1

TeVido BioDevices, a startup in Austin, recreates bodyparts with

3-D printers using human cells.

iTraumaCare in San Antonio has created a life-saving clamp that

quickly and easily prevents blood loss.

WiseWear, based in both San Antonio and Austin, has created a

patch-like fi tness device to track vital signs and more while working out.

Those are just a few of the biotech startups you will read about in

this fi rst annual issue of Silicon Hills News focused on the life sciences

industry in Central Texas. This is Silicon Hills News’ second print

magazine. The fi rst, a fi eld guide to Silicon Hills, debuted at South

by Southwest Interactive in March and our Kickstarter backers made

it possible. This issue is possible thanks to our advertisers: BioMed

SA, the Texas State University Small Business Development Center,

bankSNB, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio,

the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Texans for Economic

Progress, the World Stem Cell Summit, Geekdom and the University of

Texas at San Antonio. Our next issue is on technology startups and will

be published in October.

And thank you to the writers for this issue: Susan Lahey, Jonathan

Gutierrez. Tim Green and Leslie Anne Jones.

It’s an amazing time to be in the healthcare and biosciences industry

with all the innovation going on in treatments, drug development,

medical devices and more.

In Austin, the life sciences industry generates more than $1 billion

in economic activity, according to a recent report from the Austin

Technology Council. Its strengths are in pharmaceutical manufacturing,

research and development in physical, engineering and life sciences,

research and development in biotechnology, surgical appliance and

supplies manufacturing and biological product manufacturing.

The industry is expected to grow with the new Dell Medical School

at the University of Texas at Austin. The building is under construction

now, and the school is expected to admit its fi rst class in 2016.

A university-backed health science center can serve as a catalyst for

a thriving healthcare and biotechnology industry in a city.

Look no further than San Antonio to see the impact of the University

of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on the city. The Health

Science Center serves as one of the cornerstones and catalysts of San

Antonio’s bustling biosciences and healthcare industry, which employs

more than one in every six jobs in San Antonio and has an overall

economic impact of more than $29 billion, according to BioMed SA.

The Health Science Center has more than 3,000 students enrolled in

fi ve schools, which award 69 health-related degree specialties and pre-

and post-baccalaureate certifi cation programs.

Research organizations, private sector companies and the U.S.

military drive the bioscience industry growth in San Antonio, according

to BioMed SA. In addition to the Health Science Center, other major

contributors to San Antonio’s industry include the University of Texas

at San Antonio, InCube Labs Texas, the Texas Biomedical Research

Institute, the Texas Research Park, Barshop Institute for Longevity

and Aging Studies, Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Southwest

Research Institute, San Antonio Army Medical Center, South Texas

Accelerated Research Therapeutics and the National Trauma Institute.

Central Texas is a powerful region. When both communities

collaborate and cooperate the region grows

stronger and even more powerful. Cities no

longer compete against each other. Austin,

San Antonio and San Marcos are all thriving.

The region competes globally for the best

talent, resources, companies and institutions.

And it has become a global hotspot for

innovation in the life sciences industry

with a cluster of universities, research and

development institutions, medical technology

startups and established companies.

The Central Texas Life Sciences Industry is Booming

2

1 – Introduction to Central Texas’ Booming Life Sciences Industry

2 – Index

3 & 4 – TeVido Biodevices

5 – WiseWear

6 & 7 – Leto Solutions

8 – 7 Facts about San Antonio’s Life Sciences Industry

9 & 10 – Spot on Sciences

12 – 7 Facts about Austin’s Life Sciences Industry

14 & 15 – Interview with Ann Stevens, President of BioMed SA

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18 – InCube Labs

19 & 20 – Interview with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio President Dr. William L. Henrich

21 & 22 – Interview with Dell Medical School Dean Dr. Clay Johnston

23 – Geekdom

24 – ENTVantage

25 & 26 – Texas Biomedical Research Center

27 – iTraumaCare

3

“Our fi rst product will be the nipple,”

says Laura Bosworth. And the CEO and

co-founder of TeVido BioDevices isn’t

talking about a silicon attachment for a

baby bottle, her startup aims to 3-D print

human tissue.

It sounds like the stuff of science

fi ction, but making it a reality may not be

far off: Bosworth estimated that if TeVido

secured the necessary funding ($7-8

million), the company could be ready for

clinical trials in as little as two years.

Bosworth started TeVido with Dr. Thomas Boland, who is one

of the foremost researchers of live-cell tissue printing. Boland is

the inventor of a patent for inkjet tissue printing. He fi rst tried to

modify an inkjet printer to print with human cells in 2000, when

he was working at Clemson University. He is now director of

biomedical engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Bosworth retired in 2008 after spending a decade each

at Dell and IBM. An engineer by training, Bosworth worked

in manufacturing engineering, corporate strategy, product

development and marketing over the course of her career.

Finding that the leisure life was not for her, Bosworth began

working with startups in 2009 at the suggestion of one of her old

mentors from Dell.

The dean of engineering at UTEP called on her to advise their

commercialization offi ce.Volunteering at the university is how

Bosworth met Boland and learned about his work. She was

immediately enthralled.

Printing the Human BodyBy Leslie Anne Jones

“This is so amazing and has the potential to change certain

aspects of medicine,” she said. Bosworth volunteered to take on

the CEO role and help bring bioprinting to market.

TeVido was founded in 2011. After going through a couple

different ideas and investigating the market, they decided to

focus on nipple-areola reconstruction. Structurally, nipples are

fairly small and simple, comprised mainly of fat and skin cells.

The trick with bioprinting anything thicker than .1mm layer of

skin is that it needs a vascular structure to deliver oxygen to

the tissue. Otherwise it will die. Bosworth says their technology

is unique in that it has the capability to deliver that capillary

structure.

In 2012, TeVido brought on serial

entrepreneur Scott Collins, who has

a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering to

be chief technology offi cer. Boland

remains based at UTEP, while Collins

overseesthe company’s ongoing

research and development. From

July forward, TeVido is targeted to

move into the Texas Life Sciences

Collaboration Center in Georgetown,

though the relocation depends on securing funding. Collins says

one of his goals is to someday bioprint a human heart.But it’s

not only the relative simplicity of nipples that make them a good

starting point, but also, there’s a clear need for better solutions in

post-cancer breast reconstruction.

“The plastic surgeons we’ve talked to see the need for this,”

Collins said.

(Photos courtesy of UTEP News Service – by Aurelio Hernandez)

4

Presently, there are several imperfect options for

approximating a nipple in reconstruction surgery. A common

one is to create the protrusion by sewing the skin together and

tattooing it for color, but this solution very often does not last.

Bosworth recounted interviewing one woman who’d had 15

surgeries over seven years. “They don’t look great,” the woman

told her, and as for the nipples, “flattened and faded.” There is

a substantial amount of research about the trauma and distress

of losing nipples to cancer.For many women, reconstructed

nipples are an important part of the psychological healing

process.

Presently, funding is a major challenge. TeVido has received

less than $1 million to date, mostly through government grants,

and Bosworth has heard a lot of “you’re too early” and “it’s too

risky.” “People don’t want to fund you until you’re in human

tests,” she said, but there is a lot of expensive work to be done

before reaching that stage. In the best-case scenario, their

product could be on the market in five years, but it may take

much longer. TeVido applied for a $750,000 National Science

Foundation grant in January. If they get it, they’ll have the

opportunity to apply for further funding.

One of the reasons 3-D printing human tissues makes sense

is that the source cells will come from the patient, and the

printing process will be tailored to her precise dimensions. How

TeVido’s printing will likely work is the plastic surgeon who is

performing breast reconstruction will take a sample of skin and

fat from the patient and send it to TeVido’s labs. The doctor

will coordinate his surgery, scheduling with TeVido so that the

nipple is printed and delivered at the right time. Since TeVido

will be using the patient’s own cells, they are optimistic about

the longevity of their product, especially in comparison to the

nipple reconstructions that are on the market now.

Perhaps in a couple decades, printers like TeVido’s will

be producing full, complex human organs and save some

people from lingering on a lengthy list awaiting organ donors.

Bioprinting solutions may one day supersede mechanical ones

because bioprinted human tissues will grow with the patient,

unlike synthetic solutions, which sometimes need to be

replaced as the patient’s body grows and changes.

If TeVido is successful, it could clear a path for other 3-D

printed, human-tissue products.

“Sometimes people say, ‘why did you pick something so

hard?’” Bosworth says. “I tell them, ‘it picked me.’”

Dr. Thomas Boland with skin in dish

Inkjet Printer

5

W I S E W E A R Creates a Tiny Platform to Analyze Your Body’s Data

Wearable companies all over the world are racing to create

devices that tell you what’s going on in your body. They’re

on sports bras, wristwatches, necklaces and even cocktail

rings. They can be stuck on wounded areas to measure pain. And

then there’s WiseWear, whose tiny platform promises to “See Inside”

the body and “collect contextually aware data that is automated and

derived from multiple sources.” WiseWear’s tiny sensor platform

monitors heart rate, movement—including what your exercise regime

is producing--and dehydration, and its Bluetooth device lets it

communicate with other devices to monitor health.

