Flinn Foundation Program Tops $1M in Funding Support with Selection of Six Arizona Bioscience Startup Firms

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Arizona?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#Arizonalt;/agt;–The Flinn Foundation has surpassed $1 million in funding support to
benefit Arizona bioscience startup companies with the selection of six
firms to participate in the foundation’s 2019 Bioscience
Entrepreneurship Program.


The Flinn
Foundation has selected 34 Arizona bioscience firms since 2014 to
participate in the program, which was created to foster entrepreneurship
and further the goals of Arizona’s
Bioscience Roadmap, the state’s long-term strategic plan through
2025 to advance the bioscience sector.


In addition to $30,000 in funding administered through a nonprofit
partner, the entrepreneurship
program provides each competitively selected firm a bundle of
benefits, including a professionally developed, yearlong plan specific
to the needs of the company, helping them to navigate the challenges
facing startups and empowering them to become investor-ready.


The 2019 program winners—including three from the Phoenix area and three
from Tucson—are:


AdviNow
MedicalScottsdaleAdviNow Medical integrates
artificial intelligence and augmented reality into a medical encounter
with a patient, revolutionizing patient-provider interaction. The
clinical visit is completely automated as the AI interacts with patients
to collect symptoms, take vitals, and deliver a complete patient workup
with a breakdown of predicted illnesses and treatment options. The
technology is currently in use at select Safeway stores.


CATS
TonometerTucsonCATS Tonometer has developed the
FDA-approved Correcting Applanation Tonometer Surface prism, which
studies show significantly improves intraocular-eye-pressure measurement
data—a key metric in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma and other
conditions. The CATS solution is implemented by simply changing out the
existing prism and does not require any changes in clinician measurement
technique.


Desert
Valley TechMesaDesert Valley Tech is the creator of
the HemaPorter, a cold-chain custody and storage solution for blood
products, organs, pharmaceuticals and vaccines that provides medical
personnel greater access to critical tools in war zones, remote
locations, and disaster areas. The rechargeable, dockable container
provides real-time monitoring and can be transported by drones.


Emagine
Solutions TechnologyTucsonEmagine Solutions
Technology is a mobile health-care company and developer of VistaScan, a
software platform that transforms a mobile phone or tablet into a
powerful, high-quality ultrasound device. The company’s mission is to
provide affordable, quality ultrasound to clinicians in low-resource
settings to improve health outcomes around the world.


NANOPECTucsonNANOPEC
offers scalable solutions to businesses by helping to make
pharmaceuticals safer. The company manufactures MetaPurex
nano-filtration solutions for high-precision purification of
pharmaceuticals, avoiding both harm to patients and product recalls.
MetaPurex pores are nano-size, highly ordered, free of defects, and able
to filter out all bacteria, including mycoplasma and most common viruses.


OrdinatrixPhoenixOrdinatrix’s
mission is to be the leader in translational proteomics and offer
researchers a disruptive tool for the analysis of protein function. The
company’s ActiveArrays can place a human protein microarray on a small
slide for the research and development of new drugs, biomarkers, and
other precision-medicine tools.


The $30,000 grant for each firm will be awarded to and administered by
the nonprofit Arizona
Bioindustry Association, a trade association that promotes the
growth of Arizona bioscience companies. The Flinn Foundation has now
allocated $1,000,005 in grants to nonprofits since the program began.


Opportunities are also offered to participating firms to engage with the
state’s bioscience, academic, and policy leaders, including a year as a
member of Arizona’s
Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee. The committee is comprised of
about 100 leaders from the public and private sectors that gathers
quarterly to discuss major research, business, and policy developments
that impact the biosciences in Arizona and explore opportunities to
advance the sector. The companies will also receive a complimentary
membership to AZBio for one year.


The selected firms must be engaged in the commercialization of
bioscience research and biotechnology and/or the sale of products in the
areas of medical devices and equipment; drugs, pharmaceuticals and
diagnostics; agricultural feedstock and chemicals; research, testing and
medical labs; or bioscience-related distribution—the industry categories
recognized together as the biosciences in Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap.


The application for the 2020 Flinn Foundation Bioscience
Entrepreneurship Program will be available later this year at www.flinn.org/entrepreneur.


The Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking
organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn to
improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations. In
addition to advancing the biosciences, the foundation supports the Flinn
Scholars Program, a merit-based college scholarship program; arts and
culture; and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and its Flinn-Brown
Academy.

Contacts

Brian Powell, Flinn Foundation Communications Manager, 602-744-6806, bpowell@flinn.org


Brad Halvorsen, Flinn Foundation Executive Vice President, 602-744-6803, bhalvorsen@flinn.org