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10/08/2021
Monthly Newsletter
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- Why membership matters: Health plans now available to Oregon Bio members through Mercer Marketplace and BIO Business Solutions
- Meet your new BFFs: New companies join Oregon Bio
- Absci announces new drug discovery and development partner
- Save the date: Nov. 10 - Oregon Bio Fall Career Fair
- In review: September's Makers & [bio] Markers visit with the ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum and upcoming sessions
- Oregon Bio Women: Organizing effort launched and Book Club underway
- Present your company at BIO events in 2022
- Mentors wanted and needed: Check out Saturday Academy
- The lists of lists: Oregon's top 2021 NIH awardees and today's top national biotech careers
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Cost-effective health plans now available to Oregon Bio members via partnership with Mercer and BIO |
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Membership means more! Great news for current and potential members of the well-known BIO’s and Oregon Bio’s Business Solutions program. We’re partnering with Mercer, a leader in association group benefit solutions, to provide small employers with 2-99 employees quality group medical benefits at competitive pricing. Following direction from the BIO Business Solutions Advisory Board, and many requests for a group medical program from state associations, BIO Business Solutions selected Mercer for several reasons: their experience in partnering with associations; the quality of the Mercer Marketplace 365+ platform; the quality and competitiveness of the insurance plans; and positive references from leading trade associations with whom Mercer has implemented the Affinity Small Group Insurance option.
These health, dental, vision, and basic life/AD&D plans are Affordable Care Act-compliant, fully insured, designed specifically for small and medium companies, offered through Mercer. Plus, Mercer’s best-in-class web-based platform - Mercer Affinity 365+TM – will provide Multiple-Carrier Quoting, streamlines enrollment for employees and simplifies ongoing management your administrator. To find out more about Oregon Bio’s custom program, click here for the flier or email us here for more info.
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Your new BFFs: Welcome new #ORBioMembers
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We are proud to welcome many new members to the Oregon Bioscience Association over the past month. Learn more about potential new collaborators, partners, customers, suppliers and more that you and your firm might find in creating new relationships. |
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Araceli Biosciences is dedicated to accelerating drug discovery. The new firm delivers high-performance scientific tools for tissue and cell-based biomarker discovery, drug discovery and drug development. With decades of combined biomedical research and instrument design experience, we are focused on developing scientific instrumentation to improve outcomes and enable our customers to advance scientific and medical research. Speed is essential for furthering our understanding of biology, and we believe in reducing the time needed to acquire high-quality data and obtain clear, high-quality results. By making advanced technologies accessible, we allow researchers to focus on the science, not the tool. Our goal is to develop innovative products that accelerate basic research, drug discovery, and manufacturing to advance healthy outcomes. We believe in blurring the line between science and technology, using one to improve the other in a holistic approach.
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Raymond Pavitt established Astoria-Pacific, Inc. in 1990. Its headquarters are located in Clackamas, Oregon (a suburb of Portland) and is the sole manufacturer of the Astoria and Astoria 2 continuous flow analyzers.
Astoria-Pacific started small, with a few product offerings primarily within the horticultural market, namely a liquid rooting concentrate, “Dip’N Grow,” for woody plant propagation. Now, they’ve not only expanded into the automated chemistry and analyzer business but now are known for developing SPOTCHECK®, neonatal screening and diagnostic reagents via automated newborn screening tests for deficiencies.
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NexTC creates state-of-the-art processes for manufacturing thin film coatings. The corporation was founded in 2018 as a spin-out from the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry and the Department of Chemistry at Oregon State University. NexTC provides high-performance, low-cost insulator and conductive oxide coatings to manufacturers in energy conversion, energy efficiency and electronics markets. The coatings allow customers to dramatically reduce manufacturing costs, grow markets, and introduce new products.
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Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative is a marketing-based, organic food company. Headquartered in La Farge, Wisconsin, the co-op owns three dairy production facilities which process bulk fluid milk, cheese conversion, butter/ghee and dairy powders. Within the company there are 3 small, finished product testing labs that are managed by Organic Valley. All pathogen testing and environmental testing is sent out to third-party labs. At its McMinnville, Oregon location (the only one outside of the state of Wisconsin), the company processes bulk fluid milks, butter and dairy powder.
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Siemens is a global innovator focusing on digitalization, electrification and automation for the process and manufacturing industries, and is a leader in power generation and distribution, intelligent infrastructure, and distributed energy systems. For more than 160 years, the company has developed technologies that support multiple American industries including manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and infrastructure.
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Absci - Oregon Bio's newest Platinum member - announces new partnership
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This week, #ORBioMember Absci announced a new partnership with EQRx to co-discover and co-develop next-generation, protein-based drugs. The news release noted Absci’s AI-powered discovery and development platform will further expand EQRx’s portfolio of innovative and affordable medicines to create ‘radically lower prices’ on new drugs.
“This collaboration with EQRx expands the reach of our AI-powered target discovery, drug design and development technology,” said Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci. “Together, we look forward to discovering differentiated next-generation biologics, driving efficiencies, and accelerating timelines so that our future medicines can have the biggest possible impact for patients in need.”
Absci had one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest IPOs in history in July. Oregon Bio also thanks Absci for increasing its investment as a Platinum member.
