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In this issue:

  • Now on the Nasdaq: Strength for NW biotech region

  • Take a test drive of this mini: BioPro in bite-size pieces

  • New prestigious research team launched: New alliance studies peak human performance

  • Quotable quote: New $500-million, next-phase science campus

  • OSU: New internships and program announced for bio industry in College of Engineering

  • Legislative Overview: Get up to speed on Oregon's 2021 session

  • Welcome: New #ORBioMember Izon Science US, Ltd.

  • Deploying AI: Making microscopes smarter

ICYMI (highlights of key news/updates):

  • Hearts and minds: AdvaMed announces its annual medtech event and offers a Webinar on cardiology + COVID

  • Build industry connections: Make relationships that matter

  • NSF puts out offer for funding opps: America's Seed Fund taking pitches now

  • PILMA's new impact report: How skilled union and trade pros are a key part of the Oregon's ecosystem

  • For your business: Bio Business Solutions

Now on the Nasdaq: #ORBioMember Absci opens IPO and proclaims strength in our NW region
Absci Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSI), the synthetic biology company unlocking the potential of proteins as next-generation therapeutics, officially launched its Initial Public Offering on July 22 at the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotations’ (Nasdaq) MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square.
 
According to GeekWire, shares of #ORBioMember Absci surged more than 30% on opening day as the biotech firm made its debut as a public company. Absci priced its stock at $16 per share a day earlier, with expected proceeds of $200 million. Shares opened Thursday at $21, valuing the company at nearly $2 billion. Share prices fluctuated reaching a high of $24.40 on Monday, 7/26.
 
Interviewed from the Nasdaq floor about Absci’s geographical prospects (Absci is based in Vancouver, Wash.), Sean McClain, Absci founder and CEO, spoke highly of the innovation in the Pacific Northwest. “I firmly believe that we can make this region a successful synthetic biology hub… We realized that we could raise capital here in the region as well as recruit top talent, so we decided to stay and grow here.”
 
McClain serves on the board of directors for the Oregon Bioscience Association. Absci launched -- one of many successful start-up stories -- out of the Oregon Translational Research and Development Institute's incubator, which was launched in 2007 for just this purpose.
 
Absci’s AI-powered platform for protein discovery and production is designed to allow creation of drugs that may be impossible to make with current technologies and bring life-saving medicines to patients faster and more efficiently.
 
In honor of the occasion, McClain celebrated and rang the Nasdaq closing bell.
Take the new Mini BioPro sessions for a test drive: Free offerings starting in August
Free Mini BioPro 'Lunch & Learn' sessions are coming this Fall. Take advantage of four complimentary Mini Bio Pro Sessions that inform and offer a preview of the full-length versions. While the sessions are virtual, you can eat a real lunch during the program. Topics covered include:
 
  • Lean Six Sigma: Learn how combining Lean principles and Six Sigma strategies can dramatically improve your business results.  Date: Aug. 17, 2021 – 12 to 1 p.m. (Spoiler alert: Are you ready for the full opportunity? Lean Six Sigma starts its intensive schedule on 9/27 – click here to find out more and register).
  • Current Good Manufacturing Practices – Learn how non-compliance is not an option and ways to achieve good practices. Date: Aug. 23 – 12 to 1p.m.
  • Project Management – Discover the role and value of project management and its relationship to project success and failure. Date: TBD
  • General Standards for Medical Electrical Equipment and Systems and New Labeling Standards (IEC 60601-1)– Learn how these standards may apply to your enterprise. Date: TBD
 
The instructors who teach the full-length versions of these classes in our industry-standard BioPro curriculum will present the latest information and answer your questions. This will be the opportunity to refresh your knowledge or evaluate whether these courses would make a relevant investment for your company.

Watch this space in the next newsletter to learn how to register.
University of Oregon launches prestigious research program
UO announced last week it is a founding partner in the new Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a global effort to promote wellness and peak performance through scientific discovery and innovation. The university is one of six institutions launching the research alliance.
 
