset,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, who helps lead the university’s research and economic-development efforts. That means teaching them to think creatively and convert smart ideas into tools and services that benefit a wide range of communities.

Tucson startup says it has Zika cure in sights / Arizona Daily Star

HSRx Biopharmaceutical, a Tucson-based startup company, says its botanical-based antiviral drug candidate was found effective in killing the Zika virus in screening studies performed by SRI International, a major nonprofit research institute. HSRx hopes to begin human trials in early 2017.

HTG, Merck KGaA Ink CDx Development Deal for Lymphoma Drug / GenomeWeb

HTG Molecular Diagnostics announced yesterday that it has signed a master companion-diagnostics development agreement with Merck KGaA, which will initially focus on a test for use with a drug the German drugmaker is developing as a treatment for B cell lymphoma.