My name is Jaione Maiz, and I am a Principal on the investment team at Anzu Partners, primarily focused on life science opportunities. Today I am happy to highlight one of our life science portfolio companies, BioSkryb Genomics.
BioSkryb Genomics is based in Durham, North Carolina (in the heart of the Research Triangle Park) and is enabling researchers and doctors to better understand how complex biological diseases, like cancer, emerge and evolve.
Cancer tumors, for example, are complex groups of heterogeneous cells that experience rapid and uncontrolled growth. Cells are mutating rapidly due to intrinsic (e.g., spontaneous genetic mutations) and extrinsic (e.g., blood flow, therapeutic interventions) factors. It is difficult to separate the signal (e.g., what genetic mutations are driving cancer) versus the noise (everything else that is changing in the chaotic micro-and macroenvironment).
Existing next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies require a large amount of tissue samples (or cells) in order to run an NGS experiment. Many tumor biopsies are small, however, and cells of interest may be just a subset of the biopsy. If the target sample is too small for a standard NGS experiment, the industry currently offers two "solutions": 1) blend up as big of a sample as you can and process it (called "bulk" sequencing) or, 2) use a DNA-amplification technology to work with a small amount of DNA (think one or a few cells) and create a large enough sample adequate for NGS. While there are currently several DNA amplification chemistries on the market, they amplify everything in their surroundings with lots of errors, leading to a blurry view that is difficult to interpret.
BioSkryb solves that with their Primary Template-Directed Amplification (PTA). PTA redirects the critical amplification enzymes back to the "primary template," or original DNA copy, and only copies the original DNA. The result is a high-resolution picture of DNA from even a single cell, enabling a digital readout of genetic sequence and mutations.
The ability to assess the DNA of a single cell is compelling. What is even more compelling would be the ability to combine an understanding of both the DNA and the RNA from a single cell. RNA makes proteins, which form the basis for the dynamic communication and interactions between cells. BioSkryb's next product, available later this year, allows researchers to understand the whole genome (DNA) plus the full-length transcriptome (RNA), and uses cutting-edge bioinformatics to extrapolate proteins (proteomics), from a single cell. This is true of multiple omics (called "multi-omics") from a single cell and is a complete breakthrough for anyone studying cells.
BioSkryb is collaborating with multiple different partners, to create specific single-cell solutions for customers. One example is with Automated Lab Solutions (or ALS Jena), to couple BioSkryb's unique chemistry with ALS Jena's industry-leading single-cell selecting robot.
BioSkryb Genomics is making strong progress across these dimensions and more, to enable an accurate and precise understanding of complex diseases, by capturing comprehensive data from each unique cell within a disease or person. At Anzu, we are delighted to support the BioSkryb Genomics team as they change the way that cells are investigated and enable true precision medicine.
Sincerely,
Jaione Maiz
PORTFOLIO COMPANY UPDATES
Adaptive Surface Technologies Raised New Financing
Adaptive Surface Technologies (AST), a world leader in repellent surfaces, announced that it has raised new financing. AkzoNobel has joined an existing list of strategic and financial investors that includes Tokyo Electron Ventures, BASF Ventures, Anzu Partners, and more.
The funding will be utilized to expand commercial operations and support new product development. Learn more in the press release here.
NUBURU Named Brian Knaley as Chief Financial Officer
NUBURU® appointed Brian Knaley as Chief Financial Officer to oversee all aspects of finance and investor relations as the company accelerates and implements its growth strategy to expand the presence of its blue laser technology across target markets.
Mr. Knaley is a three-time public company CFO and brings over 25 years of experience to NUBURU. He most recently served as the CFO for CEA Industries Inc., (Nasdaq: CEAD) a provider of architectural, engineering, and mechanical services and products for the controlled environment agriculture market. At CEA Industries, he led efforts to raise $3 million in a PIPE financing as well as an uplist from the OTC markets to Nasdaq.
6K and Our Next Energy (ONE) Announced Collaboration to Create Low-Cost Gemini Cathode Material
6K, and Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE), a Michigan-based developer of innovative energy storage technology, announced a partnership as ONE looks to scale up and commercialize its Gemini cell chemistry.
Liquid Instruments announced new enhancements for Moku: Go, a complete, portable, and accessible lab solution platform designed for engineers and students to actively test designs and projects.
These enhancements include the addition of these new instruments:
Digital Filter Box: A tool to design and build infinite impulse response (IIR) filters, useful for noise filtering, signal amplification and more.
FIR Filter Builder: A tool to design and build finite impulse response (FIR) filters, useful for DSP system design and impulse response simulation.
Lock-in Amplifier: An instrument used to isolate a known signal from a noisy environment. Lock-in amplifiersare versatile instruments that can be used for a variety of applications such as analog radio and laser control.
