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In this issue:

  • Supply chain issues? BIO issues information and help for companies with Defense Act-related supply chain challenges

  • My vantage point: Stop the violence against Asian Americans

  • Event: March 31 @ 8 a.m. - Oregon Bio partners with Greater Portland Inc. to spotlight virtual Bioscience Industry Tour

  • Event: April 21 - Attend OHSU's Invent-a-thon Post Hack event

  • Need bio space, a discovery bench or a hot desk? Meet Nzumbe to share space

  • NSF opens 2021 Phase I/II SBIR and STTR solicitations

  • Industry talk: Read March 2021's Oregon Business Tactics column about the healthy outlook for the bioscience industry

  • News: AbSci announces $125 crossover financing to advance
AI-powered platform

  • Partner event: March 30-31, Life Science Innovation NW 2021

  • For cost savings and resources - try Bio Business Solutions

Is your company experiencing Defense Production Act-related supply chain disruptions? Let us know

The BIotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is reporting the White House COVID-19 Task Force's Supply Chain team is well aware of the downstream impacts of Defense Production Act (DPA) priority ratings on non-COVID biotechnology products and is working to identify solutions. A large focus is on expanding supply, and they also are open to considering priority allocations for products that meet a great need and are facing imminent shortage issues. The task force is also modeling over the next few months to explore when such pressures might begin to be alleviated.

In order to address these issues, the task force needs to understand what specific issues are occurring, in terms of specific supplies and time sequencing. A cross-governmental group, with the Office of HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) serving as Secretariat, is gathering and examining the issues experienced by industry and will explore solutions. To report on issues your company is experiencing, please email ASPR.DPA@hhs.gov and include the specific supplies/CMO issues, impacted products, and timelines for business impacts.

If your organization is experiencing issues accessing manufacturing components, ancillary materials and raw materials, as well as with securing time for manufacturing runs with CMOs, please email ASPR.DPA@hhs.gov and include the specific supply/CMO issues, impacted products and timelines for business impacts.

The COVID-19 Task Force Supply Chain Team is also interested in meeting with companies to discuss specific issues; contact information for the team is included below:
·      Tim Manning: timothy.w.manning@who.eop.gov
·      Tom Breslin: thomas.m.breslin@who.eop.gov
·      Sean Christiansen: sean.m.christiansen@who.eop.gov
·      Noe Gonzalez: noe.gonzalez@who.eop.gov

Please cc liisa@oregonbio.org in your response.

My vantage point: Local Asian American leader speaks out

Oregon Bio stands with our Asian American members, friends, colleagues, instructors and service partners in standing up against the violence, racially-motivated attacks, discrimination and aggression directed at them. According to the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators, nearly 3,800 anti-Asian incidents, mostly attacks against women and elderly, were reported in the U.S. last year.

“It brings up many difficult emotions,” says Nancy Lime, Oregon Bio board member and chief operating officer at Sedia Biosciences.

“I feel like Asian Americans have had an unfair amount of blame placed on them for COVID-19,” she says and acknowledges how disinformation and the nickname ‘Chinavirus’ circulated around for several months. “This ideology proliferates because people often fixate on identifying and scapegoating outsiders whom they can blame. It's a form of violence in our culture, and that makes me sad for the world.”

Lime is a first-generation Chinese American and worries about her elderly mom and brother who live in a small town in southern Oregon. Her parents and grandparents owned restaurants there for many years. She was raised under the same roof as her grandparents so she saw the impacts on three generations. “I realized because of my culture and the way I was raised, I’ve tolerated a lot.”

As a longtime local biotech executive, she wants to raise awareness. "We can work together to fight this new tide of xenophobia. We can bring science in to address the disparities. I can change my behavior; we all can." #stopaapihate #learnournames

[Virtual] Bioscience Tour on March 31:
Oregon Bio and Greater Portland Inc. team up to spotlight region's growing bioscience cluster

Join Greater Portland Inc. and Oregon Bio on March 31 for a virtual tour of Portland's fast-growing bioscience sector. Industry insiders and local company leaders from Genentech, AbSci, Acumed and OHSU will share our regional business advantages for bioscience firms and startups. Learn about the local investment opportunities and benefits of relocating or establishing a location in greater Portland. Register for the virtual event here.

Check it out: OHSU's Invent-a-thon
Post Hack - April 21

The OHSU Invent-a-thon Post-Hack is a business plan competition hosting eight teams competing in business plan pitching that was open to all the 49 team participants in the 2020 inaugural OHSU Invent-a-thon. Teams have been working hard since October to advance their projects, in many cases with support from our partners. We are excited to help highlight their progress and award follow-on funding for the most promising technologies.
 
Those pitching at the April 21 event will have demonstrated the greatest chance of readiness for funding at this point in time. Participating teams will give a 7-minute pitch to a panel of investors to compete for $40,000 in follow-on funding, plus in-kind support.


Hot desks and discovery benches available -
meet Nzumbe Inc.
Meet Nzumbe Inc., a small biotech that’s start-up spun out of OHSU.  
 
