Qrono

Qrono reformulates FDA approved drugs and creates long-acting injectable (LAI) medications with improved clinical and economic benefits. Our product pipeline focuses on therapeutic areas where LAIs offer high therapeutic and economic value, such as high non-adherence, or solving specific drug delivery challenges.

Using our computational drug delivery software, we can design LAIs much faster than the legacy practice and with reduced regulatory and technical risk. We further reduce risk since we are starting with FDA approved drugs that have known safety, known efficacy, and known market success. We use the accelerated FDA 505(b)(2) regulatory process that enables regulatory approvals 3X as fast at 1/3 the cost of new drug applications.

Qrono is a pioneer in applying our proprietary computational drug delivery technology, called QronoMetrics™, to develop these long-acting drug formulations significantly faster than current practice. We can achieve the optimal design up to 95% faster than current best practice while significantly reducing regulatory and technical risk.

Qrono offers significant value to our customers and the medical community:

  • Improved adherence rates, better outcomes, and reduced side effects for patients
  • Faster time-to-market (worth up to many $100 MM’s in patent protected revenue)
  • Reduced formulation development costs ($500K – $1MM)
  • Reduced active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) costs (up to 60% less API)
  • Reduced regulatory risk
  • Reduced manufacturing scale-up risk
  • Significantly reduced risk of formulation performance problems or failure.

For the most recent news about Qrono please visit www.qrono.com.

Virtech, Bio, LLC

VirTech Bio is a spin-off company from the Machine Perfusion Lab with the McGowan institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. The company develops innovative therapies for organ preservation, ex-vivo organ management and bioengineered organs using machine perfusion with a new oxygen carrier solution. Virtech Bio will sponsor the 1st US clinical trial for this revolutionary technology in organ preservation.

The Strategic Opportunity

  • Global market for transplantation products will reach $80 B in 2015
  • IP will guarantee 20 years of exclusive rights in the US market
  • Initial estimates for the US market for Machine Perfusion and solution is $150 MM/yr

Key Milestones

  • Proof of concept pre-clinical large animal experiments successfully completed and published in peer review journals
  • Working with investigational device exemption (IDE) with the FDA
  • Able to expand this technology for additional organs (e.g. kidneys, pancreas, lungs and intestines)
  • Feasibility clinical trial to be performed at UPMC, Pittsburgh

Platform Expectations

  • Increase organ utilization
  • Decrease organ discard rate
  • Enhance transplant outcomes (survival, length of stay and quality of life)
  • Create new therapeutic options for patients ineligible for standard transplants
  • Develop new applications in the fields of Biomarkers and Organogenesis

For the most recent news about Virtech Bio LLC please visit  www.virtechbio.com.

NanoVision Diagnostics

The NanoVision Diagnostics system assesses molecular changes in nuclear DNA from a standard biopsy slide. The genetic and epigenetic changes that induce cancer also change chromatin structure. NanoVision Diagnostics has developed a novel method of measuring changes in chromatin structure.  Chromatin structural changes have been shown to correlate with cancer in multiple clinical studies.

The NanoVision Diagnostics system is 1000 times more sensitive than an optical microscope, allowing it to measure molecular scale changes in DNA structure. Multiple clinical studies demonstrate these changes correlate with cancer in multiple organ systems. The NanoVision Diagnostics system generates an objective graphical output and numerical score to guide physicians in cancer treatment decisions.

UNIQUE ADVANTAGES

Since patients with positive optical biomarkers are more likely to progress to cancer, the NanoVision Diagnostics system:

Saves Lives and Saves Money by:

  • Detecting cancer earlier and more accurately – even in areas remote from the biopsy site
  • Promoting early treatment and reducing unnecessary procedures
  • Risk stratification – for both therapy and diagnostic planning – Identifies high-risk patients who require more aggressive intervention. Reduces utilization of high cost and risky interventions on low-risk patients.

Helps Prevent Future Cancers by:

  • Predicting which precancerous lesions will lead to cancer (conventional pathology detects cancer that has developed)
  • Guides utilization of chemo-preventive therapies for highest risk patients

CLINICAL VALIDATION

The NanoVision Diagnostics system has been validated in 11 clinical studies involving over 1000 patients, in multiple digestive and gynecological cancers – all demonstrated high accuracy. Click here for more information.

INVENTOR

Yang Liu PhD, Inventor – Dr. Liu is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on novel optical technologies for cancer diagnosis, surveillance and prognosis. Dr. Liu has 8 US/International patents, 50 peer-reviewed journal publications and over 50 conference presentations. Learn more about Dr. Liu.

For the most recent news about NanoVision Diagnostics please visit www.nanovisiondiagnostics.com