“Sensor technology empowers individuals to live a happy, healthy

and productive life,” said CEO and Founder Jerry Wilmink. “This lets

you really see everything that happens in the body. The fi rst generation

of wearables only measured one or two things and in many cases

it was highly inaccurate. This is a platform and there are several use

cases ranging from a patch to a watch version…. It’s highly accurate

monitoring captures and gives you a really good pulse on what’s

happening inside your body.”

WiseWear plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign in August for

pre-sales of its fi rst wearable device, called “Evolve,” according to a

company press release. The device “adheres directly to the user’s

chest with ultrathin, ultra soft, transfer-printed micro-circuitry and

sensors.” The device collects biometric data that is then transmitted

wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet for data analysis.

Wilmink’s Background

Wilmink got his bachelor’s and master’s in biochemical engineering

at Vanderbilt then, he said “Snuck into the Ph.D. program.” When he

graduated, he was a research associate with the National Academy

of Sciences and then moved to the Department of Defense where he

founded the fi rst Terahertz bioeffects research laboratory where he

began to develop WiseWear. “I hand picked the talent and grew it from

nothing to a pretty big laboratory. We were connecting the dots, being

creative, fi nding the talent, building a rock star team with tremendous

potential.” For the fi rst time, he said, he wasn’t competing on pure IQ

but on creativity. That became his prime criteria for teammates.

Wilmink also received his Executive MBA from the McCombs School

of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, class of 2014.

Creating WiseWear

His interest in biotechnology, Wilmink said, came from growing up

with his grandparents. Once his grandfather—a Sicilian with a black

Cadillac who smoked cigars and listened to Sinatra—fell. He seemed

fi ne on Thanksgiving and ended up dying the day after Christmas. The

fall, it turns out, was because of a change in his grandfather’s gait,

which is an indication of dehydration.

“If we had noticed he had changes in his gait, we could have

prevented him from falling,” Wilmink said. “Our initial product was a

line sensor system to pick up when a senior was dehydrated and his

gait was changing. Fifty percent of seniors over the age of 65 who fall

end up passing away in the next six months. And that’s not connected

to the severity of the fall.”

Keeping track of what’s going on inside the body before it manifests

in a negative way is a big step toward prevention, according to

WiseWear advisor, Dr. David KatzHead of Yale Health & Preventative

Medicine.

“WiseWear is designed to … provide personalized, real-time

feedback about an individual’s daily activities fully integrated with

accurate heart rate, respiration, hydration, and by providing direction,

motivation, and even a kind of oversight and accountability. This kind

of feedback is known to encourage healthy behaviors- and now you

can get it from something that’s practically a part of you.”

“This allows a user to take a proactive kind of action to treat health

and wellness rather than treat disease,” Wilmink said. And running this

company, after his long journey is “all, absolutely exhilarating.”

Founded in March of 2013, WiseWear is based in both San

Antonio and Austin. The company recently moved into Geekdom, a

coworking space and technology incubator in downtown San Antonio.

Wilmink has raised more than $1 million in seed stage funding, and

the company plans to raise a Series A round of funding next year.

Wilmink has put together a team of experts including Ph.Ds, MBAs,

C-Level executives and others. The company has also licensed

its intellectual property from the University of Texas, according to a

company release.

WiseWear plans to release its consumer products and then pursue

clinical trials and FDA approval for a line of medical products. The

company has plans for a device called WiseDoctorto accurately

record a patient’s vital signs, hydration and activity in a hospital

setting. Future products will be targeted atmonitoring babies, seniors,

diabetics and even pets.

By SUSAN LAHEY, Reporter with Silicon Hills News

6

While the South Texas heat makes most people

sweat, the heat and sweat can be particularly

unbearable and dangerous for amputees with

prosthetic limbs.

“Amputees everywhere have heat related issues,” said Kirk

Simendinger, a prosthetist with Bulow Orthotic & Prosthetic

Solutions in San Antonio.

“When skin reaches elevated temperatures and perspires,

that trapped sweat between the limb and the prosthetic device

can cause tissue to soften and break down and become

susceptible to friction damage, blisters, skin ulcers and

infections,” Simendinger said.

“There’s nothing out there on the market right now that

combats the overall temperature inside a socket environment,”

he said.

Healthcare workers often tell amputees to use antiperspirant,

talcum powder and absorbent socks to solve the problem.

But Leto Solutions, an early-stage startup spun out of the

University of Texas at San Antonio, has the high-tech solution

to solve the problem for countless amputees, said Becky

Ariana, the company’s CEO. Leto’s team of four engineers

created the Aquilonix Prosthesis Cooling System. Leto’s

lightweight thermoelectric cooling device fits into the socket of

the prosthetic limb and runs on a five-hour battery which can

be turned on or off by the wearer.

“There is a real need for this that has not been tackled until

now,” Simendinger said.

Leto Solutions created a prototype of the Aquilonix

Prosthesis Cooling System and is currently raising a $2.5

million seed stage round to take the product to market,

Ariana said. The company is also launching an IndieGoGo

crowdfunding campaign in August.

Ariana joined Leto Solutions in January of 2013 after

serving as the company’s mentor at UTSA. Ariana previously

worked at Vidacare Corp., which created and manufactured

the EZ-IO, a drill-like device to provide medical professionals

the ability to quickly access the vascular system to deliver

medicine, blood and intravenous fluids. Ariana served as Vice

President at Vidacare, with responsibility for the OnControl

Bone Marrow Biopsy System, which won the 2012 Wall

Street Journal’s Technology Innovations Award. Teleflex Inc.

bought Vidacare last year for $285 million.

“I’ve always been fortunate in being involved in products

that make a difference for patients,” Ariana said. “This is

certainly one of those products. It’s hard to believe that up

until now no one has addressed this problem for amputees.”

The initial funding will allow Leto to get through the Food

and Drug Administration clearance process for its class one

medical device and to commercialize the first product, Ariana

said. It will also help to fund the development of its second

product for above the knee amputees, she said.

By Laura Lorek, Founder of Silicon Hills NewsAll photos courtesy of Leto Solutions

Leto Solutions Team Members Gary Walters, Becky Ariana and Justin Stultz

Leto Solutions

7

Leto plans to contract for manufacturing locally with Coastal

Life Technologies, the same company that manufactured

Vidacare’s device.

Already, Leto Solutions has met with success. The startup

and its eight-member student team won the UTSA Center for

Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship 100K Student

Venture Competition in 2013. Earlier this year, ABC News ran a

story for their “Second Tour” series, which featured the company

and one of its founders.

In February, the Texas Life Science Forum honored Leto as

one of ten Rice Alliance Life Science Companies for having

the best business opportunity and promise for high-value

commercialization.

Leto solutions identified a problem in the marketplace and

came up with a solution that is needed, said Anita Leffel,

assistant director of the Center for Innovation and Technology

Entrepreneurship. Those are the best kind of startups, she said.

Gary Walters, a retired U.S. Army Sergeant, came up with

the idea for the product. Walters lost his lower right leg duringa

roadside bomb explosion in Iraq. He now wears a prosthetic

limb. But he suffered from intense heat and sweat build-up

at the point where his limb met the socket interface for his

prosthetic limb. The problem became extremely uncomfortable

when he did chores outside or played with his daughter. The pain

and discomfort from heat and sweat build up interfered with his

ability to lead an active

life. So he challenged

his team to design

a system that would

resolve the problem.

They came up with

the Aquilonix System

and Walters has tested

the product with great

results so far, Ariana

said.

“At a time when so

many advances are being made with bionic arms and other

prosthetics, it’s amazing someone has not addressed this

problem,” Ariana said.

Leto’s device is going to be very sought out, Simendinger

said.

“I think that people who wear prosthesis nowadays are

showing others they can do anything they want to do – they

can run, hike, ride a bike,” Simendinger said. “This device is

going to take that to a new level really.”

8

1 San Antonio’s healthcare and biosciences industry has an annual economic impact of more than $29 billion with key strengths in the diabetes and metabolic disease

area, trauma, wound healing and regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, neurologic disorders and cancer.

2 Dr. Julio Palmaz with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio invented the Palmaz stent. He received a patent on the device in 1988.

His stent was the world’s fi rst vascular stent. It has saved countless lives and it has changed the worldwide standard care in cardiology and peripheral vascular medicine.

3 The World Stem Cell Summit is scheduled for Dec. 3-5 at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio. The World Stem Cell Summit is the largest

interdisciplinary stem cell meeting, featuring more than 170 prominent scientists, business leaders, regulators, policy-makers, economic development offi cers and others. The event is expected to attract more than 1,500 people from 40 nations.