A gift from the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation will fund the alliance, including numerous UO projects. To sustain the work beyond the first decade, Duck donors have stepped up to begin building an endowment that will sustain the UO’s role in this unprecedented collaborative effort in perpetuity.
 
“The University of Oregon is thrilled to be a part of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance,” says UO president and professor of law Michael Schill. “With these partners, we make a powerful team that will advance our ability to study peak human performance—with the goal of enabling all people to achieve health and well-being.
Get engaged with #ORBioMember OSU's internship and networking programs
Josefine Fleetwood, employee relations manager at Oregon State University’s College of Engineering shared with us details on three exciting offerings:

MECOP Open House for bioscience, biomedical and biopharma industries
MECOP (formerly known as the Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program) demonstrates the power of an effective business/education partnerships. MECOP places university students in Oregon into 6-month industry internships and has since 1981. Learn how your firm or organization to get involved and how the program serves the needs of industry in Oregon and Washington and of engineering and business students at four Oregon universities. Oregon State University’s College of Engineering will also share information about their Bioengineering program. Sign up here to receive an invitation for the Sept. 29 virtual event happening from 10:30 a.m. to noon PDT.

Engineering Micro-internships Program - fall, winter and spring terms
Hire engineering students part-time during the academic term to work remotely to advance your projects! Get to know our students and help them to gain real-world experience under your technical supervision. OSU program coordination and unique project management software platform helps students stay on track. Fall term project proposals are due in early August. Learn more here: https://beav.es/op3

Engineering Connections Fair (Virtual)
Connect with engineering students in your own virtual meeting room! Host three short back-to-back presentations, while student rotate to their choice of three employer sessions. A final informal session in the same virtual room caps off the evening, providing time for networking and conversation. Register here for the Tues., Oct. 12 event from 4 to 6:15 p.m. PDT.  
Oregon's 2021 legislative session: challenges and permutations

 
Our proactive agenda ranged from reforming the Medicaid coverage process to better reflect modern medicine to supporting better patient benefits and expansion of newborn screening panels. We worked closely with both House Health Care Chair Rep. Rachel Prusak (D- Dist. 37), Senate Health Chair Sen. Deb Patterson (D-Dist. 10), and a number of legislators on a variety of bills and amendments.
 
As always, much of our work was defensive, focused on educating legislators on the problems and challenges with proposed bills. None were bigger than the proposed “drug price oversight board” bill, which was brought forth in Senate Bill 844. Oregon Bio partnered with a variety of stakeholders and met with many legislators on the risks of the proposal to access and innovation.
 
Ultimately, while the bill still creates risks (and costs) for our industry, the final bill incorporated several changes incorporating our concerns. In addition, we challenged several bills aimed at medical devices and prior authorization. While some of our efforts, including protecting trade secrets and intellectual property from the drug transparency reporting process, reforms for Medicaid coverage determinations and extension of Oregon’s biosimilars law came up short, we will continue to focus on these during the interim and into the 2022 session.
Welcome new #ORBioMember Izon Science US, Ltd.
Oregon Bio is pleased to welcome Izon Science as a new member. Izon Science is a world-leading manufacturer of nano-biological separation and characterization tools. Its qEV SEC columns have rapidly become the EV separation method favored by experts. Izon’s TRPS measurement system is the only accurate, standardizable and practical method of measuring complex nano-bio particles, particularly EVs and nanomedicine products.
 
Izon Science is joining Oregon Bio to “be part of the science community in Oregon,” says Grazia Abou-Ezzi, Ph.D., senior R&D support scientist. Association partner discounts, extensive bio-specific training programs, and “all the knowledge and information [Oregon Bio] has to offer” were additional considerations in joining.

Deploying AI: Nikon is making microscopes smarter
Although #ORBioMember Nikon has been around for decades, their products continue to incorporate cutting edge upgrades. Because Nikon participates in the Bio Business Solutions program that Oregon Bio offers its members in partnership with BIO, the savings and benefits include these latest product developments.

