Contact: Tracy Krughoff  202-312-9274

http://convention.bio.org                                                                    

Be the Buzz of BIO Winners Announced

Contest Allows Innovative Companies to Compete for Visibility at 2009 BIO International Convention

Washington, D.C. [April 21, 2009] – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has announced the four winners of the Be the Buzz of BIO contest – a competition which companies entered in order to win free publicity for their company at the 2009 BIO International Convention by submitting an original video describing why their company and innovation should be the buzz of BIO.  The global event for biotechnology will take place May 18-21, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. 

The six finalists in the competition included companies AMRI, Archimedes, Biobide S.L., Impact Systems, Koronis Pharmaceuticals, and Zenda Technologies,.   All six finalists’ videos were posted for voting by the general public, which ended on Friday, April 17.  Voters could vote once for companies they viewed as most innovative technology, best quality of presentation, and strength of ideas.

From this list of finalists, the following winners were chosen from across the globe and the biotechnology industry:

• Biobide S.L., a company based out of Spain that focuses on automated High Throughput Screening (HTS) of potential new drugs.  Biobide has developed a fully automated platform to reproduce the manual process of screening in a 96-well plate format ‘in vivo’ with zebrafish embryos.  View their submission.

“BIOBIDE is very happy to have been selected as one of the winners in the first annual Buzz of BIO contest. We really appreciate being selected as one of the companies considered to have the most impact in the world of biotechnology. And more even thinking on the meaning of this award: having the most Innovative Technology, the High Throughput Screening services offered based on the zebrafish animal model, for toxicity and efficacy assays, “ said Arantza Muriana, R+D Management Director, BIOBIDE S.L.

• Impact Systems, a service provider based out of Delaware, utilizes a solution called Compliance in a Box (CiB).  CiB dramatically simplifies the task of implementing a new enterprise content management system.  View their submission.

“Impact Systems is thrilled to have been selected as a “Be the Buzz of BIO” winner and to have the opportunity to attend and present at the 2009 BIO International Convention. We commend BIO for creating such an innovative contest to generate excitement for the Community and the Convention,” said Mangesh Honwad, CEO, Impact Systems. 

• Koronis Pharmaceuticals, also a BIO Member company, is a biotechnology company based out of Washington state, developing anti-viral therapeutics based on a novel mechanism, Viral Decay Acceleration (VDA). The Company’s lead product candidate is KP-1461 for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).  View their submission.

 “We are delighted by Bio’s recognition of Koronis’ innovative approach for the treatment of HIV based on  Viral Decay AccelerationTM, a novel mechanism of action that was recently revalidated in a third serial passage study,” said Donald Elmer, interim Chief Executive Officer of Koronis Pharmaceuticals.  “Koronis plans to resume clinical trials following the completion of on-going formulation work. We would like to thank BIO for this opportunity and look forward to providing an update at the BIO annual meeting.”

• Zenda Technologies, based out of Georgia, has developed a new technology that for the first time allows primary care physicians to quickly, easily, and objectively add a cognitive health assessment to your annual physical.  View their submission.

Lawrence Catchpole, CEO of Zenda Technolgies said “We are very appreciative of the recognition afforded in being a Buzz of BIO winner and feel that this is a great validation of our innovation in Cogntive Health Assessment technology. Zenda looks forward to bringing our product to market to fill this gap in overall preventative care, to the benefit of patients around the world.”

As winners of the contest, the companies will receive complimentary registrations to attend Convention and the opportunity to present their company in the BIO Business Forum in front of industry leaders — showcasing the winners to potential partners. The contest winners join the list of more than 150 research and development companies presenting at BIO.  To view a full list of presenting companies, please visit http://convention.bio.org/templates/default_page_template_8.aspx?id=430.

“We are thrilled with the over-all quality of the submissions we received for this campaign and would like to congratulate the winners,” said Robbi Lycett, vice president of Conventions & Conferences at BIO. “This is a great opportunity for developing companies to meet up with potential investors at our Business Forum and start making the connections their businesses need to continue thriving.”

“We are especially thrilled for Koronis Pharmaceuticals, a BIO member taking advantage of our emerging company member benefits such as networking opportunities, access to members’ only committees, and significant discounts on BIO conferences“ said Amy Finan, vice president, Corporate Development and Marketing at BIO.

The Be the Buzz of BIO contest is part of the new BIO Community website, designed to provide free resources to biotechnology leaders and professionals in order to help them overcome the challenges currently facing the biotech industry.

The BIO Community allows individuals to utilize a “create your own virtual BIO badge” application, access free podcasts, articles, connections to colleagues via myBIO, the BIO International Convention event planner, access to the BIO Convention Twitter channel and the ability to place their community badge on their own LinkedIn, Facebook or social media tools.

