The following companies have been selected to participate at this year’s Forum:
Main-Stage Companies
Aldagen, Durham, NC - A biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary regenerative cell therapies and has advanced four product candidates into clinical trials, including ALD-101 which is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate its efficacy in improving umbilical cord blood transplants used to treat inherited metabolic diseases in pediatric patients.
arGentis Pharmaceuticals, Memphis, TN - A specialty pharmaceutical company acquiring a portfolio of assets already in clinical development for autoimmune and ophthalmic disorders.
Argolyn Bioscience, Inc., Durham, NC - A product development company utilizing its specialized peptide modification technology to discover and develop therapeutic peptides with enhanced potency, selectivity, and stability for the treatment of psychosis, pain, and other disorders.
Argos, Durham, NC - An immunotherapy company with Phase 2 clinical development programs in cancer and HIV and promising preclinical programs in autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation.
Atlas Spine Inc., Jupiter, FL - A device company designing and commercializing improved surgical instruments and spinal implants having reduced invasiveness for use in the treatment of spinal disorders and injuries.
AxoGen, Alachua, FL - A company with the focus of bringing the science of nerve repair to life has developed novel treatments for peripheral nerves, such as the AVANCE nerve graft, the first distributed human allograft nerve option for damaged peripheral nerves.
DigitalDerm, Inc., Columbia, SC
- A software company commercializing its melanoma detection program to patients and physicians with reimbursement available under an established CPT code.
EGEN, Inc. (formerly Expression Genetics), Huntsville, AL - A biopharmaceutical company specialized in nucleic acid (DNA / RNAi) delivery and therapeutics with lead TheraPlas™ IL-12 immunotherapeutic oncology product in a second ovarian cancer clinical trial and novel TheraSilence™ siRNA delivery systems entering preclinical development.
Erimos Pharmaceuticals, Raleigh, NC - A clinical-stage company discovering and developing small molecule pharmaceuticals targeting the transcription and over-expression of survivin in cancer and viral diseases.
Esperance Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA - A development stage company creating small molecules called oncolytic peptides with specific cell surface receptor binding capability that selectively destroy solid tumors and metastatic cancer cells with the company’s lead compound in late preclinical phase.
ICON Medical Corp., Atlanta, GA - A medical device company developing the next generation stents, including use of a new alloy allowing for constructing of stents with half the thickness of conventional stents and development of drug eluting stents made of a bioabsorbable polymer.
LaamScience, Raleigh, NC - A specialty product company developing dye-coatings for surfaces that, upon exposure to light, have fast-acting, safe, and long-lasting antimicrobial activity with applications in medical textiles, air and water purification, and cleaning products.
Pique Therapeutics, Inc., Durham, NC - A biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics in oncology, with a lead product in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, the leading cancer killer.
Transgeneron Therapeutics, Inc., Gainesville, FL - A therapeutics company exploring products that trigger cellular reprogramming and initiate tissue regeneration in situ, such as its lead candidate for the treatment of Type I and Type II Diabetes, a master switch factor known to regenerate murine pancreatic cells.
Early-Stage Companies
Alte Biosciences, Cary, NC - A virtual product development company creating new therapies for chronic diseases by repurposing existing drugs or improving their delivery.
Arbovax Inc., Raleigh, NC - A biotech company commercializing a platform technology that can be used to make vaccines against insect borne viral diseases. A portfolio of improved human and animal vaccines using Arbovax's technology will be developed through partnering with relevant pharmaceutical companies.
Argent Diagnostics, Inc., Athens, GA - An early stage company focused on the development and commercialization of diagnostic products and services for the clinical, bio-defense and food safety industries based on a proprietary nanotechnology platform, in the field of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), that amplifies the spectral fingerprint of pathogen or organic molecules by up to 100 million-fold, fulfilling an unmet need for a rapid highly sensitive diagnostic system not relying on PCR technology.
AxoTect, Inc., Atlanta, GA - A biopharmaceutical development company creating small-molecule drugs for the treatment of pain associated with Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy with its lead compound already tested in an animal model.
Calibrant Biosystems, Gaithersburg, MD - A biopharmaceutical company using the power of proteomics for the development of therapeutic drugs for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as companion diagnostics and biomarkers for personalized medicine.