4 The San Antonio Military Medical Center, which opened in 2011, is the Defense Department’s largest inpatient hospital. It replaced the Brooke General

Hospital. It is also home to the Army Burn Center.

5 The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has the only privately owned Biosafety level 4 laboratory in the U.S., developing ways to combat

incurable infectious diseases and bioterrorism.

6 The Texas Research Park and Technology Foundation, created in the late ‘80s with donated land at the former Pawel Ranch, is a center for

studying cancer, aging and infectious diseases. The 1,200-acre park is home to the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, opened in 2005, operated by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The Institute of Biotechnology, opened in 1990, and is home to the Health Science Center’s department of molecular medicine.

7 “The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio ranks in the top three percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health

funding. Last year, the Health Science Center attracted research awards and sponsored program activity, such as research supported by private gifts, totaled $164.5 million,” according to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Sources: UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas Research Park and

Technology Foundation, World Stem Cell Summit and BioMed SA

9

The most remarkable thing to Dr. Jeanette Hill about the

evolution of her company, Spot on Sciences, is the myriad

ways her blood collection device, HemaSpot, is being

used. It has proven invaluable in research being done in Spain

that shows taking blood pressure medication at night rather than

in the morning can mean the difference between life and death.

It is being used to collect blood samples from Himalayan snow

leopards, to check blood among people with diabetes in the

Scottish Isles and for AIDS testing in remote parts of Africa.

While Hill’s team is focused on the device itself, making it as

practical and responsive to researcher’s needs as possible,

scientists all over the world are discoveringHemaSpot and asking

whether they can use the device in their research. “I’m almost

weekly surprised by someone wanting to use it for medical

research, different tests that are taking place all around the world,”

Hill said. “It’s surprising and exhilarating.”

Taking blood samples has always been messy and fraught with

potential for contamination. It also creates a big problem for people

like Hill’s mother who lives 20 miles from the nearest clinic.

“It’s such a burden for her to go in and get her blood tested,” Hill

said. “It’s such a hassle to drive all that way…then the labs are only

open during certain hours, and she feels lousy for days afterward. I

thought isn’t there a better way to do this?” For decades, hospitals

have used dried blood sampling to collect blood from newborns

requiring only a small stick in the heel and then preserving blood

on filter paper. Hill wondered whether she could use the same

technique for adults. But that presented problems. Even with trained

nurses taking the samples, there was a 20 percent rejection rate. It took

hours for the sample to dry—longer if the weather was rainy. And while

the paper was exposed to the air it was also exposed to numerous

contaminants.

Hill began to work on HemaSpot, a small, plastic container in which

sits a “flower” made of filter paper. The device comes with a lancet and

alcohol wipes for cleaning the finger for a blood sample. The device

only needs three drops of blood. Once the blood dries, researchers can

perform up to 50 different experiments just by taking a tiny punch from

the paper.

Hill is a rare combination of a research scientist and businesswoman.

She received her Ph.D. in bio-organic chemistry from Washington

University in St. Louis and did post-doctoral research in auto-immune

diseases at Washington Medical Center. While in grad school,

she founded Biochemical

Resources, an Internet database

source for research products

and chemicals. It lasted a

couple years and was beginning

to get traction until the World

Wide Web and companies such

as Lycos and Yahoo came along

and “did it a lot better.”

Afterward, she worked as

a director for various small

By SUSAN LAHEY, Reporter with Silicon Hills News

SPOT ON SCIENCES MAKES TAKING BLOOD SAMPLES EASY

10

companies. She loved the variety and “chaos” of working for a

small company, but when her last employer was bought by a larger

company, she decided that was the time to go out on her own.

“We started in February of 2010 with just an idea,” Hill said.

“By the end of that year, we had a prototype and some models. It

took us another year to get our manufacturer.” Every time they ran

up against a problem, like uneven blood fl ow over the fi lter paper,

which would alter test results, Hill said, they thought “We can fi x

that.”

“That’s kind of cool,” she said. “This is an opportunity for us to

make that a lot better….how can we make that very easy to use, a

simple device where you understand immediately how to use it?”

They’ve been through a dozen iterations. Her biggest

breakthrough, she said, was creating a design with eight blades

fanning out so that the blood would fl ow evenly to all parts of

the paper. With HemaSpot, each part of the paper has identical

amounts of blood.

“Whenever you get a roadblock you either go around it or pivot

and go the other direction, sometimes a couple times a day.” Hill

said. “It’s my personality do a lot of different things…I don’t like

where there’s a very narrow path and have to get permission to do

things, and sometimes many layers of permission.”

Ironically though, with any medical device, there are many layers

of permission. Currently, the device is only approved for medical

research through laboratories. Hill would love to see it available on

the shelves for people like her mother, but getting devices approved

as diagnostic tools in the U.S. is a lengthy process. It’s moving

faster in Europe.

In the meantime, HemaSpot is enabling scientifi c breakthroughs.

Dr. Michael Smolensky is one of the world’s foremost experts

in chronobiology—natural physiological rhythms such as circadian

rhythms--and always wanted to understand better how to apply

them to medical conditions. “I’ve been frustrated because I know

that certain constituents of the blood that are important inaccurate

medical diagnoses show very great predictability. They reach

peak levels or lowest levels at times when appointments can’t be

scheduled, and blood can’t be withdrawn. There was not means of

getting blood samples from patients at those particular times of the

day or night when they would be most valuable in getting accurate

determination of the value of medical interventions.”

Smolensky has been working with Dr. Ramon Herrera, Director

of Bioengineering & Chronobiology Laboratories at the University

of Vigo, Spain. They discovered that patients who take their blood

pressure medication at night are fi ve times less likely to suffer a

heart attack than those who take it in the morning. But they weren’t

able to isolate why. They knew there was a change in some levels,

such as cortisol, at different times

of day. But what else was going

on in the interactions between the

medications and changes in the

blood over a 24-hour period? With

HemaSpot, they can get patients

with hypertension to take their

blood at three-hour intervals from

home to look at all the factors.

“One of (Hill’s) strengths is that she is very open minded to criticism

about her product designs and development, unlike many other that

companies just want to get on the market and see fi nancial fl ow,”

Smolensky said. “She’s just very inquisitive and open minded, not a

typical business personality. She certainly has the business acumen,

but she’s also very science oriented.” And as a person, he said, Hill is

“just delightful.”

Most of Spot on Science’s funding has come from the Defense

Advanced Research Projects Agency Small Business Innovation

Research Program. Their phase II grant was for $1.5 million, and they

recently received an additional $750,000. Hill has been pitching—and

winning pitch competitions—since she joined Avinde accelerator for

women entrepreneurs building scalable businesses.

“I had done a lot of talks but scientifi c talks,” Hill said. “The very fi rst

time I got up to pitch I was so nervous. It wasn’t a very good talk at

all. I had just developed the company and came up with a name for it

which was Spot on Biosciences. Someone said ‘You’re going to want

to shorten that name. For one thing, it’s too long. For another, you

don’t want to bethe S.O.B. company.”

Hill did a lot of things right from the beginning, said Terry Chase

Hazell, director of emerging tech at Avinde. “She made a clean break

from her employer, protecting her IP, built a great team, she’s fully

participating in the entrepreneurship scene and most importantly she

picked a business model that could scale.”

Right now, Hill said, HemaSpot is being used in pilot studies but

they’ll need to hit a certain critical mass to scale up. A study starts

with a few patients. Once it’s determined that the device works, a

research project increases

that to 100 patients,

1,000 patients, 10,000…

once it hits 100,000,

Hill said, it will be time to

scale up. She’s building

relationships now to

determine who would be

a good investment partner

for Spot on Sciences.

But what brings her

to work every day, Hill

said, isn’t growing the

company. “We can see

that this can make a

difference in the world.

This is going to change

the way we do blood

tests. This is going to

advance clinical science.

That’s what I love to hear.”

11

Ten Years in TechMAJOR MILESTONES POINT TOWARDS A FASTER FUTURE

It’s easy to take tech for granted. We want to be instantly connected 24/7 from wherever we are to whatever we want. So in order to appreciate this massive

move to all things digital, we’ve thrown a little timeline together for you.

Oh and by the way, YouTube used more bandwidth in 2010 than the entire Internet did in 2000.

Facebook founded

iPhone introduced

The “pound sign” becomes a

hashtag

iPad introduced

1B smartphones

sold worldwide

1st move to an

all digital network

2004 2007 2009 2010 2012 2014

We can get used to this level of innovation, as long as we have the infrastructure to support it. This requires a careful conversation between tech and government, and we’re starting to see some good news on this front. Congress is starting to consider how our laws can be modernized and in 2014, the FCC announced trials for a nationwide

transition to an all-digital network. That means instead of spending almost $14 billion a year on maintaining outdated technology, carriers could then invest that capital into the broadband networks consumers want and dedicate that money to modernizing our communications infrastructure.

