FINANCING
A team of researchers at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute are working on a vaccine to combat all coronaviruses, and this month received a $3.7 million supporting grant from the National Institutes of Health.
COVID-19 is a coronavirus, of course, as are the common cold and bat and pangolin coronaviruses, among others. Recent reports have also uncovered new strains of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
“It’s not a question of if we’ll have another outbreak, but when it will happen,” said Ben Mohamed, a UCI immunologist.
“We need a preemptive coronavirus vaccine in place to thwart future outbreaks. When one occurs anywhere in the world, we can ship the vaccine immediately to curtail the global spread of a new virus.”
So far, the vaccine has shown in animal trials it can produce both antibodies and T cells that clean infected cells in the event antibodies don’t work.
UCI expects the vaccine to be ready early this year, with the aim to start Phase 1 clinical trials in June.
Other OC-based firms working on a vaccine include AIVITA Biomedical, which expects its vaccine to be ready this year, and Applied Biology.
SpyGlass Ophthalmics of Mission Viejo this month raised $27.5 million.
The Series B round of financing was led by Vensana Capital with participation from New Enterprises Associates.
SpyGlass, an ophthalmic device incubator, is currently developing a technology platform that will address a number of chronic eye issues, Chief Executive Glenn Sussman told the Business Journal.
Sussman is a former director of research and development for Alcon, and he previously founded Aliso Viejo-based ClarVista Medical Inc.
ClarVista, an intraocular lens maker, was acquired by Alcon for about $125 million in 2017, according to regulatory filings.  Â
Sussman leads SpyGlass with co-founder Malik Kahook, the Slater Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology at Colorado-based UCHealth.
SpyGlass spun its first technology out of the University of Colorado with an initial $6 million investment from New Enterprise Associates in 2019.
New Enterprise Associates, an investment firm with $20 billion assets under management, also provided the initial investment for stent maker Ivantis Inc. in Irvine.
LAUNCH
Irvine-based Tandom this month launched the beta version of its social video-sharing platform.
The web platform, called cnxl and pronounced “console,” allows gamers and other users to select and watch synchronized content from Twitch, YouTube and MedalTV.
Most screen-sharing services, such as Teleparty (Netflix Party), don’t allow multiple participants to interact with content directly. Instead, the host typically controls the content being played.
By contrast, with cnxl, “every participant has autonomy over their content experience which empowers them to interact more seamlessly,” said Chief Product Officer Darius Fong.
“Our vision extends beyond consuming content to allow multiple members in the room to stream their game play. Our goal is to create a truly social environment for small groups of people to hang out, watch and play.”
Tandom said it plans to add a voice chat feature to its platform next quarter, which will allow individuals to have private conversations within a group.
Tandom started in 2019 and has an office at 2323 Main St. in Irvine.
Restaurant365 LLC, an Irvine-based software provider for the restaurant industry, announced a “Smart Ops” product release that further automates processes for its clients.
Upgrades include multi-location functions so that directors and area managers can better manage operations and employee scheduling and overtime rules; and invoice smart matching that uses cross referencing to ensure more accurate purchase orders.
“Now every store manager can operate and report with confidence, and directors will have the transparency to get answers and solve issues quickly across their locations,” said Chief Executive Tony Smith. “All levels of the organization are empowered by this significant step forward for the restaurant industry.”
Restaurant365 charges between $129 and $429 per location per month, with additional add-on fees, and additional options for customized plans. Â
The firm, founded in 2011, has about 15,000 active operations users.
OFFICE SPACE
Mavrik Dental Systems Ltd. has established its Irvine headquarters at 9930 Irvine Center Drive, in the Spectrum area of the city.
The dental firm, whose teeth-whitening medical device was developed in Israel, is expected to begin its U.S. commercial launch this quarter.
The company’s main product, the TheraSmile, provides an automated treatment through a series of controlled pulses to the teeth, and requires just a single office visit.
The system comes with single-use, disposable mouthpieces and offers a self-cleaning feature for the device itself, so that dentists can transition from one patient to the next in a matter of minutes.
Ahead of its U.S. launch, Mavrik raised a $30 million round of financing led by Hong Kong-based Ally Bridge Group.
It also named Tom Olsen chief executive; Olsen was previously president and general manager for Zurich-based Nobel Biocare’s North American division. The U.S. operations of Nobel, a dental implant maker with about 250 area workers, are based in Yorba Linda.
More recently, Mavrik named Bob Anthony its U.S. head of operations. Anthony is a former vice president of operations at Laguna Hills-based root canal device maker Sonendo.
Mavrik expects to hire up to 200 employees in the region over the next few years.
DATA
Prodoscore, whose software manages and analyzes productivity levels of employees, recently revealed a new survey that demonstrates changing dynamics in the workplace brought on by the pandemic.
The Irvine-based firm analyzed 105 million data points from 30,000 active users in the U.S. starting last March, and learned that at-home employees continue to favor communication apps, while document access and calendaring apps saw about 20% declines in usage.
Other insights revealed:
• Productivity levels were down about 3% in the May to August period, compared to March to April. Still, productivity levels were up about 5% compared to the same period a year ago.
• The productivity window—or most productive period of time in a workday—shrunk to about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Earlier in the year, people were most productive between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. This change can be attributed to employees getting better at time management, or employees feeling overwhelmed, Prodoscore said.
• Employees worked 42% more on Saturdays and 24% more on Sundays in 2020 compared to 2019.