“We appreciate the challenges facing small companies as they transition to independence or require space for their initial ‘proof-of-concept' efforts,” says Michael Rountree, Chief Scientific Officer at Nzumbe, Inc. After an arduous search, Nzumbe recently moved into independent lab space at 4023 N.E. Hancock St., Portland, OR 97212. 

“Our space is larger than our current needs, so we are interested in offering 'discovery' benches on short-term lease options that will include access to an array of common scientific equipment and instrumentation, refrigeration/ freezer storage and facilities capable of handling many wet lab-based research and development activities. We envision this as transition space giving your company a short-term solution allowing you to hit the ground running and minimize the hurdle of the initial operational costs. We also have the possibility of securing additional office space. We would like to create a collaborative environment that fosters growth for all.” 

If your company is interested in office space, contact Nzumbe Inc. at info@nzumbeinc.com


National Science Foundation opens
SBIR/STTR solicitation
The 2021 release is finally here! Similar to last year, NSF has issued a single set of solicitations that will cover all four “windows” in 2021 in which they are accepting applications. The windows are:
  • Now - June 03, 2021
  • June 04, 2021 - September 02, 2021
  • September 03, 2021 - December 02, 2021
Many elements of the new release are the same as 2020. Award amounts remain unchanged, and a project pitch is still required in order to be invited to submit a full application. However, there are some differences in the guidelines for the 15-page project description, including a dedicated 1-page section on broader impacts.  
 
As always, NSF accepts project pitches and, if invited, full proposals in a wide variety of topic areas including:
  • Chemical and Environmental Technologies
  • Energy
  • Information Technologies
  • Digital Health
  • Biomedical Devices, and much more

Here is a list of the program managers and the topic areas NSF supports, and linked here is more information on Phase I solicitations and Phase II solicitations. 
Photo credit: J.T. MacMillan
Tactics: Healthy outlook in interview with Oregon Bio's Liisa Bozinovic
[Oregon Business Magazine] - Portland OR – March 1, 2021 
COVID-19 is expected to accelerate the growth of the bioscience sector in the state. 

The race to develop COVID-19 vaccines, therapies and diagnostics has spurred strong growth in the life-sciences sector. Portland and other areas of the state are emerging as hubs for bioscience companies.

Portland was the fastest-growing market for life-sciences employment and research and development between 2016 and 2019. The recent move by Twist Bioscience, a Bay Area biotech company, to open a second facility in Wilsonville is likely to attract more companies to the area.

Liisa Bozinovic, executive director of the Oregon Bioscience Association, gives her take on what is behind the state’s popularity as a center for bioscience development and what barriers there are to investment...
News: #ORBioMember AbSci announces $125 million financing to advance AI-powered platform
AbSci via Cision/PR Newswire -March 23, 2021 -- Vancouver, Washington-based AbSci, a pioneering synthetic biology company that unifies biologic drug discovery and development processes, this week announced $125 million in crossover financing. The round was co-led by existing investors Casdin Capital and Redmile Group, with participation from new investors Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC, D1 Capital Partners, Perceptive Advisors, aMoon Edge, and Irving Investors, as well as other existing investors including ArrowMark Partners.

Proceeds will support AbSci's continued growth, including research and development activities and other strategic investments. Key areas of focus are integration and training of the Denovium Engine™ deep learning artificial intelligence platform AbSci acquired in January 2021, and ongoing expansion of core discovery capabilities including non-standard amino acid technologies...
Register today - Life Science Innovation
Northwest 2021

Register today for Life Science Innovation Northwest (LSINW) 2021! This live, virtual event is the largest annual life science conference in the Pacific Northwest. On March 30 & 31, investors, public and private life science companies, research institutions, scientists, entrepreneurs, and the global health community will come together to feature and discuss some of the most compelling life science breakthroughs of our time.

Notable features of the event:

  • Keynote presentations from Amy Abernethy, MD, Principal Deputy Commissioner, FDA and Daphne Kohler, PhD, CEO, insitro
  • Panel discussions on next gen cell therapies; innovations driving corporate interest in biopharma; advances in neurodegeneration; paying for innovation; and other timely topics
  • Entrepreneurial Forum featuring Alexandria Ventures, BARDA Ventures, Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund and many more organizations that support regional startups with funding, incubation, mentoring, and other resources
  • Private virtual meetings with presenting companies and other attendees, starting two days prior to conference kickoff
  • Over 70 Presentations from the regions most promising and influential companies and institutions including, Seagen, BMS, NanoString, Fred Hutch, University of Washington, Sana Biotechnology, and many more.

Additionally, we have special pricing for LSINW 2021. Every paid registration will come with a free pass for a second attendee from the same organization when they register at the same time. Organizations that want to send several of their employees can take advantage of a flat $1,000 registration fee for unlimited passes. Contact Kathleen@lifesciencewa.org for more information.

To learn more about LSINW2021, please visit our website: https://lifesciencewa.org/events/life-science-innovation-northwest/

Oregon Bio membership means more
Through its partnership with BIO, Oregon Bio offers its members the opportunity to take advantage of the BIO Business Solutions® programs listed below. Click on the company name to learn more. There is no fee for Oregon Bio members to participate.
   Oregon Bioscience
  2828 S. Corbett Ave. Suite 115
  Portland, Oregon 97201
  503-548-4432