Contact us to learn more, get involved and connect.

www.TexasProgress.com@Tx4EconProgress

ADVANCE TECHNOLOGY l ADVANCE TEXAS

12

HEALTHCARE AND BIOSCIENCES INDUSTRY in Austin

1 The life sciences sector represents 206 establishments and adds $1 billion to the regional economy and 6,000 jobs with an average annual wage of $75,000, according

to a report from the Austin Technology Council.

2 Research and development in the life sciences represents $380 million in regional economic impact and more than 3,400 jobs.

3 BioAustin is a nonprofi t organization to promote the life sciences industry in the fi ve-county Austin region. It was recently spun off from the Austin Chamber of

Commerce.

4 Austin’s life sciences industry is comprised of 40 percent medical device and diagnostic companies, 20 percent biologics and biotech companies,

20 percent contract research organizations, 10 percent pharmaceuticals and 10 percent other areas, according to the Austin Technology Council report.

5 In April, construction kicked off on the new Dell Medical School. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation have donated $50 million for the school.

Last year, the UT System Board of Regents committed $334 million for the construction. And the Seton Healthcare Family has committed $295 million to build a new 210 bed teaching hospital. The Dell Medical School is scheduled to accept its fi rst class of students in 2016.

6 At the University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering, researchers have created the smallest, fastest and longest running tiny synthetic motor

to date. The nanomotor could help researchers create miniature machines that could enter and move through the body to provide insulin to diabetics or target and treat cancer cells, according to the University of Texas.

7 Austin-San Marcos is one of the top 12 biotech and health and life science centers in the country because of the clustering effect of multiple startup companies

in the biotech industry, according to a report from the Milken Institute.

Sources: University of Texas at Austin, BioAustin, the Austin Technology Council,

Milken Institute and the Dell Medical School.

uthscsa.edu

Ours is a story of hope. Compassion and joy. Commitment, vision and inspiration. We engage our

minds and talents, and give from our hearts, to help and heal. We touch the lives of thousands,

to serve those in need, here and around the world. And, through it all, we work to make lives better.

Thank you for all you do to make our story so remarkable. You’re the reason we’re able

to write the next chapter.

14

and companies like Medtronic, InCube Labs, and Innovative Trauma

Care from outside the region. At the same time, we’ve helped develop

a local “innovation eco-system” to foster the growth of homegrown

companies and talent. In addition to raising awareness of the sector

overall, BioMed SA spearheaded a strategic initiative to identify

San Antonio’s leading biomedical assets and leverage them for the

collective benefi t. The attraction of the World Stem Cell Summit to San

Antonio Dec. 3-5, 2014 is testament to the potential of this strategy.

SHN: How does BioMedSA work with San Antonio’s life sciences

companies and institutions?

AS: Joining BioMed SA enables companies and institutions to

collaborate in growing and promoting this dynamic sector. Members

benefi t from strategic introductions, visibility raising initiatives,

information updates, and getting to know local economic developers.

They can participate in industry-specifi c work groups and events

to advance sector growth and can submit nominations for BioMed

SA’s annual Julio Palmaz Award for Innovation in Healthcare and the

Biosciences. Members can also take advantage of a national cost-

savings program that provides discounts on valuable products and

services.

SHN: What are the strengths of San Antonio’s Life Sciences industry?

AS: In addition to being a regional hub for medical care and health

professions education, San Antonio is increasingly recognized as

a national leader in bioscience research and commercialization.

Ann Stevens has served as

BioMed SA’s president since

its inception in 2005. She has

helped to grow and promote San

Antonio’s healthcare and bioscience

industry. She recently answered some

questions about BioMed SA and the

role the nonprofi t organization plays

in the city’s booming healthcare and

bioscience industry.

SHN: Why was BioMedSA created?

AS: BioMed SA was founded in 2005

by former Mayor Henry Cisneros and

the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to organize and promote

the community’s substantial biomedical assets and raise the visibility

of San Antonio as a City of Science and Health. Our mission is to

accelerate the growth of what is already San Antonio’s leading industry,

healthcare and bioscience, to create economic benefi t for the region

and contribute to improving global health.

SHN: What have been BioMedSA’s major accomplishments since its

founding in 2005?

AS: Having an industry cluster organization like BioMed SA in place,

along with a cohesive industry growth strategy, has helped San

Antonio raise its biomedical profi le to attract industry professionals

with Ann Stevens of BioMed SA

By LAURA LOREK, Founder of Silicon Hills News

15

Our vibrant biomedical community is bringing new therapies

and solutions to market for some of mankind’s most complex

diseases, with recognized strengths in diabetes, wound healing and

regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, neurologic disorders,

and cancer. We are also the “Home of US Military Medicine” with

the nation’s largest military medical treatment complex and allied

health training campus.

The city’s biomedical assets are supported by an innovation eco-

system consisting of multiple tech transfer generators, incubators

and accelerator initiatives; commercialization and entrepreneurship

programs; research and technology parks with available land and

flexible office space; supportive local government officials; and

organizations that bring people together to exchange ideas and

collaborate.

SHN: Which areas will generate growth?

AS: We believe all five of the disease areas identified above are

ones that San Antonio can build on as it brings its biomedical

expertise and assets to bear and as the word begins to spread.

We’ve already seen several examples of companies relocating

or expanding into San Antonio because of our critical mass of

expertise in these areas.

SHN: What are San Antonio’s competitive advantages in the Life

Sciences industry?

AS: Healthcare and bioscience is the city’s leading industry,

employing more than one of every six people in the local workforce,

with an annual economic impact of $30 billion. It is also one of the

target industries in the community’s SA2020 vision and economic

development strategic plan. Having a cohesive strategy and cluster

organization in place to bring the industry segments together is key.

Research is the fuel that drives the life sciences industry, and in

San Antonio it springs from three distinct, yet collaborative, sources:

research organizations, private sector companies, and the U.S.

military. Some of these entities have been operating in San Antonio

for more than 70 years and are recognized leaders in their fields.

The willingness of these organizations to collaborate with each other

has been an important advantage for us.

SHN: What problems does San Antonio need to address to

expand its Life Sciences industry?

AS: It is important for San Antonio to continue raising awareness

of its exceptional biomedical assets and strengths since we have

historically been better known for other industries. At the same

time, we must focus on expanding the availability of venture capital

to translate discoveries made in our research labs into innovative

solutions for physicians and patients with unmet medical needs.

San Antonio’s biomedical sector is a resource to the world, and

local breakthroughs can have global impact when sufficiently

funded and promoted.

SHN: Is there enough venture capital available to fuel the startup of

new medical device, drug and other life science ventures?

AS: Capital availability has been a limiting factor for us in the past

but has improved significantly in the last few years. We now have

two homegrown VC funds focused largely on the life sciences, and

we have begun to attract increasing interest from investors around

the nation.

SHN: We live in an increasingly global world, how does San Antonio

compete and collaborate with other countries in the life sciences

industry?

AS: Our vision for this industry is for San Antonio to be recognized

as a global leader in healthcare and bioscience, so getting the word

out about our extensive biomedical assets and strengths is very

important. BioMed SA exhibits at international industry conferences

and participates in foreign economic missions to open doors and

forge relationships with biomedical entities around the world. Over

the years, we have traveled to Canada, Mexico, Japan, China,

India, and Israel to build awareness and facilitate collaboration with

interested companies and institutions.

SHN: How important is the commercialization of new technology

spinning out of local universities to the city’s Life Sciences industry?

AS: San Antonio is increasingly recognized as a biomedical hub

with unique assets in place and a track record of life-saving medical

innovations. The stent invented in the 1980s by Dr. Julio Palmaz of

the UT Health Science Center San Antonio revolutionized cardiac

care and was named one of “Ten Patents that Changed the World.”

Both the Health Science Center and the University of Texas at San

Antonio (UTSA) have spun off a number of biomedical companies to

commercialize medical discoveries made here.

SHN: How will the new Dell Medical School at the University of

Texas in Austin affect San Antonio’s Life Sciences industry?

AS: A good medical school is the foundation for developing a life

sciences industry in any region. That has certainly been the case

here in San Antonio with the UT Health Science Center and its five

professional schools, and we would expect that to be the case in

other regions as well. At the same time, San Antonio will soon be

getting a new School of Osteopathic Medicine, being developed by

the University of the Incarnate Word, which will further strengthen our

capabilities. In addition, San Antonio’s expertise in key disease areas

continues to distinguish it from other regions. We are also known

for being highly collaborative and open to exploring possibilities that

leverage our strengths. By understanding what our strengths are and

consciously building on them and promoting them, San Antonio is

well-positioned for continued momentum.

SHN: What do you think San Antonio’s Life Sciences industry will

be like in ten years?

