Local event showcases Athens' emerging reputation in bio-tech

ABSTRACT

The co-hosts orchestrated the attendance of "OU scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs in the biotechnology field and university representatives who provide seed funding and technical and operational support and assistance in the licensing of technology," according to a release on the event. By assembling so many key constituents in this rapidly evolving field, participants were able to share ideas and technology developments, while offering guidance on potential investment outlets and opportunities for OU scientists who have launched companies to market and license their biotechnology research and developments.

"We've entered an exciting time in the state of Ohio and the Athens/southeast Ohio region where a number of key elements exist to get high-technology businesses off the ground," said Mary Strother, vice president of investor relations for Athenian Venture Partners. "We have the skill, knowledge and science coming out of Ohio University, as well as technical and operational support services from the Voinovich school."

Strother noted that "We are in an exciting time when all the 'pieces and parts' are finally present: Ohio University actually has a rich history of successful bio-tech start-ups, but they had to go outside the region for support. Today, not only is the technology present - the capital is present, and the support from experienced entrepreneurs who have 'done it before' is present."



FULL TEXT

Athens is emerging as a hot spot for biotechnology development and innovation, as evidenced by last Thursday's Bio-Enterprise Showcase, an event featuring key players in this cutting-edge field who are dedicated to promoting further growth and early-stage and venture-capital investment in budding biotechnology companies in this area.

Local companies Athenian Venture Partners and Diagnostic Hybrids co-hosted the event at the Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs on the Ridges primarily to spotlight the Edison Biotechnology Institute of Ohio University and to highlight the many partnership and investment opportunities in the biotechnology field in Athens.

The showcase concluded at Edison's Konneker Research Labs, also at the Ridges.

Biotechnology concerns "the manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products (as pest-resistant crops, new bacteria strains, or novel pharmaceuticals)," according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

The Athens area has a rich history in this field, which continues growing as more novel developments are made and investment options emerge.

The co-hosts orchestrated the attendance of "OU scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs in the biotechnology field and university representatives who provide seed funding and technical and operational support and assistance in the licensing of technology," according to a release on the event. By assembling so many key constituents in this rapidly evolving field, participants were able to share ideas and technology developments, while offering guidance on potential investment outlets and opportunities for OU scientists who have launched companies to market and license their biotechnology research and developments.

"We've entered an exciting time in the state of Ohio and the Athens/southeast Ohio region where a number of key elements exist to get high-technology businesses off the ground," said Mary Strother, vice president of investor relations for Athenian Venture Partners. "We have the skill, knowledge and science coming out of Ohio University, as well as technical and operational support services from the Voinovich school."

She also cited "significant economic development grant funding from the state of Ohio for supporting new businesses," in addition to several sources of additional capital from private investment firms.

The showcase, Strother explained, was intended to promote connectivity between various entities that promote life-sciences technology and economic development, "and to strengthen the bond between these factions to help them coordinate efforts and to give them the best possible chance for Ohio University sciences to be commercialized into real-world solutions that translate into new businesses and new jobs for Athens."

She cited the showcase's co-host, Diagnostic Hybrids, as a good example of providing real-world solutions to real-world problems, "while doing it locally and keeping it local."

Athenian Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in and manages early-stage, high-growth potential companies with technology that operate in two niche industries - life sciences and information technology - in which Athenian's five partners have a high level of technical and professional expertise, explained Strother.

Co-host Diagnostic Hybrids has a long history of supporting economic development and biotechnology innovation in Athens since its inception more than 20 years ago.

According to the company's Web site, "Diagnostic Hybrids innovates, develops, manufactures and markets cellular and molecular diagnostic kits for various applications in detecting a wide range of respiratory diseases, herpes infections, thyroid function, and other high value markers of disease."

Present at the showcase were leading parties from both co-hosting companies, included Daniel Kosoy, a partner with Athenian Venture Partners, and David Scholl, president and CEO of Diagnostic Hybrids. They shared their success stories and offered suggestions and support to OU scientists who have launched their own biotechnology companies based on their pertinent research and novel technology developments.

Edison Biotechnology Institute, a focal point of last week's event, is a research institute of OU that "fosters basic discovery research, the development of new technology, and the transfer of that technology to the private sector to create companies, jobs and investment in Ohio," according to the institute's Web site. Their investigations focus on finding new ways to diagnose and treat illness through research programs in growth disorders, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, aging, infectious diseases and cancer.

David Wright, director of the institute, has been involved in the generation, protection and commercialization of university faculty technologies for the past 15 years; he joined Kosoy and Scholl on the guest panel of experts to share his experiences and expertise in the biotechnology field.

Also featured on the guest panel at the Bio-Enterprise Showcase was Kevin Aspegren, entrepreneur in residence and director of the Voinovich School's Appalachian Regional Entrepreneurship Group, and Mark Butterworth, principal of Innovation Forward, a venture-capital management and consulting firm, and manager of the TechGrowth Fund, a $3 million pre-seed fund targeted at pre-product and pre-revenue technology-based companies in southeast Ohio.

The guest panel defined the market for scientists and entrepreneurs and discussed what support and investment avenues are available in this region.

Following an opening welcome by OU President Roderick McDavis and introductions by Karl Elderkin, managing partner of Athenian Venture Partners, the panel members offered presentations to the key constituents, scientists and entrepreneurs in attendance. Next to take center stage were three OU scientists representing young companies that are candidates for support from such sources as the TechGrowth Fund.

John Kopchick represented DiAthegen, an Athens-based company investigating related genes and proteins in growth, obesity, diabetes and aging (GODA), with the goal of generating innovative therapeutics to halt the progression of organ damage and complications in the GODA area.

Xiao Chen, another OU scientist, represented MetaCor, a company with a research focus on diabetes and the relationship between trends of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Len Kohn, a representative of Interthyr, presented research information from his company on the development of a compound that will slow the progression of pancreatic cancer.

These leading biotechnology scientists presented their research and development progress in order to receive feedback on ways to generate additional funding and venture capital to assist in propelling their products into the complex and competitive pharmaceutical market.

According to Strother, Athenian Venture Partners is interested in investing time and energy to help these companies grow and mature to a stage where they are a good fit for venture-capital investment to support their continued growth.

According to Kopchick the Bio-Enterprise Showcase's mission was "to alert people on campus and the various venture groups, as well as the people at the state level, that biotechnology is well and progressing at OU and in Athens, Ohio."

As a leading innovator and researcher in the field, he praised Athenian Venture Partners and Diagnostic Hybrids for taking "the bull by the horn to organize this meeting.

"It's a feat organizing this event, and attracting people all the way from California and London to sit there all afternoon and evening and talk," he added.

Strother noted that "We are in an exciting time when all the 'pieces and parts' are finally present: Ohio University actually has a rich history of successful bio-tech start-ups, but they had to go outside the region for support. Today, not only is the technology present - the capital is present, and the support from experienced entrepreneurs who have 'done it before' is present."