Advanced Biological Technologies

Stheno develops optical detection systems for research & development and quality control monitoring for the pharmaceutical industry.

IIT Research Institute (IITRI) is a contract research organization (CRO) that aims to provide non-clinical toxicology and other drug development services to government and industry. IITRI offers particular expertise in oncologics drug development, inhalation toxicology and technology, carcinogenesis and cancer prevention, and biodefense. IITRI's Drug Discovery Division is a research-based group whose focus is the design and synthesis of new small molecule therapeutics for cancer and infectious disease.

Sword Bio develops a medical data research platform designed to determine and monitor the value of biological markers. The platform uses a technology involving resonance Raman to aid in the performance of the assays offering medical research, drug discovery, and the provision of healthcare products and services. It was formerly known as Sword Diagnostics. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Echelon Biosciences is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Near Infrared Substrates for Imaging Autotaxin Activity In Vivo. Their project aims to synthesize ATXRed, an in vivo imaging agent that is specifically activated by the enzymatic activity of autotaxin. Autotaxin is an extracellular enzyme that generates the phospholipid growth factor lysophophatidic acid (LPA). LPA is involved in a variety of biological functions, such as angiogenesis, wound healing, brain development, immunological competence and the regulation of blood pressure. Both LPA and autotaxin have also been implicated in numerous diseases, especially metastatic cancer. Autotaxin was identified as one of the 40 most induced genes in aggressive breast cancer. The broader impacts of this research are the discovery and commercialization of tools that easily highlight specific biological pathways in living organisms. ATXRed will be welcomed by basic researchers in many fields associated with autotaxin and LPA. However, the utility extends beyond the basic research sphere. ATXRed smart probes could also aid pharmaceutical researchers searching for pharmacological inhibitors of autotaxin and LPA receptor agonists and antagonists. ATXRed would be a powerful tool in many rodent models of human cancer. In vivo autotaxin imaging probes could also aid in the clinic by helping to identify and monitor disease progression and treatment. Ultimately, ATXRed could help guide surgical resection of tumorstumors previously identified by the smart probe to have elevated autotaxin activity. In total, ATXRed probes have the potential to impact basic research, drug discovery and the clinic as a prime example of molecular medicine applied from bench to bedside.

Firebird Biomolecular Sciences, Inc. supplies nucleic acid components, libraries, polymerases and software to support human diagnostics, synthetic biology and human therapy. A partner with the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME), Firebird aims to provide a scientific, research-based environment to help create a more integrated science for the current century and to transfer technologies from basic research into products and processes to meet commercial and medical needs.

National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) is a not-for-profit organization. It provides human organs and tissue from normal and diseased donors to support the advancement of biomedical research. Its partnership with nationwide organ and tissue donation programs enables NDRI to obtain biospecimens from all body systems. NDRI utilizes a prospective procurement model and project-specific collection protocols to provide biospecimens. It was founded in 1980 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.