Heath Lukatch

Verax Biomedical, Inc. develops rapid tests for detecting bacterial contaminants in blood cells and tissues. The firm's first target application for its technology is to test for the presence of bacterial contaminants in platelets and bacterial contaminants in platelets and red blood cells represent the greatest lethal infectious risks in transfusion medicine today and no rapid, simple methods are presently available to effectively address this threat. Verax Biomedical was founded by Joe R. Sanders and Joe L. Straight in 1999 and is headquartered in Marlborough, MA.

ViaCyte, Inc. develops a stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy for the treatment of diabetes. Its development portfolio includes VC-01 product candidate, a cell replacement therapy for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. provides drug discovery and clinical development services. It develops and discovers products focusing on first-in-class, disease-modifying, small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases of protein misfolding. The company was founded by Jeffery W. Kelly and Susan L. Lindquist in 2003 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Diego, Amira Pharmaceuticals is a small molecule pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of new drugs to treat inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Amira combines the rigor of a big pharmaceutical company with the ingenuity and energy of a small company, creating an environment for efficient development of novel compounds and effective pre-clinical and clinical program decisions. The firm's team is building on unparalleled insights into bioactive lipid pathways and complex signaling processes controlling many conditions including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular and various fibrotic diseases. Amira has a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline for the development of FLAP (5-lipoxygenase activating protein) inhibitors in respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Alios BioPharma, Inc. operates as a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company which develops novel antiviral therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases. It also develops proprietary chemical libraries of novel nucleosides, nucleoside analogs and non-nucleosides as potential therapeutics for viral infections including RSV, influenza, rhinovirus and emerging viral diseases. The firm offers VX-135, a uridine nucleotide analog for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. The company was founded by Leonid N. Beigelman, Lawrence M. Blatt and John R. Donovan in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Flexion Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and commercialization of novel and local therapies. It specializes in the treatment of patients with musculoskeletal conditions including osteoarthritis. It offers products under the Zilretta brand, an extended-release corticosteroid approved to manage osteoarthritis knee pain. The company was founded by Michael D. Clayman and Neil Bodick on November 5, 2007 and is headquartered in Burlington, MA.

Adynxx, Inc. develops clinical-stage pharmaceutical addressing pain at its molecular roots. Its technology platform provides treating the development of pain following surgery or trauma and established chronic pain syndrome. The company was founded by Julien Mamet in October 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Halo Neuro, Inc. develops neuroscience based technology. It offers its products under the categories of fitness, sports, gaming, health, biotech, wearables and other consumer technology. The company was founded by Brett Wingeier, Amol R. Sarva, Lee M. von Kraus and Daniel S. Chao in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

McKinsey & Co., Inc. provides management consulting services. It specializes in design, marketing and sales, analytics, operations, transformation and restructuring, risk, strategy and corporate finance, and sustainability and resource productivity. The company was founded by James O. McKinsey in 1926 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Roche Palo Alto LLC discovers and develops medicines. Its medicines are used for the treatment of central nervous system, inflammation, metabolism, oncology, and virology diseases. The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.

ightLine Partners LLC (SightLine Partners) is an independent venture capital and private equity firm founded in 1992 by Buzz Benson and Maureen Harder. The firm is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Cianna Medical, Inc. manufactures and marketing equipment for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer in women. The firm’s products include SAVI, a breast brachytherapy applicator used for the delivery of radiation after lumpectomy surgery; and SAVI SCOUT, a surgical guidance system that uses real-time audible and visual indicators to give surgeons a precise way to target tissue during lumpectomy and excisional biopsy procedures. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA.

NeuroTherapeutics Pharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for diseases associated with central nervous system hyper-excitability. It is developing compounds that decrease or eliminate aberrant excitatory discharges by working through a new mechanism of action. The firm's proprietary molecules target a novel molecular site that will create a pipeline of potential new treatments for multiple CNS disorders. The company's lead compound, NTP-2014, has exhibited excellent efficacy results in multiple preclinical models of epilepsy, acute and neuropathic pain. NeuroTherapeutics Pharma was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd. discovers and develops new drugs for the treatment and management of pain. The firm conducts medicinal chemistry and drug discovery activities, preclinical and early-phase clinical studies before seeking a partnership with pharmaceutical company to complete clinical development, file for regulatory approval, and carry out marketing activities. The company was founded in June 2005 and is headquartered in Preston, Australia.

Nora Therapeutics, Inc. develops therapeutics to address clinical unmet needs in reproductive medicine. Its's lead product NT100, seeks to improve pregnancy outcomes in women undergoing in vitro fertilization or who have suffered recurrent spontaneous miscarriages. The company was founded by Darryl L. Carter and Chris B. McClain in 2007 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.

Synosia Therapeutics, Inc. used to develop products for unmet medical needs in psychiatry and neurology. The company was founded in December 2005 and was headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Automate Scientific, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes biomedical equipment. The private company is based in Berkeley, CA. The company was founded by Heath Lukatch.

FLAP LLC provides licensing and royalty services for medicines. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

Panmira Pharmaceuticals LLC provides drug development programs. It develops pharmaceutical products for inflammatory diseases. The company was founded in September 2011 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

Novo Ventures (US), Inc. is a venture capital firm located in San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary of Novo A/S and their ultimate parent is Novo Nordisk Fonden.

Viewpoint Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company. It prevents and treats cataracts and presbyopia, and protein misfolding. The company was founded by Leah Makley in July of 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Lagunita Biosciences LLC (Lagunita Biosciences) is a venture Capital firm founded in 2015 by Mark S. Blumenkranz. The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

Satsuma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. It develops novel therapeutic products for the acute treatment of migraines. Its product candidate, STS101, is a drug-device combination of a proprietary dry-powder formulation of dihydroergotamine mesylate, or DHE, which is designed to be self-administered with a proprietary pre-filled, single-use, nasal delivery device. The company was founded by John Kollins on June 21, 2016 and is headquartered in Durham, NC.

TPG Biotech (TPG biotech) is a venture capital firm, a subsidiary of TPG Capital Advisors LLC founded in 2002. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Engage Therapeutics, Inc. engages in the development of rescue therapy for uncontrolled epileptic seizures. The company was founded by Gregory T. Mayes III and Jouko Isojarvi in 2017 and is headquartered in Summit, NJ.

Ceribell, Inc. engages in the development of diagnosis medical devices. The firm focuses on making electroencephalography (EEG) for diagnosis and treatment of patients at risk for seizures. Its products include Ceribell EEG headband, Ceribell EEG recorder, and spot-checks with brain stethoscope. The company was founded by Jane Chao, Josef Parvizi and Chris Chafe in 2014 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA.

Acrigen Biosciences, Inc. operates as a early-stage life science gene editing company. The company was founded by Joseph Bondy-Denomy in 2019 and is headquartered in Kensington, CA.

Red Tree Venture Capital is a venture capital firm founded by Heath Lukatch. The firm is headquartered in portola, California.