AS: With continued focus and investment, I believe San Antonio

will be recognized as a global leader in healthcare and bioscience,

capitalizing on the strong foundationwe already have in place and the

vibrant growth that is currently under way. Much like our 5-time NBA

Champion San Antonio Spurs,by continuing to work together and

consciously building on our strengths, we have the opportunity to go

from “good to great” and make major contributions to the health of

the nation and world.

16

18

San Antonio has fostered innovative medical practices for

decades. In June 2010, InCube Labs announced its plan to

open a branch facility in San Antonio. InCube Labs originated

in Silicon Valley and saw San Antonio as an attractive location to

establish a branch.

“We could attract people here,” said Mir Imran, InCube Labs’ chairman

and CEO. “One of the challenges for California is the cost of living

is so high. It’s very hard to attract people from outside the state. We

found in San Antonio it’s such a beautiful city to live in, and the cost of

living is very low and manageable. From a family standpoint, there are

also a number of attractions.”

InCube Labs is a multi-disciplinary research center for medical

practices in therapeutic areas, drug delivery, and medical devices.

Imran has created 20 companies with InCube in the past 25 years,

and he plans to help establish more.

Phillip Morgan, Ph.D, vice president for InCube Labs in Texas, said

InCube wants to make a major difference in areas of unmet clinical

needs for patients.

“The way we approach it is we try and understand the problem and

we view technology agnostically,” Morgan said. “The process we use

is if you really understand the problem, then the solution will come out

of the problem.”

When InCube identifi es a medical area it can improve, it begins

the process of developing new approaches such as targeted drug

delivery or interventional devices to solve clinical problems.

InCube’s research focuses on innovative solutions from basic research

through pre-clinical development to clinical trials. The solutions it is

developing include a unique mix of traditional device technologies

such as electronics, software, mechanical engineering and material

science, as well as pharmaceuticals, protein chemistry and cell

biology.

When InCube Labs branched into Texas, the state invested $9.2

million from its Texas Emerging Technology fund into a trio of InCube’s

spin-off companies.

The three companies – Corhythm Inc., Fe3 Medical Inc., and

Neurolink Inc. – received this money to assist in the development and

commercialization of their respective products.

Corhythm focuses on developing devices to detect atrial fi brillation and

chronic heart failure, Fe3 Medical develops drug delivery technology

to aid people with iron-defi ciency anemia, and Neurolink develops an

implantable device that predicts seizures and treats the underlying

disease through intracranial drug delivery.

By Jonathan Gutierrez, Reporter for Silicon Hills News

INCUBE LABS IS THRIVING IN TEXAS

Morgan said it’s great for InCube Texas to be based in a place where

there is a lot of support.

“One of the major factors in us coming to San Antonio is that there

was a lot of support within the community ranging from the mayor,

Julian Castro, and the city manager, Sheryl Sculley,” he said. “Both of

them made trips to San Jose where InCube is based, and persuaded

us to come to San Antonio.”

In addition to the city council support InCube has received, local

universities have also committed to helping grow the life sciences

sector in the city.

“If you look historically at where incubators are located, they’re nearly

always located near academic institutions,” Morgan said. “I think it’s a

major advantage being so close to the Health Sciences Center, UTSA

and some of the other colleges around. They’ve been instrumental in

helping us progress.”

In terms of investing in InCube either directly or indirectly, the city of

San Antonio, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San

Antonio, USAA, and UTSA have all made signifi cant contributions for

the development of InCube’s companies, Morgan said.

InCube Ventures, one of InCube’s venture arms, is a specialized fund

focusing on breakthrough innovations in medicine.

Just like InCube Labs, its venture arm aims to grow and nurture

companies with potential to dramatically improve patient outcomes.

Imran said the next move for InCube Texas is to expand its operations

to include manufacturing.

“We also run a manufacturing company in California,” he said. “We will

bring a branch of that to (San Antonio). We’d like to get to the point

where we’re establishing two companies a year. But, it requires a lot

of infrastructure to support that many companies.”

One thing missing in San Antonio is the lack of signifi cant venture

capital, Imran said.

“The challenge has nothing to do with San Antonio,” he said. “Since

the 2008 crash, the recovery has been slow. What that does to

(startup companies)is it impacts the availability of equity dollars from

other sources of venture capital. We’re hoping the companies we are

building will attract new investors to come and take a serious look at

San Antonio.”

19

Dr. William Henrich, president of the

University of Texas Health Science

Center at San Antonio, recently sat

down with Silicon Hills News to talk

about all of the innovation happening

at the institution he oversees.

Dr. Henrich joined the Health

Science Center in 2006 as dean

of the School of Medicine and vice

president for medical affairs. He

became president in 2009.

At the Health Science Center, Dr.

Henrich oversees a $765 million

budget, 6,000 employees and

projects like the construction of

the $106 million Medical Arts and

Research Center, which opened in

2009; the $150 million South Texas

Research Facility, which opened

in 2011; and the $96.5 million Center for Oral Health Care and

Research, scheduled to open in 2015.

SHN: What do you think are the strengths of the UT Health Science

Center at San Antonio?

WH: There are many. I think neurosciences is one – about a third of

our extramural grants come in support of the neurosciences. We have

outstanding work in multiple sclerosis and dementia and psychiatric

neurosciences such as schizophrenia. I’ll mention our pain scientist

Dr. Ken Hargreaves, a neuroscientist whose team has discovered

a new class of non-addictive painkillers. In other areas, diabetesis

a major strength because of the work of Dr. Ralph DeFronzo and

his team. (Dr. DeFronzo leads the University Health System’s Texas

Diabetes Institute, which has developed new treatments for Type 1

and Type 2 diabetes.) We always mention healthy aging through an

institute called the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and

Aging Studies. That’s a real treasure for Texas and it’s a real jewel for

San Antonio. And it’s certainly something we’re extremely proud of.

It’s the leading aging center, in terms of extramural funding, in Texas.

And it is growing. I guess the last thing to mention that is an asset

for us is we have a very strong partnership with the military and we

have many programs that we share with the military. And I think it’s

a natural bond to form between the Health Science Center and the

many attributes of the military system in San Antonio. If you’re talking

about more general assets, I’d be remiss in not mentioning the fi ne

educational programs we have here in medicine, dentistry, nursing

and the health professions. Our students are very successful and

compete well nationally for positions after they fi nish here. I’d say

we have a very strong and very competent management team –

individuals who understand the mission of advancing discovery and

education in healthcare. So I’m very proud of that.

SHN: How does the UTHealth Science Center at San Antonio fi t

with the overall life sciences industry in San Antonio? You mentioned

the collaboration with the military. Are there programs you work on

together?

WH: I could start by mentioning the educational programs. At last

count, we had 18 programs where we send trainees to the San

Antonio Military Medical Center and they send trainees back to our

Health Science Center. And the trainees get the benefi t of training

at both places. We both also have tremendously developed interest

in post-traumatic stress disorder, which affl icts approximately 15

percent of returning veterans from theater. It’s now more of a public

health problem as it affects somewhere between 5 percent and

7 percent of adults in the civilian population. Our relationship with

the military and specifi cally with the Department of Defense led

to acquisition of a major grant here in the diagnosis and better

treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

SHN: How does the creation of the Dell Medical School affect

the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio? Is it considered

competition? Is it considered collaboration? Does it make you

stronger? Does it impact you in getting funds?

By Laura Lorek, Founder of Silicon Hills NewsAll photos courtesy of the Health Science Center

20

workforce that has gone on to populate our city and the rest of Texas

in addition to the United States and world. If I can be a bit of drum

pounder, it is known that the biggest economy in San Antonio today

is the life sciences. That’s a book of business that now exceeds $30

billion. What I would say about the Health Science Center’s role in

this wonderful success is that it isn’t that the Health Science Center

is responsible for $30 billion of business. It’s a small fraction of that.

But it’s true to say the Health Science Center is at the hub of this

growth. It’s hard to imagine any city having this kind of phenomenal

growth in the health sciences without having an academic Health

Science Center at the core. This is because the Health Science

Center is partners with everybody. We’re partners with theTexas

Biomedical Research Institute, the military, The University of Texas

at San Antonio, with everybody. And I think it’s accurate to say the

growth and the success of this sector of the city’s business would not

have been either as fast or as successful without having 1,800 Health

Science Center faculty, a $200 million research budget and the ability

to collaborate along so many discipline levels. It creates a sense

of excitement that is hard to replicate without having a wonderful

university Health Science Center there.

I don’t think there is a better example, and my colleagues around the

country agree with this, of the value of what a Health Science Center

has done for its city than San Antonio, Texas. I know when I network

with people around the country they say, “When you look at what an

academic Health Science Center brings to a city, you look no further

than San Antonio.” In 40 short years, this industry has outstripped

the tourism industry and the manufacturing industry in San Antonio.

It’s not because the Health Science Center was responsible for every

brick laid or every laboratory that was built, but it was an asset to

the city. And hence Austin really wanted a medical school. Phoenix

wanted a medical school. Charlotte wanted a medical school. These

great cities in our country, which are growing and thriving, as a case

study would look at San Antonio and say maybe we can have some

of that kind of success.