OTI Lumionics and the University of British Columbia (UBC) announced that they have demonstrated quantum computing methods have an advantage over standard classical methods in simulating organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display emitter materials, when using OTI’s iterative qubit coupled cluster (iQCC) quantum method.
The findings from the collaborative research clearly indicate that quantum computing methods can have a powerful advantage in computational materials design.
An international research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and ImmunoScape, a U.S.-Singapore biotechnology company, found that people who gained immunity — either through vaccination or exposure — against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also are likely to have some protection against the pathogen’s omicron variant. That’s because the mutations that led to the variant’s emergence aren’t found in the regions of the virus that stimulates one type of cellular immune response.
InterVenn Biosciences Added James Almas MD, to its Board of Advisors
InterVenn Biosciences announced that James Almas, MD, has joined the company’s Board of Advisors. Dr. Almas, who is VP & National Medical Director of Clinical Effectiveness at Laboratory Corporation of America Holding (LabCorp), is advising InterVenn on reimbursement strategy, health economics, coding, and other foundational activities required for commercialization of novel diagnostic tests for the clinical market.
Dr. Almas is a board-certified pathologist with years of experience in hospitals, independent laboratories, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
NTx announced that it has been awarded U.S. Patent 11,136,586 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The technology relates to an in vitro cell-free expression system incorporating an innovative inorganic polyphosphate-based energy regeneration system that solves for the common roadblocks around speed, scalability, and cost.
While cell-free expression, or in vitro translation systems could offer many advantages to researchers, several obstacles around speed and scale of other systems have limited their use as a protein production technology. NTx’s proprietary, cell-free biomanufacturing platform was developed to address those challenges and improve patient access to innovative, protein based medical products and treatments. This patent helps strengthen NTx’s protection of its proprietary technology and secure its market potential.
ADDITIONAL ANZU PC MEDIA COVERAGE
6K on Forbes’ America’s Best Startup Employers List
Jerry Carlisle Jr., Vice President, Accounting and Finance
Jerry joins Anzu Partners as Vice President, Finance and Accounting, based in Tampa, FL.
In his role, Jerry provides expertise and support for our portfolio companies, taking the lead on government contract accounting, compliance, GAAP accounting, and financial reporting. Prior to joining Anzu, Jerry was Controller at Jabil leading the Aerospace and Defense sites supporting finance, accounting, compliance, and audit and has previously worked as Controller for Embraer & Honeywell.
Jerry received his BA in Accounting from Davenport University (Flint, MI), and was also a part of the MBA program as well.
Steven Corliss, Associate, Manufacturing and Operations
Steven joins Anzu Partners as a Manufacturing and Operations Associate under the Manufacturing and Operations team, based in Boston, MA.
In his role, Steven will support day-to-day business and development operations of various portfolio companies, including project management, engineering, and other support functions. Prior to joining Anzu, Steven was most recently a Senior Program Manager at Weavr Health and has previously worked in project management, engineering, and sales/biz dev roles across various industries, including consumer electronics, medical devices, and material handling robotics.
Steven received his BS in Mechanical Engineering and his MBA from Northeastern University.
Michael Kaladeen, Senior Accountant, Accounting and Finance
Michael joins Anzu Partners as a Senior Accountant under Finance and Accounting, based in Tampa, FL.
In his role, Michael supports the day-to-day accounting operations for Niron Magnetics, including financial modeling, accounts payable/receivable processes, journal entries, monthly accruals, bank reconciliations, and cash flow reports. Prior to joining Anzu, Michael was a Financial Analyst at Stillwater HC supporting the commercial and federal procurement teams with financial planning & analysis, systems implementations, and full cycle accounting.
Michael received his BS and MAcc from the University of Florida in 2019 and is working on obtaining his CPA.
Dianna Herbert, Talent Coordinator, People Operations
Dianna joins Anzu Partners as a Talent Coordinator under People Operations, based in Tampa, FL.
In her role, Dianna supports the day-to-day Talent operations, including scheduling interviews, completing reference checks, and ensuring job postings are active and up to date for open roles within Anzu and portfolio companies. Prior to joining Anzu, Dianna was a Sales and Solutions Specialist with the Walt Disney Company supporting Guests and Cast Members alike with travel plans and itinerary changes, as well as assisting with all pre and post vacation challenges and has prior customer service experience in the hospitality, restaurant and moving industries.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Anzu Partners and our portfolio companies are hiring!
Browse the open roles here and learn more about joining our amazing teams.
The information contained in this newsletter is being provided by Anzu Partners for informational purposes only. The information was obtained from various sources, but Anzu Partners cannot assure its accuracy. This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation for an offer to buy an interest in any fund managed by Anzu Partners. Any such offer or solicitation will only be made to qualified potential investors pursuant to a private placement memorandum. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.
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