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Save the date:
Oregon Bio Fall 2021 Career Fair is coming soon
November 10, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
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If your organization is hiring, consider hosting a virtual booth to meet, screen and hire candidates for your company/firm/organization. We’re using an industry-leading, smart technology platform and are collaborating with Oregon Bio's DEI committee, working on behalf of participants, to get the word out to diverse candidate pools. Get in touch with us as soon as possible to participate.
When: Wednesday, November 10; 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Virtually, via the crowd platform Brazen
Employers: Register for a Career Fair booth on our webpage. Questions? Contact julie@oregonbio.org.
Jobseekers: Check the Oregon Bio Web site in mid-October for details on how to register
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In review: Check out the recent M&bM
session with ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum
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Among our guests on Makers & [bio] Markers in September were staff and supporters of ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum in Ashland, Oregon. The museum’s interactive format engages young students in science. Here are some notable quotes form our conversation.
“Fifty percent of our students served in our programs are in grades three through five. They just happen to be our primary audience – we’re very popular with [them] in terms of education and programming.”
Erin Endress – ScienceWorks Hands on Museum Executive Director
“Since the Next Generation Science Standards were adopted in Oregon in 2014 for some Elementary [School] teachers that was really the first opportunity they had to focus in a regular, ongoing way on science in the classroom between Kindergarten and 5th grade here in Oregon. “
Ash Friend – ScienceWorks Hands on Museum Education Director
“I grew up in Boston and one museum literally launched my curiosity and love of science: the Peabody Museum, and I also had exposure to the Boston Museum of Science and I loved that as a kid.”
Barbara Hurd – Biomed Diagnostics Director of Business Development and Marketing and sponsor of Scienceworks
You can watch the full program and other past episodes of Makers and [bio] Markers on our website.
Coming up: These upcoming Makers & [bio] Markers sessions - free and virtual - are coming to your digital device. Click on the date to get more info and to register:
Oct 14: Acer Therapeutics Develops Therapies for Patients with Serious, Ultra-Rare Diseases
Oct. 21: Meet the Maker Hub at George Fox University
Oct. 28: Lonza Excels in Contract Development and Manufacturing
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Oregon Bio Women launches organizing effort to support and empower female industry pros |
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Oregon Bio is enlarging its Oregon Bio Women (OBW) committee and after a summer launch, has several subcommittees that are open to Oregon Bio female members.
On Sept. 24, the OBW Book Club subcommittee hosted its first book club gathering with the mission of launching the exploration of relevant books, journals, articles and great reads devoted to the success of the biotech and life science industries.
OBW Book Club subcommittee chair Nicole Shuey recently said, “Books have a way of bringing people together and inspiring change. Our first book club selection was a tome full of inspirational women who saw societal problems and used science, technology, and perseverance to create change. My favorite part of our first book club gathering was that we spent about 15 minutes discussing the book, and then we moved to discussing ideas on how we too can change our community for the better.”
Two other OBW subcommittees are focused on mentorship and events. If you’d like more information about this member-only committee open to women, email julie@oregonbio.org.
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Apply now to make your company
presentation at 2022 BIO
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Company presentations are a great way to increase your visibility at the BIO International Convention, especially in BIO One-on-One Partnering, as a way to attract more partners to meet. Opportunities to present also exist at the 2022 BIO CEO and Investor Conference. These 13-minute podium presentations allow you to tell your company’s story and advance your business development goals. Applications are accepted for review and approval through May 27, 2022 or when spots sell out. Click here to learn more and apply.
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Mentors wanted and needed:
Meet Saturday Academy
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The well-regarded Saturday Academy’s Apprenticeships in Science & Engineering (ASE) program is seeking the benefit of your hard-earned professional experience to meet and guide Portland-area high school STEM students. In return you’ll gain valuable student contributions to your projects and research, and the opportunity to practice diversity, equity and inclusion as you work with students who are historically underrepresented. These mentorships also provide professional development for you and your team and create positive links between your organization and the community.
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The lists of lists: Top Oregon FY 2021 NIH awardees and top bioscience careers |
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Did you know: The top 10 companies and institutions in Oregon with the biggest awards from the National Institutes of Health in FY 2021 are:
- OHSU,** 539 awards - $284,252,932
- University of Oregon,** 98 awards - $44,670,252
- Oregon State University,** 59 awards, $21,484,829
- Portland State University, 14 awards, $7,868,971
- Oregon Social Learning Center Inc., 9 awards, $5,386,025
- Oregon Research Institute, 4 awards, $3,593,550
- Oregon Research Behavioral Intervention Strategies, 6 awards, $2,935,738
- PDX Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,** 2 awards, $2,276,391
- Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, 3 awards, $2,221,434
- Aronora Inc.,** 2 awards, $1,980,299
You can find the complete list here on the NIH Web site.
Did you know: According to Northeastern University, these are the top five of today’s leading biotechnology careers, along with their annual average wages:
1. Biomedical Engineer: $91,410
2. Biochemist and Biophysicists: $94,490
3. Biotechnology Research Scientist: $87,418
4. Biomanufacturing Specialists: $83,017
5. Medical Scientist: $88,790
You can find Northeastern U's complete list here.
**Oregon Bio member
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Oregon Bioscience
2828 S. Corbett Ave. Suite 115
Portland, Oregon 97201
503-548-4432
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Platinum Members
Diamond Members
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