SHN: How does the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio work

to commercialize technology coming out of the lab to create new

ventures?

WH: We’re expanding our tech-transfer operation and our efforts to

bring, to company acquisition or formation, inventions of our faculty –

new drugs, new therapies, new devices, etc. We’re the home of one

of the most important innovations of the 21st century – the Palmaz

Stent, invented by Health Science Center radiologist Dr. Julio Palmaz.

SHN: What are the plans for expansion at the UT Health Science

Center at San Antonio?

WH: In San Antonio, we are growing tremendously our School of

Dentistry and our dental practice with a new building that is coming

online. We are expanding our teaching space with a new state-of-

the-art learning and teaching center. We hope to renovate a large

percentage of our older lab space and convert that into modern lab

space. We’re always in the business of recruiting new faculty. That will

be a major effort for us. On the clinical side, we have plans to grow

our clinical business substantially in cooperation with a number of our

hospital partners. It’s a very busy time despite the financial austerity

that exists. All of it is devoted to getting resources to our wonderful

faculty so they can be successful. We need to put resources into the

hands of the people who are doing the work here.

WH: It is likely a combination of all the things you mentioned, not just

one. It offers a set of new opportunities for collaboration. Enrolling

patients in clinical trials could be a place where the new institution could

partner with the old institution, to enroll critical numbers of patients much

more quickly than if we didn’t collaborate. Secondly, I’d say there is

more competition. There will be some discussion and some evolution

that will occur on how the clinical practices will interact in this new

space. There will be competition for faculty and that will be a two-way

street. You could consider that as a negative, but I don’t because that

is the kind of competition in which we already participate. We are in

competition with other institutions not just in Texas but also around the

country for federal grant dollars, as one example. I think there will be

increased competition from this medical school in Austin but also from

the new medical school in South Texas, which we are basically creating

from our Health Science Center.

SHN: Are these new institutions needed and will they add to the

amelioration of the physician shortage and healthcare professional

shortage in Texas?

WH: Yes they are. Texas ranks very low in the grand spectrum of

states in which we look at the per capita number of physicians per

population. And these new medical schools will help with that. All the

medical schools in the state are doing a good job of expanding their

classes. The lesion in the pipeline is that we need more graduate

medical education because we don’t have enough physicians as interns

and residents to accommodate the increase in the number of medical

students. So what I’m saying is there is an uncoupling of growing

the medical student graduation class but not growing the graduate

medical education in proportion. Hence, more and more students who

graduate from Texas medical schools will have to leave the state to go

find training opportunities elsewhere. And the reason that should catch

attention is because there is a 60 percent to 70 percent chance that

where you train you will stay. Certainly, even if you don’t stay in San

Antonio but you trained here, you’re likely to stay in Texas somewhere.

It costs a lot of money to educate the medical students and then we’re

a net exporter of them to other states that are glad to get them. And

then invariably not all of them come back. I would say we’re doing a

good job of expanding medical school student size. The real key to

changing the scoreboard in terms of number of physicians in the state is

to grow the graduate medical education.

SHN: What have been some of the major successes of the UT Health

Science Center at San Antonio since the first class was admitted in

1966?

WH: I’d say that among the big accomplishments, we now have upward

of 30,000 alumni. If you go to a doctor or see a nurse or go to a dentist

or have someone treat you for physical therapy in San Antonio, the odds

are high that the person who sees you in this professional capacity

either went to school here or trained here. So I think one of the major

contributions from the Health Science Center is this incredibly talented

21

If the Dell Medical School were a startup, it would have cleared some

important milestones.

It’s funded. Construction has started

on its campus. And it’s got a leader in

Clay Johnston.

Before being named dean of Dell

Medical School,Johnston had been

the associate vice president for

research at the University of California-

San Francisco, one of the country’s

top ranked medical schools.

His roles at UCSF included

developing programs to help get discoveries from research laboratories to the

marketplace as director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

He’s also been involved with a couple of startups. One has been backed by

Rock Health, a digital health technology accelerator in San Francisco.

On the job since March 1, Johnston has started work on a range of priorities:

hiring, developing curriculum, getting the school accredited and supervising

construction. All of which must be done by the time the school welcomes its

fi rst class of 50 students in fall 2016.

Beyond those issues, Johnston told Silicon Hills News,in an interview earlier

this year, that he wants the school to play a role in the Central Texas economy.

SiliconHillsNews: You’re leading what could be the biggest startup in Austin.

Clay Johnston: It is defi nitely a startup, with the same sorts of issues and

the same sorts of opportunities. The one nice thing is that it’s a startup that’s

already through Series B funding in spite of just being a handful of employees

right now. We’ll fi x that pretty quickly.

DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL DEAN EXPECTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR

AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIESBy TIM GREEN, Reporter with Silicon Hills News

Rending of the Dell Medical School as Viewed from Waller-Creek, courtesy of the University of Texas.

SHN: What’s your pitch for hiringto staff a brand new medical school?

CJ: It’s actually a pretty easy sales pitch. We’re really interested in people

who see a better way forward, who see an opportunity to better provide

health care, to provide better education in health care, to meet the

innovation method of improving health more effi ciently.

Those are people who are often have been working hard to be creative or

even transformative in their own institutions but are frustrated by the diffi culty

in making progress. So the opportunity in starting from the ground up is that

you really can have much more control.

And it’s more than just an opportunity. It’s almost a responsibility. Academic

medicine is pretty stodgy, slow to change and is fully engaged in some

of the dysfunction of the current healthcare delivery system.We have a

responsibility to take advantage of our newness to test out different ways of

doing things that could become models for the rest of the country.

That is an exciting startup to be a part of. It appears to be drawing the right

type people, people who really want to make a difference.

SHN: Have you had interactions with the tech community in San Francisco

that helps getting the medical school started?

CJ: I’ve been involved with a couple of startups myself. One of which died

before it was funded and one that’s still struggling; that came through Rock

Health.

At UCSF, we set up systems to try to support people who had ideas for

health products to get them to the startup stage. Sometimes to out-

licensing stages and that included anything from biotech to technology

devices, diagnostics, the whole range. I don’t have any personal stake in

those but in creating the system to support them. This was a big part of my

last job and I hope will be in important part of what the medical school does

in Austin.

22

The system we created at UCSF ended up working quite well, creating a nice

community that brought together a variety of folks from various industries that

impact the startup world including entrepreneurs but others as well. And then

brought them together with clinicians and also with laboratory-based scientists.

And again it worked well.

SHN: What is an area of opportunity in health and medicine?

CJ: For me a huge area of opportunity that no one has claimed yet is in digital

health; in particular health technology companies from big data-type companies

to personal sensor-type companies to clinician tools to assistants to clinicians

and provision of care.

That has been a rapidly growing are for venture capital, but no place has really

assumed dominance. The Bay Area is probably in the best position to do so

because of the venture capital here but Austin could really take a leadership

position in that space.

SHN: What does a medical school bring to the mix that helps bring ideas from

the lab to the marketplace?

CJ: There are a couple of ways that can happen. The ideas can come from

the academic medical center and out into the community. That’s the traditional

model for how this stuff happens. Basic science discovery that works its way

out into a biotech company. That will definitely be an important role for the

medical school over time, but it will be a while before we have even 100 faculty.

And although we are clearly going to draw faculty that are more entrepreneurial

and, I’m sure, of more technology focus because that’s a major focus of the

school. It will still bea while before their ideas that they originate move out from

the medical school.

What we would like to do is think about the Dell Medical School being a bridge

to the community where an entrepreneur may have an idea about a new digital

health application and then we can help assess whether that’s a viable idea in

the current health care system and help modify it to increase the likelihood that

it’s successful. And potentially create the environment in which to test it and

demonstrate its value.

That’s similar to what we have done at UCSF and was really helpful. It’s more

about creating these teams as opposed to creating the ideas. It’s assuring

that you have the right expertise and laboratory in which to evaluate these

interventions. That’s what we’re hoping to build at Dell Medical School.

SHN: Have you been able to identify areas of research strength at UT Austin

in places like the Department of Biomedical Engineering or College of Natural

Sciences?

CJ: It’s too early to say specifically, but I’ll just say there is a tremendous

amount of opportunity in the schools you just mentioned and in others.

In the computer science arena it’s just so ready to look for practical applications

on the more clinical end of the spectrum. All the right tools are in place

other than clinical informatics which needs to be developed at UT, but isn’t

going to be a natural part of the medical school.

In Natural Sciences, too, and in many other areas in the university there

have been through the years fabulous discoveries, fabulous scientists and

they are clamoring for translational medicine that’s going to allow them to

move their discoveries out to become health improvements. That’s been

a major part of my job at UCSF and is easy for me to imagine how we can

create those supporting systems for UT. So I think there’s huge opportunity

there and we will definitely take that on.