Case in point: Nikon applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the tenth generation of Nikon’s AX series microscopes - the first confocal systems to combine a 25mm field of view with 8192 x 8192 pixel resolution.

According to Nikon, using their AI software modules, the AX and AX R can automatically determine optimal acquisition settings faster than most microscopists. There’s real time shot noise removal. Plus, there’s automated segmentation of complex structures (that normally require manual tracing.)

Through the global Bio Business Solutions program, Oregon Bio members enjoy discounts on products that are becoming smarter and help reduce costs. Learn more about the Nikon and the Bio Business discounts. (Note: photo provided by Nikon details neurons as taken by the AX microscope).

AdvaMed announces in-person 2021
Medtech Amplified conference Sept. 27-30 and hosts cardiology + COVID webinar Aug. 5
The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) will host its trademark award-winning programming and networking opportunities in a new hybrid structure, combining the benefits of both in-person and virtual events, on September 27 – 30. Attendees can participate in The MedTech Conference in a fully virtual environment, and they can also take advantage of limited-capacity in-person gatherings in Washington, D.C. and in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
 
Registration, agenda and conference details are here.

On August 5 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, AdvaMed and RM Global Partners is convening a webinar due to the continuing concern about the cardiovascular aspects and risks of the COVID-19 epidemic, even as lockdowns start to recede.
 
Speakers include Dr. Michael Jaff, Dr. Louis Cannon, Dr. Justin Klein, Dr. Roxana Mehran and Jack Springer.
 
The distinguished panel of speakers will answer these questions and more:
  • What have we learned and what can we expect about the cardiovascular impact of COVID-19?
  • What is the clinical impact on trials and product approvals?
  • What was the impact of COVID-19 on the medtech ecosystem?
 
Creating relationships that matter for 
you and your organization

We invite our service partners to share their thought leadership and contribute articles to this newsletter so all members and recipients can learn more about your business/ platform/company. What knowledge and experience do you want others to know? What trends and topics do you foresee? How are you growing and can you advise other companies/organizations? Be a voice of industry. Send an email and/or submit your articles to news@oregonbio.org.
NSF looking for ideas that 'change the world'

Need seed capital and access to a network of science innovators and advice? The National Science Foundation is powering America’s Seed Fund to invests up to $2 million in seeding fund and takes zero equity.
 
The fund, executed through a congressional mandate via the SBIR/STTR programs, provides startup funding to small companies and new entrepreneurs, and supports R&D involving technical risk. Each year, a wide variety of sectors are funded, such as robotics, advanced materials, cloud computing, digital health, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
 
Each year, America’s Seed Fund supports approximately 400 companies annually across nearly all technology and market sectors (with the exception of clinical trials and schedule I controlled substances). The fund has made 3,400 awards since 2012 with 153 exits by funded companies and $9.1 billion in private investment.
 
You can download a searchable PDF of the full list of technology topic areas that also includes descriptions of the subtopics. Get your project pitches ready and apply to America’s Seed Fund. Learn more here.
New industry impact report published
and shared by PILMA
The Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association, is showcasing how Oregon's biopharmaceutical companies research and develop new treatments and cures that improve patient health while also contributing to U.S. economic health. These companies employ highly skilled union construction workers to build state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facilities to ensure infrastructure is built to exacting standards.
 
PILMA found Oregon’s major project valuation totals $361 million with five key projects leading the demand: Genentech’s Hillsboro-area fill and finish plant, Genentech’s finish plant life building 2 in Hillsboro, Bend Research’s CMO plant expansion, Bend Research’s solid oral dose and HPAPI development plant addition, and Patheon by Thermo Fisher Scientific’s liquid CDMO spray drying line addition and renovation.
 
The report also notes pharmaceutical manufacturing in Oregon in 2019 numbers 60 firms, employing 1,114 workers and providing $62 million in annual wages. To read more about Oregon’s biopharmaceutical impact in the construction and trades sectors, see the report.

Have you checked out cost savings programs for BIO members?
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  2828 S. Corbett Ave. Suite 115
  Portland, Oregon 97201
  503-548-4432