NEW HIRE
UCI Beall Applied Innovation has brought on David Gibbons as director for industry sponsored research.
Gibbons will be in charge of establishing and maintaining a unit to initiate and oversee transactions and maintain relationships with industry partners.
Prior to joining Applied Innovation, Gibbons held multiple commercialization and business development roles at University of California-San Diego. During his time there, he closed over 185 fee-based patent and copyright license agreements. He also served in the Navy.
“I am very excited to join the Beall Applied Innovation team as UCI leadership has done an excellent job integrating all of the innovation ecosystem pieces into one cohesive whole,” Gibbons said. “With its ‘one-stop-shop’ approach, Applied Innovation can support innovators throughout their journey, from initial idea to first product, all under one roof.”
OFFICE SPACE
Upstart cybersecurity software firm Ekran System Inc. has moved its headquarters from Texas to Newport Center.
Its new headquarters is at 260 Newport Center Drive, near Fashion Island.
The company’s “insider threat protection” system provides businesses visibility into third-party service provider and employee activity through authentication, access permissions and activity monitoring features, among others.
Ekran offers technology licensing agreements for both small pilot programs and large enterprise projects. A few of its clients include Deloitte, Samsung and UPS.
The company cited OC’s strong talent pool, startup scene, and tech community as its reasons for the relocation.
“We are happy to move to one of the most important tech hubs in California—Irvine and the Newport Beach area,” said Dennis Turpitka, founder and chief executive of Ekran. “A lot of technology companies have a presence here, and we decided to join them in this premier location for tech talent.”
Ekran launched in 2013 and was previously based in San Antonio. It joined the cyber product accelerator Mach37 in 2017 and has been privately funded since then, according to the company.
NowRx, a same-day prescription drug delivery service whose executive team is largely local, recently opened its third location: a 4,500-square-foot facility near the intersection of Red Hill Avenue and McGaw Avenue, in Irvine.
“I was waiting in line at a pharmacy here in OC when I realized it was time for a better prescription process,” said Chief Executive Cary Breese, a Laguna Niguel resident who works locally with much of the NowRx team. “I am thrilled to bring NowRx’s benefits, and mission of wellness, literally to the doorsteps of my home county.”
NowRx, whose headquarters are registered in Mountain View, uses automated image analytics software, in combination with vial-filling robots, to dispense prescriptions. The company said its processes improve efficiency by more than 25% compared to manual processes used in traditional pharmacies.
The company’s service includes a consumer-facing mobile app and is available to customers with most major insurance plans. Customers are only charged their copayment; there is no delivery fee.
Since its launch, which originated in the Bay Area, the company said that it has delivered over 100,000 prescriptions and served 20,000 customers. As of mid-2019, the company’s cumulative revenue was around $15 million.
NowRx has raised more than $10 million in total funding. The company is now raising a Series B round with a $65 million pre-money valuation on healthcare crowdfunding platform SeedInvest.
Expansion to Los Angeles and other West Coast cities hubs is anticipated next.
LAUNCH
Medical device company Okami Medical Inc. plans a limited commercial launch of a product—known as an occluder—to treat blocked blood vessels, following its FDA approval in November.
Surgeons use occluders to obstruct or reduce the rate of blood flow to arteries in patients. The technique is often used when operating on patients with an embolism or aneurysm.
Okami’s LOBO system is a noninvasive “low profile braided occluder,” which the company said is a fraction of the size of others on the market.
The LOBO system provides a “one-and-done” solution for many targets and enables “more efficient interventions,” according to Bob Rosenbluth, president and chief executive of Okami.
Rosenbluth comes from a medical background; he’s a co-founder of MicroVention Inc. and Sequent Medical, both of which sold to Terumo Corp. in Tokyo, among others. He is also a co-founder of the medical device incubator Inceptus Medical LLC, which spun out Okami and medical device maker Inari Medical in Irvine.
Okami’s $4.5 million Series B round in 2017 was led by Inceptus, with participation from U.S. Venture Partners. Records show Okami is still based at Inceptus’ headquarters at 8 Argonaut in Aliso Viejo.
PARTNERSHIPS
Irvine-based molecular testing company Genomic Testing Cooperative (GTC) and C2i Genomics, a tumor pattern recognition company based in New York, are working together to create a liquid biopsy test for solid tumors.
C2i uses artificial intelligence and bioinformatics to compare data points from periodic and baseline patient tests to detect subtle changes in genetic patterns, which help clinicians and physicians better monitor cancer and cancer therapies.
GTC will handle genome sequencing, while C2i will focus on sample recruitment and data analysis.
GTC and C2i are focused on providing a staging and monitoring test for patients with cancers of the lung, colon, breast and melanoma. If the approach proves successful, GTC will distribute it to its co-op members for additional use.
Over the last year, GTC partnered with Irvine-based Cellgen Diagnostic to develop companion tests for targeted oncology treatments and added CSI Laboratories in Alpharetta, Ga., to its cooperative.
In other news: GTC on Jan. 7 received Medicare coverage via Palmetto GBA for its solid tumor profile, meaning that now all of its liquid and solid panels are reimbursable.
The company, which is helmed by Dr. Maher Albitar, has decided to postpone raising funds because it is earning enough from its existing operations, according to Chief Commercialization Officer Arie Shen.
GTC said it brought in “several million” dollars in revenue in 2019 and expects triple-digit organic growth this year.
Irvine cloud-based restaurant accounting software company Restaurant365 has partnered with Playa Vista-based Appetize Technologies, a point of sales and management platform on the cloud.
The collaboration will result in the integration of the companies’ two platforms, and connects front-end and back-end processes to provide restaurant operators with a variety of accounting, operations and ordering capabilities.
Appetize provides real-time data on sales and transactions, while Restaurant365 uses the data to provide insights into sales and menu performance, food costs and labor details. Appetize also provides managers with the ability to update menus and promotions instantly based on back-end insights.
Co-founders Morgan Harris, John Moody and Tony Smith started Restaurant365 in 2011.
Last June, Restaurant365 raised an $88 million round led by Silicon Valley-based Iconiq Capital with participation from Tiger Global Management and Bessemer Venture Partners.