SHN: How was the process of commercializing research conducted at

UCSF?

CJ: We created the UCSF Catalyst program. That program’s been going on

for about three years. The return on investment in just research dollars alone

gained from the program was on the order of tenfold so it’s been a highly

successful program.

We encourage ideas. Now we do it for the community but first it was just

for UCSF core health products. They could be drugs, diagnostics, devices

or digital health, in any of those spaces. And then we have the ideas vetted

by experts on those areas. Venture capitalists, biotech CEOs, digital health

company CEOs, IP attorneys who form these of review panels for us. They

would judge not the science, but how promising the discovery was and

how promising the idea for a health product was. Then a subset of those

received consultational awards, we called them. Basically we would form a

team around the proposer to figure out how best to move it forward. That

team would work the proposer to optimize the idea.

I can give you can example.

There was a guy working on a drug for Kaposi sarcoma and the drug also

worked for other herpes viruses. It was just that he had started on Kaposi

sarcoma and the group had him do some projects to demonstrate that it

could work HSV-1 (herpes simplex virus-1) and that changed an idea that

was probably going to go nowhere because it didn’t have an adequate

market potential to one that has tremendous market potential.

He has gone on to get funding and move it forward. That was a simple but

really important change that happened through the advice of that team.

It has worked really well and also worked to change the culture both on the

academic side and the community side. There are now 120 consultants

who volunteer as part of the program. They’re getting value because they

can see cutting edge science coming from the university but also because

they’re networking with each other. And that’s definitely valuable to them. So

it’s been a big win-win program. You could imagine that would work well in

Austin, particularly around the digital health area but also in other areas.

23

1 Founded in 2011, Geekdom moved into its own headquarters

in the historic Rand building at 110 Houston St. this year. It

occupies the seventh and sixth floors with plans to eventually

take over the entire building. The new offices have bike racks,

showers, lockers, and mailboxes, changing rooms, a nap room,

kitchen and more.

2 The Techstars Cloud program returns to Geekdom in early

2015 headed up by Blake Yeager. The program will begin

accepting applications this fall.

3 WiseWear featured in this issue operates out of Geekdom.

Other startups at Geekdom include WP Engine, Pressable,

Promoter.io, Storific, CodeUp, TrueAbility, Remote Garage,

Monk’s Toolbox, VentureLab and Health eDesigns.

4 Geekdom membership costs $50 per month or $200

monthly for a dedicated “tech startup desk” in an office.

5 Geekdom hosts events daily, weekly and monthly including

San Antonio Startup Grind, 3Day Startup, SA New Tech,

Startup Weekend, hackathons, Health 2.0, OpenStack

meetups, Ruby Rebels, Agile Meetup, CodeUp Teens, Geekdom

Game Night, the Crowning Moment and more.

6 Geekdom last year opened another Geekdom location in San

Francisco.

7 The first HeroX Challenge, an offshoot of the X-Prize, officially

launched in San Antonio earlier this year. The two-year San

Antonio MX Challenge is headed up by Jesus Salas at

Geekdom and funded by Graham Weston and his 80/20 Foundation.

The organization will award $500,000 to the person or group that

bests fosters entrepreneurship between San Antonio and Mexico.

8 Lorenzo Gomez is the director of Geekdom. Nick Longo and

Graham Weston founded Geekdom.

9 The Geekdom Fund provides capital to early-stage

entrepreneurs based at Geekdom.

10 Geekdom members are required to give back one hour

of their time every week to help someone else.

24

ENTVANTAGE AIMS TO CURB ANTIBIOTICS WITH BETTER DIAGNOSTICS

Most sinus infections are viral and don’t require antibiotics. But

how can a patient and doctor be sure? Presently,a family doctor

can’t quickly diagnose his patient’s sinus infection as viral or

bacterial. ENTvantage Diagnostics aims to change that with

an in-offi ce nose swab that will give results to physicians and

patients within 15 minutes.

Too often unnecessary drugs are prescribed to put the patient’s

mind at rest, and to cover the doctor from liability on the small

chance the infection is in fact bacterial. However, mistreatment

can cause chronic sinus problems for patients, and antibiotic

over prescription contributes to the growing threat of drug-

resistant bacteria worldwide. In April, the World Health

Organization released a report on antibiotic resistance. The

survey found that treatment resistance for common infections

was increasingly common in many regions, resulting in people

remaining sick longer, with an increased likelihood of death.

ENTvantagewants to secure $1 million in funding. Once received,

chief medical offi cer Dr. Subinoy Das estimates the venture will

be able to fi nish engineering the diagnostic swab and be ready

for clinical trials in 18-24 months.

Das, an Ohio-based researcher and one of the nation’s top sinus

surgeons, has been working toward a diagnostic solution for

about fi ve years.

In some ways his scientifi c quest is personal: Das used to

play baseball and was hit in the face with a line drive that

gave him sinus problems. As a teen, he attended prestigious

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology,

which allowed him to intern with the Department of Defense at

a laboratory developing battlefi eld diagnostics. This gave him

experience translating existing scientifi c knowledge to practical

use.

In his undergrad, Das was exposed to pure scientifi c research,

after which he went on to attend medical school. “I joined a

relatively unique career-path of people known as clinician-

scientists,” Das said, explaining that the medical fi eld typically

produces researchers who lack clinical experience and doctors

with little research background.Because of his combined

education, when Das began his career as a rhinologist, he made

it his goal to fi nd a practical solution for the most pressing

problem in the fi eld, which he believed to be that doctors don’t

know if their patients have bacterial or viral sinus infections.

It’s not just the systemic problem of antibiotic over-prescription that

makes this a pressing issue. Improper treatment of sinus infections

can lead to chronic problems that might one day require surgery.

Sinus surgery is highly invasive, it involves peeling the face down

and cracking open the skull, and since the sinuses are so close to

the eyes and brain, there is risk of injury.

“Our diagnostics will give patients and doctors more confi dence to

withhold antibiotics when they aren’t needed,” Das said.

The diagnostic kit Das has been developing works by identifying

bacterial proteins present in the nose that indicate the cause of

infection. In the lab at Ohio State University, the test proved highly

effective on chinchillas, which have immune systems similar to

humans because they hail from the Andes Mountains where there’s

little exposure to bacteria.

Austin-based serial entrepreneur and CEO of LumosPharma Rick

Hawkins attended a presentation by Das at the university and

was impressed. “The technology solves a really critical problem,”

he said. Hawkins is part of ENTvantage’s board of directors. The

venture’s president is Joseph Skraba, who has been bringing

medical devices to market for 30 years. Presently, the company is

fi nalizing a licensing deal with Ohio State University.

The company will be based in Austin, where both Hawkins and

Skraba are located. Once funding is secured, ENTvantage will hire

employees and also engage development partners. The company

already has a prototype with some basic engineering, but it needs to

be refi ned.

If the product makes it to market, Skraba for one is optimistic

about adoption. He cited strep throat as a relevant example:

Before rapid strep tests were available, antibiotics for strep throat

were prescribed with much greater frequency, though only about

30 percent of people who visit doctors with sore throats have the

infection.

With sinusitis, it’s only about 10 percent of cases that have a true

bacterial infection. Each year, about 30 million people in the United

States are diagnosed with sinusitis, so the potential for ENTvantage

to cut down on the superfl uous use of antibiotics is huge.

By Leslie Anne Jones, Reporter with Silicon Hills

From left to right: Rick Hawkins, Dr. Subinoy Das, Joseph Skraba, photo by Leslie Anne Jones

25

When Thomas B. Slick Jr. founded the Texas Biomedical

Research Institute in 1941, San Antonio was a ranching and oil

town. The city didn’t have a medical school or graduate program

for biomedical sciences. Slick Jr. envisioned a “city of science”

in south Texas that could be a “great center for human progress

through scientifi c research.”

“(Slick Jr.) was an extraordinary visionary,” said Kenneth Trevett,

former president and CEO of the Texas Biomedical Research

Institute. “Now, San Antonio has

a medical school, healthcare

systems, and signifi cant

research organizations.”

What makes Texas Biomed

particularly special is the

combination of scientifi c

research programs it has.

Texas Biomed has a nationally

designated non-human primate

research center and is also the

only private institution to own

a biosafety level 4 maximum

containment center to study

deadly pathogens which have

no known treatment or vaccine.

In addition, Texas Biomed has its department of genetics,

which works to advance human health through biomedical

research with animal and human populations. This team works

to fi gure out how individual genes infl uence a given disease

and try to develop cures and methods for disease prevention.

The group particularly focuses on the infl uence of genetic and

environmental factors on heart disease, obesity, diabetes,

psychiatric disease, parasitic infections, and osteoporosis.

Texas Biomed’s employees include a doctoral staff of 85, a

technical support staff of more than 120 and 200 general and

administrative support employees.

The institute just completed one goal of expanding its facilities.

