Our current daily activities bear little resemblance to the routines as of as recently as a month ago. COVID-19 has had an obvious and significant impact on the American people. For those suffering from chronic conditions such as dementia, diabetes, heart and respiratory disease, the health impact during traumatic periods such as this is magnified.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our lives and has caused unprecedented harm to the economy, most certainly including the national start-up community. Many startup companies will fail due to an inability to progress with their plans and raise the capital needed to survive during these difficult times. VIC’s portfolio of companies are not immune from the challenges caused by the pandemic. However, having the support of VIC (and the lower fixed cost burn rates that being part of VIC allows for), positions our companies much better than most.
Importantly, several of VIC’s portfolio companies, as well as new technologies in our pipeline, have an opportunity to play a direct role in response to pandemics and potentially mitigate the current crisis or even prevent future ones. For example (A-Z), BlueInGreen—a water cleantech company based in Fayetteville, Arkansas—has steadily made a name for itself by providing award-winning solutions to a wide variety of clients in the biological, municipal and ecological treatment space. The Company’s highly efficient method for dissolving oxygen, carbon dioxide and ozone into water has saved end-users millions of dollars in water usage, chemical costs and energy consumption. Now, in the face of the current pandemic, BlueInGreen is working to save lives as well.
Featuring a 98%+ gas-transfer efficiency rate, BlueInGreen’s SDOX® technology uses a pressurized approach to rapidly and efficiently dissolve oxygen in a closed, side-stream process. Unlike conventional treatment methods that promote aerosol formation in open environments—such as jet and surface aerators placed directly within treatment basins—the SDOX® super-saturates the water with oxygen in a closed, pressurized vessel at the molecular level in the side-stream before returning it to the bulk flow, preventing the production of bubbles or aerosols. Even in non-pandemic situations, it creates a much healthier environment for WWT workers. “We are in this together,” said Chris Milligan, President, CEO and Chief Engineer at BlueInGreen. “Like so many others operating within essential industries, our team at BlueInGreen is working to provide solutions that limit the spread of the virus and improve the working conditions for, and the health and welfare of, essential workers.”
CardioWise’s SQuEEZ can help doctors quickly and accurately identify those patients who have the highest risk and thereby save lives. Since many patients are already getting a chest CT to diagnose their lung involvement, with a few more seconds in the scanner, CardioWise can diagnose their heart health as well and play a vital role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Because SQuEEZ provides quantitative results, not just qualitative results, it can be used to monitor disease progression and treatment effectiveness.
CardioWise SQuEEZ software produces a quantitative evaluation of the heart system using the data from a cardiac CT scan. This analysis is graphically presented in easy-to-interpret, three-dimensional color contour maps that indicate the areas of the heart that work normally and those that are damaged. CardioWise SQuEEZ analysis can pinpoint the location and extent of heart injury and assist doctors in determining the course of action to treat the patient.
CardioWise will be seeking expedited FDA approval for its software to be available for COVID-19 cases. Prior to FDA 510(k) approval by the FDA, CardioWise technology may be used by hospitals under an Internal Review Board (IRB).
Another VIC portfolio company with an important technology relevant to viruses impacting the respiratory system is Nob Hill Therapeutics (NHT). Cases of COVID-19 frequently have led to deadly secondary infections like pneumonia. In severe cases, gas exchange may be inhibited by inflammatory fluid causing patients to require ventilation to oxygenate their blood. NHT is developing a dry powder nebulizer technology (DryNebTM) that has the ability to treat pneumonia-causing viral infections like COVID-19.
DryNeb has the capacity to work in both asymptomatic and very sick patients with compromised lung function or those on ventilators, regardless of age. Specifically, the DryNeb inhaler platform has the unique capability to deliver high dose therapeutic drugs in a potent/pure form directly to the lower airway and alveoli regardless of a patient's lung capacity. Such direct delivery not only enables fast therapeutic action, but also minimizes systemic side effects.
SFC’s drug delivery pod, while being designed for diabetes, can be extended to other conditions such as chronic pain and cancer treatment. Patients who suffer from chronic illnesses may have difficulty following treatment regimens during times of upheaval such as the current COVID-19 crisis. SFC is enabling automation of healthcare and remote professional monitoring into its product for better patient care during the times of major upheaval.
VOC biomarkers have been used to diagnose and/or manage multiple respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis, and ventilator-assisted pneumonia. Unfortunately, the gold standard method of detection, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), is a large, lab-based technology requiring highly trained technical staff to process samples, making them unsuitable for point-of-care applications by non-technical personnel.
The Zebra Analytix technology is based on innovation licensed from Virginia Tech, and employs MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) manufacturing to create miniaturized components such as preconcentrators, separation columns, and detectors, which—when combined—result in a hand-held, simple-to-use, analytical system based on the principles of gas chromatography (GC). In previous work, Zebra Analytix has developed and optimized the approach to measure VOCs down to the parts-per-billion (ppb) level or lower using its microGC technology, capabilities which will be investigated as a solution for the urgently needed screening of patients presenting with COVID-19-like symptoms.
In addition to opportunities within our existing portfolio of companies, there are technologies in the opportunity assessment and VIC Foundry pipelines that have the potential to improve survival and functional outcomes for SARS-CoV-2 patients. One such opportunity is a recombinant protein therapeutic designed to calm an overactive immune system to reduce inflammation and treat the cytokine storm believed to be lethal in severe COVID-19 disease. Cytokine storm, which occurs when a patient’s immune system is too strongly activated, results in severe damage to the patient’s own cells. This hyper-induction of proinflammatory cytokine production is also a major component of lethality in severe influenza.
We don’t know how long the pandemic will continue to disrupt our lives and the economy. It’s likely that some of the changes the country has had to make in response to the pandemic will be long-lasting. At VIC, we will continue to support our portfolio of companies to ensure that they successfully navigate the current difficult fundraising environment. Our company motto is Technology Solutions for a Better World, and as such, we will continue to innovate and help the world respond to both current and future global health challenges.
To learn more about these companies, please visit their websites.
BlueInGreen | https://www.blueingreen.com/
CardioWise | https://www.cardiowiseinc.com/
Nob Hill Therapeutics | https://nobhilltherapeutics.com/
SFC Fluidics | https://www.sfc-fluidics.com/
Zebra Analytix | https://zebraanalytix.com/
VIC Foundry | https://vicfoundry.com