To take advantage of the free resources offered by BIO, please visit the new BIO Community at http://community.convention.bio.org/.

BIO tapped the resources of a digital marketing firm, www.r2integrated.com for the community tools development.

The BIO International Convention helps to support BIO programs and initiatives. BIO works throughout the year to create a policy environment that enables the industry to continue to fulfill its vision of bettering the world through biotechnology innovation. For more information on the global event for biotechnology, including program and housing information, please visit http://convention.bio.org.  

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

Advanced Technology Development Center

Zenda is the latest company to emerge from Georgia Tech’s VentureLab and join ATDC.  Zenda’s technology is based on over 6 years of research at Georgia Tech and Emory, and has been validated by three major clinical studies.

By winning the competition, Zenda secured a slot among twenty of the top emerging growth companies to present to over 500 venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and business executives which attended the event held yesterday.  David Hartnett, vice president at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce indicated that more than 100 venture capitalists from 20 states attended. “This is the largest venture forum in Georgia history,” he said. 

About Zenda Technologies

Zenda Technologies – www.zendatech.com – The purpose of Zenda Technologies is to deliver a novel, portable, immersive platform for rapid neuropsychological testing (ImTECH).  Our first test on the platform (DETECT) will screen for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – symptomatic of early Alzheimer’s disease.

Georgia Tech’s $400 million-plus annual research budget generates more than 300 invention disclosures each year.

VentureLab Fellows select particular discoveries that show promise as the basis for fast-growth startup companies. Then they provide those startups with support that includes help in securing seed funding, office/lab space and business and legal guidance. “Our VentureLab Fellows have hundreds of years of entrepreneurial experience among them,” said Stephen Fleming, director of Georgia Tech’s Commercialization Services, VentureLab’s parent organization. “By matching Georgia Tech researchers with proven entrepreneurs, we’re making a direct connection to the marketplace and building teams that can launch successful technology companies.”

“I’m extremely honored to have the opportunity to work with VentureLab,” said Lawrence Catchpole, CEO of Zenda Technologies a VentureLab Company. “I have deep passion for nurturing emerging technology, building successful companies around it, and for the Georgia Tech community.”Catchpole has more than 30 years of experience as a leader and entrepreneur in the technology industry. As chief strategy officer and founder of M1 Global, Catchpole was responsible for setting strategic business direction and technology vision, while raising $15 million and using innovative and successful development techniques. He was also founder and CTO of WebTone, which grew into a multi-channel financial services market company with 230 employees and $38 million in sales before being acquired by Fidelity National in 2003. He has also held senior positions at S1 Technologies and Dun & Bradstreet Software (formerly MSA). He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied biology with a minor in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.

“The VentureLab Fellow program is a two-way street,” added Fleming, who is also Georgia Tech’s chief commercialization officer. “Although the Fellows are volunteers, they may encounter a company that’s a particularly good fit and go on to assume a leadership position.” This is the case with Catchpole and his position with Zenda Technologies. Zenda is the product of a new neuropsychological testing inventions, co-created by researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

About VentureLab: Georgia Tech VentureLab (http://innovate.gatech.edu) provides comprehensive assistance to Georgia Tech faculty, research staff and graduate students who want to form startup companies to commercialize the technology innovations they have developed.

As a one-stop center for technology commercialization, VentureLab provides a clear pathway from laboratory innovation to the commercial market. VentureLab specialists help transform innovations into early-stage companies by assisting in business plan development, connecting the innovators with experienced entrepreneurs, locating sources of early-stage financing, and preparing the new companies for the business world. Graduates of the VentureLab program may apply for admission to the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), which is also part of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute.

About Zenda TechnologiesZenda Technologies – www.zendatech.com – The purpose of Zenda Technologies is to deliver a novel, portable, immersive platform for rapid neuropsychological testing (ImTECH™). Our first test on the platform (DETECT) will screen for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – symptomatic of early Alzheimer’s disease.

Atlanta, Georgia, March 6th -Zenda Technologies, provider of neuropschological assessments solutions (http://www.zendatech.com), today announced that CEO Lawrence Catchpole and COO Mitch Gilstrap will be presenting at the Southeast Medical Device Association (SEMDA) 2008 Investor’s Conference (http://www.semd.org/investorconference/). The conference will be held on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta.

Zenda Technologies was selected from a pool of over 60 companies that applied to present. Conference attendees will include a select group of angel and venture capitalists from around the southeast focused on emerging medical device and life science companies.

About Zenda Technologies – www.zendatech.com – The purpose of Zenda Technologies is to deliver a novel, portable, immersive platform for rapid neuropsychological testing (ImTECH™). Our first test on the platform (DETECT) will screen for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – symptomatic of early Alzheimer’s disease.