It recently opened a 70,000 square foot laboratory and scientifi c

support building, which will serve as the face of the 200-acre

campus. The building provides eight new laboratories for the

institute’s primate research center and has allowed the institute

to grow its research into stem cell use.

Another goal the institute has is to interact more with the

.armaceutical and biotechnology industries.

“We want to not only transfer some of our technology from the

TEXAS BIOMED EXPANDS IN SAN ANTONIO By Jonathan Gutierrez, Reporter with Silicon Hills News

(All photos courtesy of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute)

26

laboratory into the commercial marketplace, but also, we’re looking

for diversifi ed basis support,” Trevett said. “Industry relations and

interacting with clinical research organizations is important.”

Robert W. Gracy, Ph.D, was

recently named Texas Biomed’s

interim president and CEO.

A few years ago, he was on

the governor’s commission to

determine what Texas needed

to become competitive in the

biotechnology industry. He said

he began to help develop centers

in Houston and Dallas before his

work moved him to San Antonio.

“The San Antonio and Austin

area is one of the major places

for biotech development,” Gracy

said. “It’s moving along very fast.

We also have additional partners

with the military who have an

interest in biotechnologies from the medical standpoint.”

Bernard Arulanandam, Ph.D, assistant vice president of research

support at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said Texas

Biomed has always been collaborative with UTSA.

“They’re the foundation that does high-quality research in

genetics, infectious diseases, and virology,” he said. “Most of the

investigators at Texas Biomed work very closely with the (UTSA)

Health Science Center and at UTSA they also provide a training

ground for all of our students to actually partake in daily research

they do. Texas Biomed promotes biomedical research while working

closely with both of the UT components in San Antonio.”

The institute is home to the largest baboon colony, which the

scientists at the institute have kept genetic and medical histories

for seven generations. This colony’s history dates back 40 years

and serves as an integral part in the institute’s genetic research

endeavors. In addition to baboons, the institute also has a colony of

chimpanzees and opossums.

Jean L. Patterson, Ph.D, chair for the virology and immunology

department at Texas Biomed, said her department works on

projects some other organizations would rather not do.

“We work with high containment as well as animals and the

community is supportive of that,” Patterson said. “We’ve

been very fortunate to stay funded at a time when other

organizations are suffering from a drop in federal funds.”

Texas Biomed operates on an annual fund of nearly $55 million.

Competitive, peer-reviewed grants from the National Institutes

of Health and other funding agencies funds two-thirds of

its budget. Another 11 percent comes from contracts with

biotechnology and pharmaceutical fi rms. The contributions of

foundations, corporations, and earnings from the institute’s

permanent endowments provide for the remaining expenses.

The institute’s major contributors who help advance its mission

are The Argyle, a stately southern mansion and prestigious

private club devoted to supporting Texas Biomed, as well as

partners in the San Antonio community who donate funds

and help raise awareness of the institute through participation

with the Golden Circle, Benefactor Circle, President’s Circle,

Chairman’s Circle, Founder’s Council, and the Forum.

27

for Surgical Research in San Antonio, but

he couldn’t train the medics to do what

needed to be done under fi re.

After Filips’ last tour of duty in

Afghanistan, he worked to train medics

in the fi eld that were preparing to deploy

to Afghanistan, but he found the training

to be diffi cult.

He wanted to create a product that could

be used on the front lines, Faris said.

He came up with the clamp, which

replaced gauze pads and pressure

applied by combat medics in the fi eld.

It also replaces the immediate need for

suturing.

“This is the device that came from that

experience,” he said.

Last November, iTraumaCare closed on a Series B round of funding

and has raised $13.5 million to date, according to Crunchbase.

Targeted Technology is the lead investor in iTraumaCare. The rest

of the investment has come from high net worth individuals in San

Antonio, Faris said.

iTraumaCare has 23 employees. The Edmonton offi ce has just

fi ve employees the rest are employed by the San Antonio based

company, Faris said.

Faris expects to hire ten employees over the next year.

“We will continue to hire as we scale up,” he said.

The iTClamp is based on a medical platform technology with a whole

series of devices coming behind it to manage bleeding, Faris said.

Faris previously served as CEO of Vidacare, a medical device

company in San Antonio. He knows how to take a product to market

and grow its sales into the millions. That’s one of the key reasons

iTraumaCare located in San Antonio.

In the past, the two things missing in San Antonio were key executive

talent and money. Now because of the successes of companies

like Osteobiologics, ENTrigue Surgical and Vidacare, the talent

pool is stronger here. And the capital is fl owing more into medical

technology startups, Faris said.

“Most of us are driven by improving patient outcomes,” Faris said.

“That’s why we get into a business that is as hard, as being in the

healthcare side of the world, as opposed to doing websites. We’re

trying to make a difference in patient care.”

By Laura Lorek, Founder of Silicon Hills News

Dr. Ian Atkinson, Dr. Dennis Filips, co-founders of Innovative Trauma Care and Phil Faris, CEO and Chairman of the Board.

One of the leading causes of death

among trauma patients is the failure to

control bleeding.

Innovative Trauma Care, known as

iTraumaCare, a medical device maker

with its U.S. headquarters in San

Antonio and also based in Edmonton,

Canada, has come up with a solution.

It makes the iTClamp50, a clamp that

grips the skin and creates a seal that

allows blood to clot rapidly beneath the skin where it is applied to stop

the bleeding.

“In a matter of seconds you’ve sealed off the wound,” said Phil Faris,

iTraumaCare’s CEO and Chairman of the Board.

The iTClamp50 has already received U.S. Food and Drug Administration

approval for use on the arms and legs, the axilla, the groin area and the

scalp, Faris said.

“This is a technology that can be deployed with frontline medical

personnel both in the hospital and in the fi eld,” Faris said. “We feel if

this technology is deployed properly, it can make a signifi cant impact on

patient outcomes and in many instances may be life saving.”

iTraumaCare began selling the device last October. The product is being

used in the U.S. and Canada. Also, iTraumaCare is selling the device in

Europe and the Middle East.

“We’re in 26 countries right now,” Faris said.

The one-time use sterilized device costs $79 per clamp and covers

a two-inch wound. They can be stacked

together to cover a larger wound..

It’s just being deployed to ambulances and

E.M.S. vehicles and fi re equipment. San

Antonio is one of the cities planning on using

the device, Faris said. Some Special Forces

medics in the military are also using it, Faris

said. It’s being evaluated by the military for

the fi rst aid kit that the soldiers carry into the

battlefi eld, he said.

“It’s very simple when you look at it but that

simplicity can make it widely adopted and

deployed,” Faris said.

The iTClamp50 covers an estimated 50

percent to 60 percent of the wounds a medic

would normally encounter in trauma situations, Faris said.

Dr. Dennis Filips and Dr. Ian Atkinson founded the company in 2010.

Filips, previously served as a trauma surgeon with the Canadian forces

and saw the need for a device to quickly and effectively stop bleeding

in trauma situations. He came up with the clamp, which replaced

gauze pads and pressure applied by combat medics in the fi eld. It also

replaces the immediate need for suturing.

After his last tour of duty in Afghanistan, Filips worked with the Institute

iTraumaCare’s Clamp StemsBleeding and Saves Lives

28

Thanks to the Austin Chamber’s Innovate Austin initiative, we are creating a region of both established and emerging companies that are

changing the face of healthcare today for a healthier tomorrow.

To learn more about how Innovate Austin is supporting the growth of Austin’s life science cluster and to get involved in this game changing innovation evolution, go to austinchamber.com/innovation and sign

up for our innovation & entrepreneurship newsletter.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES TODAY

for a Healthier Tomorrow

San Antonio has a rich history of courage and innovation. Driven by visionaries seeking to improve the human condition. People like Dr. Julio Palmaz of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, who invented the first commercially successful intravascular stent, recognized as one of “Ten Patents that Changed the World.” Thanks to people like Dr. Palmaz, San Antonio has gained a worldwide reputation for life-saving innovation. Join us for the 9th Annual Julio Palmaz Award Dinner in San Antonio on September 18, honoring innovation in healthcare and the biosciences.Come see who will be writing the next chapter in our stirring history.

Discover the City of Science and Health at

biomedsa.org

History is created by those fighting for a brighter future.

BioMed SA is a non-profit, membership-based organization,supported in part by the City of San Antonio.

HEROES CHAMPIONED SAN ANTONIO. THEY STILL DO.San Antonio was founded by larger than life heroes who gave their lives for something bigger than themselves.

Today as America’s 7th largest city, San Antonio is a leader in trauma care, wound healing and regenerative

medicine to benefit the nation’s wounded warriors and civilians alike. Through our collaborative spirit, we

are combining a diversity of talent and unique research assets that are making a global impact on science,

health and life itself. Which is why innovations that save lives around the world are being developed here.biomedsa.org

BioMed SA is a non-profit, membership-based organization,supported in part by the City of San Antonio.