Claro Scientific, LLC, St. Petersburg, FL - A diagnostic device developer utilizing a reagentless spectral imaging technology that delivers highly precise and quantitative information to identify bacterial pathogens in bodily fluids within minutes
DiscoveryBioMed, Inc., Birmingham, AL - A cell engineering and drug discovery company generating early revenue by servicing academia and industry with molecular library screening of human cell models of chronic disease and emerging revenue with contractual R&D and rolling licensing agreements for found therapeutics.
HemoSonics, Charlottesville, VA - A medical device company developing the first point of care diagnostic test to quantify the contributions of platelets, coagulation factors, and lysis to excessive bleeding and inappropriate clotting.
Intezyne Technologies Inc., Tampa, FL - A biotechnology company using its IVECT™ platform to develop safer and more effective therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.
MastCell Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Raleigh, NC - A specialty pharmaceutical company developing alternative allergy treatment options for known drugs.
Pradama Inc., Louisville, KY - A specialty pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing drug products for the treatment of bone diseases based on its bone-targeting drug delivery technology.
SensorTech, LLC, Greenville, SC - An advanced materials company developing and commercializing contact sensors generating early revenue in a government contract for a prosthetics manufacturing system and future revenue for other medical applications including total knee arthroplasties.
Selah Technologies, Pendleton, SC - An advanced materials innovator and manufacturing company developing and commercializing environmentally friendly and biologically compatible carbon-based nanomaterials and nano-enabled products for biomedical imaging and diagnostics.
Sharklet Technologies, Alachua, FL - A specialty product company developing the first non-toxic, no-kill, long-lasting surfaces that inhibit the growth of bacterial biofilms on medical devices and equipment caused by organisms such as Staph a., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and E. coli.
BioPlan Companies
CellGuard - A discovery stage biologics company developing CG-001, a stem-cell derived growth factor that addresses an important gap in existing therapies for acute myocardial infarction (Duke University).
Cerene Biomedics - A device company developing an implantable device to prevent focal epileptic seizures by delivering targeted thermoelectric cooling to the neocortex, anticipated to be first line therapy for many patients suffering from uncontrolled seizures (Duke University).
Cardiac BioSolutions - A device company developing revolutionary percutaneous heart valve (PHV) products, such as a more durable artificial aortic valve with the beneficial properties of a natural tissue valve, and a catheter delivery system which can be used with any percutaneous valve (Florida International University).
Ribotheron - A discovery stage company employing hammerhead ribozymes that block replication of herpesviruses I and II as a novel anti-HSV therapy, initially for corneal infections (University of Florida).
Immunologix, Inc. - A discovery and production company, formed to commercialize a novel in vitro system for producing 100% human monoclonal antibodies against a wide variety of antigens (Medical University of South Carolina).
Progesterone Analogs - A discovery stage company creating pro-drugs and novel synthetic analogs of progesterone to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other neurological disorders, based on a Phase II human trial showing improved survival and cognition in TBI patients treated with progesterone (Emory University).
Lestoni - A company formed to develop a new class of cancer drugs, vascular disrupting agents, initially by repurposing a failed Phase III cancer agent as a surgical adjuvant for treatment of liver cancer and later by developing novel drug candidates in this new category (Virginia Commonwealth University).
CardiacSolutions - A discovery stage company building on a product platform for improving treatment of patients with Congestive heart failure associated to heart valve disease through surgical, percutaneous and catheter-based approaches (Georgia Tech/Emory University).
SynBioX - A protein engineering company that has redesigned antisense and RNAi oligonucleotides by modifying their backbone to address problems of conventional therapeutic oligonucleotides, including rapid breakdown, limited cellular uptake, and potentially lethal host responses (Emory University).
NeuroPoetix - A new drug development company that combines insights and advances in stem cell biology and knowledge about the central nervous system (CNS) to significantly progress the development of drugs to treat serious diseases of the brain (University of Florida).
The Investor Forum offers two opportunities for emerging life sciences companies to showcase their enterprises to the investment community.
The SEBIO Early-Stage Event is an opportunity for life sciences companies seeking their first round of venture capital and/or angel investment to gain exposure to and receive mentoring from active early-stage investors.
SEBIO Presenting Companies have generally completed at least one round of institutional financing. These companies are considered to be among the best life sciences deals in the Southeast, as determined by a Selection Committee comprised of regional and national venture capitalists. Each presenting company makes a ten-minute pitch to the full conference audience.