Jennifer Johnson
Emory University, Woodruff Health Sciences Center
404-727-5696 office, 404-227-3683 cell
jennifer.johnson@emory.edu

Portable Device Provides Quick, Inexpensive Detection of Early Alzheimer’s

ATLANTA (January 16, 2008) — The latest medications can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease but none are able to reverse its devastating effects. This limitation often makes early detection the key to Alzheimer’s patients maintaining a good quality of life for as long as possible.

Now, a new device developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University may allow patients to take a brief, inexpensive test that could be administered as part of a routine yearly checkup at a doctor’s office to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) — often the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s. The device is expected to be commercialized later this year.

Current assessment tests capable of detecting early Alzheimer’s typically are taken with a pen and paper or at a computer terminal and last about an hour and a half. They must be given by a trained technician in a quiet environment, because any distractions can influence the patient’s score and reduce the test’s effectiveness. Because of their length and expense, the tests are not used as regular screening tools and typically are given only after there is obvious cognitive impairment such as forgetfulness or unsafe behavior.

“Families usually wait until their mom or dad does something somewhat dangerous, like forgetting to take their medications or getting lost, before bringing them in for testing. At that point, the patient has already lost a significant portion of their cognitive function,” said David Wright, MD, who helped develop the device. Wright is assistant professor of emergency medicine in Emory University School of Medicine and co-director of the Emory Emergency Medicine Research Center. “With this device, we might be able to pick up impairment well before those serious symptoms occur and start patients on medications that could delay those symptoms.”

The Georgia Tech and Emory device, called DETECT, gives individuals a roughly ten-minute test designed to gauge reaction time and memory — functions that, when impaired, are associated with the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The test is a specially modified, shortened version of the traditional pen and paper test and could be given repeatedly by doctors to evaluate any changes in cognitive functions.

“We really envision this to be part of the normal preventative care a patient receives from a general practitioner,” said Michelle LaPlaca, Ph.D., one of the creators of the device and an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. “It would be part of a regular preventative medicine exam much like a PSA test or EKG (Electrocardiogram), serving as a cognitive impairment vital sign of sorts.”

The portable test runs patients through a battery of visual and auditory stimuli such as pictures and words that assess cognitive abilities relative to age, gauging reaction time and memory capabilities. Its software can track cognitive capabilities — and decline — year to year during annual appointments. And because the device blocks outside sound and light from the patient’s environment, it can be administered in virtually any setting, providing more consistent results.

Preliminary analysis of the first 100 patients of a 400 person clinical study being conducted at Emory’s Wesley Woods Center has shown that the 10 minute DETECT test has similar accuracy as the 90 minute ‘Gold Standard’ pen and paper test.

With millions of baby boomers easing into late adulthood, the number of patients with Alzheimer’s is expected to skyrocket over the next few decades. More than 24 million people worldwide are currently thought to have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2040, an estimated 81 million people worldwide are expected to develop the disease.

To give these millions of potential Alzheimer’s sufferers a chance to slow the disease’s advance before serious symptoms set in, doctors need an inexpensive and easy-to- administer test to detect and track the cognitive decline associated with the early stages of the disease.

The DETECT device is designed to be administered while a patient is still healthy, tracking any abnormal decreases in the patient’s cognitive performance over time. If a patient’s performance declines outside the normal range, the patient would then undergo additional testing and care from a neurologist, neuropsychologist or other specialist.

The DETECT system includes an LCD display in a visor with an onboard dedicated computer, noise reduction headphones and an input device (controller). The display projects the visual aspect of the test, the headphones provide the verbal instructions and the controller records the wearer’s response.

DETECT’s creators have formed a company, called Zenda Technologies (www.zendatech.com), to commercialize the device for MCI, as well as other conditions. Georgia Tech and Emory researchers are exploring other types of cognitive impairment such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) that could be picked up by DETECT. A version of the system designed to detect mild concussions on the sidelines of a football game, during other high-impact sports or on a battlefield, is still being tested.

The research was funded with a grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and support from the Georgia Research Alliance through Georgia Tech’s VentureLab.

Dr. Wright and Dr. LaPlaca have an equity interest in Zenda Technologies. In addition, Dr. Wright and Dr. LaPlaca are inventors on a patent application covering the DETECT technology, and may receive royalties or fees through the license agreement. Emory, Georgia Tech, Dr. Wright, and Dr. LaPlaca may benefit financially if Zenda Technologies is successful in marketing the DETECT device. Dr. Wright’s relationship with Zenda Technologies has been reviewed and approved by Emory in accordance with its policies on conflicts of interest.

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