Innovative biotech startups focus on groundbreaking work that could change the way doctors and patients think about medical care. While the newest startups haven’t released many products, they have delivered research that shows exceptional promise. If you’re interested in the biotech industry, then you’ll want to keep an eye on these four companies.
Foundation Medicine
Foundation Medicine wants to gain a deeper understanding of how cancer cells develop and how doctors can choose the best treatment options for their patients. Much of the company’s work focuses on molecular shifts that may increase a person’s odds of getting cancer. With some luck, Foundation Medicine will discover approaches that improve the effectiveness of cancer diagnostics.
Foundation Medicine is also working with Roche to develop new cancer treatments. Over 14 million Americans struggle with cancer every year, so the company’s research could potentially affect a lot of lives.
Even after Foundation Medicine and Roche find new cancer treatments, pharmacies may have a hard time selling the prescriptions. Pharmacies are considered risky businesses because drugs might get recalled and treatments may harm patients. These concerns mean that a pharmacy may need to get a pharmacy merchant account to sell revolutionary drugs that save lives.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Image via Flickr by frankieleon
Recursion Pharmaceuticals started at the University of Utah when a group of chemists decided that the standard pharmaceutical industry’s approach to developing drugs was too slow to match today’s medical needs. With so many people suffering from a range of diseases, the scientists wanted to find a technique that helped them speed up the process. Ideally, they wanted to develop 100 drugs within a decade.
The startup focuses on orphaned diseases that don’t get much attention. Instead of testing new drug concepts on patients, though, the company made custom computer software that reveals how diseased cells will react to new treatments.
Juno Therapeutics
Juno Therapeutics uses T Cell Receptor (TCR) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) technology to develop cellular immunotherapies for cancer. Early clinical trials show that these approaches could yield marvelous results for certain types of cancer patients.
Since Juno Therapeutics works on the cutting edge of science, it can bump heads with federal regulators that want to slow the process. Recently, the company gained approval to continue phase two of its research. The trials were halted after two patients died during treatment. Now, it has permission to continue testing its research to see if it can complete a treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
MyoKardia
MyoKardia, as the name hints, develops medicines that treat rare cardiovascular diseases. The company got started in 2012. Since then, it has made plenty of progress in clinical trials. After releasing early rounds of data, investors started pouring money into the company, which pushed its stock price up by a third of its previous value.
It will take medical breakthroughs to find treatments and cures for persistent diseases. The people working on these problems deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve already accomplished. In upcoming years, though, these companies could reveal treatments that change millions of lives.
from Feedster http://www.feedster.com/blog/sambradford/4-innovative-biotech-startups/
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