Company Overview

Ansella Therapeutics is specialty pharmaceutical company that leverages biomimetic sciences to develop novel therapeutics that improve healthcare outcomes. The company’s initial focus is on women’s health, specifically in the development of novel vaginal formulations.

Biomimetics is an interdisciplinary field in which principles from engineering, chemistry and biology are applied to the synthesis of materials, or synthetic systems that have functions that mimic biological processes. Biomaterials are any natural or synthetic material that interacts with any part of a biological system. Biomimetic designs can be used in regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and drug delivery.

Ansella Therapeutics utilizes its expertise in materials science and biomedical engineering to create unique, enhanced therapeutic approaches inspired by inherent anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and endocrinology.

The company has launched its first product, Cerynë Intimate Care, for women with everyday vaginal dryness and designed for vulvovaginal application. Cerynë Intimate Care is the world’s first biomimetic formulation which works with your body to restore comfort and balance.

Cerynë Intimate care has been launched both directly to consumers and through physician channels as an intimate care product for vaginal dryness.

Ansella Therapeutics is developing a range of treatment that focus on Women’s Health including Menopause, Vaginal mucositis, Endometriosis, Uterine Fibroids and vaginal Infection.

Company overview

Avive Solutions is a MedTech company that has developed a next-generation automated external defibrillator (AED) and software solutions that revolutionizes the current sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) response. 

The device aims to significantly increase survival rates from SCA. 

The $3.5 billion global external defibrillators market is projected to have 9.7% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2024 to 2030. The AED market growth is  driven by legislation, property development and hospital groups, which has caused a shift in customer awareness and push for inbound sales models that the large players generally ignore in favor of entrenched distributor relationships.

The current SCA response system has a 10% survival rate, but when AEDs are used, the survival rate increases to over 40%.  The low AED usage is due to limited availability, improper maintenance, and a lack of connectivity in current AED machines. 

Avive’s automated external defibrillator (AED) device is a next-generation IoT (internet-of-things) device with complementary software solutions that has the ability to transform the existing flawed system for responding to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Their system automates AED maintenance, tracks the AED, provides remote software updates, and automatically shares rescue data with emergency services, effectively eliminating the issues plaguing current aed machines. Their goal is to get an AED to a patient in under 4 minutes compared to the normal standard response time for emergency services which is 12 minutes. 

Cofounder: Sameer Jafri

Smeer is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CEO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as the Founder & President of Saving Hearts Foundation, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that is focused on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) prevention. The foundation has hundreds of volunteers across the Greater Los Angeles Area, and physician support from industry leading cardiologists and electrophysiologists from UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, HCA, and others. Sameer received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA.

Cofounder: Rory Beyer

Rory is one of the Founders of Avive and serves as the President / COO. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was as a product design engineer at Apple, where he contributed to the development and design of future generation accessory products. Rory received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Mechanical Engineering from MIT. During his time at MIT, Rory held numerous leadership roles in MIT research projects, including among others the electronics development of a car powered completely by Aluminum fuel.

Cofounder: Moseley Andrews

Moseley is one of the Founders of Avive, and serves as the CTO. His past experience and passion has revolved around developing innovative healthcare technology. His most recent role prior to founding Avive was working as a researcher at the MIT Media Lab where he helped develop novel sensing and imaging techniques. Moseley received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and while obtaining his degree he led multiple engineering projects that included rehabilitation products for spinal cord, stroke, and brain trauma as well as keyhole neurosurgical instrument design.

Company overview

AWAK Technologies is a clinical-stage, medical device company that has developed a disruptive peritoneal dialysis (PD) device based on revolutionary new filtration technology developed in-house.

The Device aims to be first in the world for wearable dialysis device. .

Refine business model and expand markets  in the $120 billion Chronic Kidney Disease market   

The current treatment modalities are disruptive to the patient’s daily routine but also impose a heavy cost burden on patients, payers, and caregivers. Presently patients are required to be plugged to a machine in a dialysis center during the day or overnight at home, requiring either travel time and a flexible work schedule or limiting their mobility. 

Additionally these treatments require large amounts of water (several hundred of liters) and are power intensive, so there is also an incentive to develop new technologies which will require less energy and water. The high cost burden of in center treatment has led to a continuous shift in preference towards at home dialysis options. 

Awak technology runs on breakthrough sorbent-based regeneration technology that eliminates the current dependence on large volumes of dialysate and costly water treatment, while also being 20x smaller than in-center dialysis machines. These lightweight and portability features enhance a patient’s mobility which instils self confidence and psychological well being.

CEO: Suresha Venkataraya

Suresha is the Chief Executive Officer of AWAK Technologies. Prior to becoming CEO at AWAK Technologies, he worked for Hill-Rom, a US$5.4B medical devices company, as the Director for Front Line Care business, where he was responsible for developing and commercialising new products, and spearheading innovation culture. He has acquired deep domain expertise in areas such as Respiratory Care, ECG/Cardio, Remote Patient Monitoring and Therapy Surface Technologies. Suresha received a Masters in Computer Control Systems from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and A Bachelors  in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, India.

CMO: Mandar Gori

As the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Business Officer at AWAK Technologies Pte Ltd, Mandar Gori leads Marketing, Clinical and Business Development departments. Prior to AWAK, Mandar was Deputy Director at A*STAR, Singapore’s premier R&D and commercialisation agency, where he successfully established programs to train and develop local MedTech talent and give them an in-depth understanding of other regional healthcare markets. Mandar has a MBA from Nanyang Business School, Singapore, MS in Healthcare Informatics from University of Alabama at Birmingham, US, and BE in Information Technology from Mumbai University, India. He also has several patents related to technologies in kidney care under his name.

Company overview

Edeavors ENV-101 is a second-generation Hedgehog inhibitor with a highly favorable efficacy and side-effect profile compared to the molecules currently in the market. ENV-101 inhibits target pathway by ~90% at all tested doses.

Currently Hedgehog inhibitors are indicated for basal cell carcinoma. Significant data indicates the pathway involvement in fibrosis of the lungs. ENV-101 represents a significant improvement on existing therapies for IPF and is expected to be the Best-in-Class Hedgehog Inhibitor.

Attractive white space in the market
IPF market estimated to be $8.8B by 2027. SOC (standard of care), i.e., Boehringer Ingelheim’s Nintedanib (Ofev) has current sales >$3B with <20% market penetration based on prescription data. Current SOC has poor tolerability and efficacy.

Roche acquired InterMune in 2014 for $8.3 billion for Pirfenidone (Esbriet), indicated for IPF. Esbriet lost exclusivity in 2022 and Ofev is expected to lose exclusivity in 2025; which gives the next blockbuster significant white space for pricing and reimbursement. Both Ofev and Esbriet have severe and limiting GI issues for patients which ENV-101 seems to address.

Cofounder: Dr. John Hood

Dr. Hood is a veteran of the California life science community who has founded and led several successful biotechnology companies in his 20-year career. He is currently Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Endeavor Biomedicines. Prior to that, John was the Founder and CEO of Impact Biomedicines (now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb), the developer of fedratinib, which has subsequently been approved worldwide for the treatment of myelofibrosis. He began his career as Director of Research at TargeGen in 2001, where he co-discovered fedratinib. John is an inventor on 100+ patents and the author of 50+ scientific articles. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Physiology and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.

Cofounder: Dr. Miguel de los rios

Miguel de los Rios is an entrepreneur focused on developing novel therapeutics to satisfy unmet needs in human medicine. Prior to Endeavor, he was Founder and CEO at Rift Biotherapeutics, a therapeutic antibody company focused on cancers. Prior to that Miguel served as Vice President of Research and Development at Sevion Therapeutics (formerly Fabrus, Inc.), a clinical stage therapeutics company focused in oncology and autoimmune disorders. Miguel founded Chimeros, Inc., a venture-backed biologics therapeutic company in 2003 while working to complete his PhD. He is lead author or inventor on 50+ publications, patents and patent applications. He received his Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry and a B.S. in Cell Biology, both at UC Santa Barbara.