Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

By Tom Ballard, Chief Alliance Officer, PYA

EDP Biotech Corporation, a Knoxville company that develops and commercializes convenient, cost-effective diagnostics which detect disease early, is one of six start-ups invited to pitch in the diagnostics track during next week’s “MedCity INVEST” virtual forum.

Described as the “premier national healthcare investing conference,” the annual event unites active investors with promising start-ups in biopharma, diagnostics, medical device, health information technology, and health services. It is one of several offerings from MedCity News, one of the fastest growing sites focused on business-to-business healthcare innovation, and Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network, a non-profit organization composed of more than 40 venture capital firms.

“The INVEST Pitch Perfect represents the ‘perfect’ opportunity for EDP Biotech to showcase our recent growth and progress in two major diagnostic areas: colorectal cancer early detection and COVID clinical testing,” said Eric Mayer, Chief Executive Officer of EDP Biotech. “In recent months, we have been fortunate to present our ColoPlex blood test at the American Association of Clinical Chemistry virtual scientific meeting, we filed a new provisional patent application on the newest ColoPlex improvements, and (we) advanced several strategic partnering initiatives. Our COVID testing is taking us into faster, more convenient testing methods to help businesses and schools re-open. We look forward to presenting at the INVEST Pitch Perfect and honored to make the finalist group among other high-potential diagnostic firms.”

Over roughly half-day sessions each afternoon from April 19 through the 23, topic specific sessions will precede pitches to investors by 27 different start-ups in one of the five categories. Mayer will present EDP Biotech in a session beginning at 3:30 p.m. April 22. He will be competing with these companies:

• GRIP Molecular that is marketing a single-use biosensor and mobile app that provides consumers highly accurate and comprehensive medical diagnostic information in minutes, anytime and anywhere. The patented, graphene-enabled solid-state electronic platform technology is easy to use and does not require chemical reagents or a separate reader. GRIP’s underlying technology can simultaneously detect the presence of infectious disease pathogens and characterize the host response, including the immune response, to enable information-enabled diagnosis and the rapid application of appropriate therapy.
• Inanovate that has developed a patented blood analysis system (the Bio-ID) that improves the cost, accessibility, and accuracy of diagnostic tests. The first application of the Bio-ID is a new blood test to be used as a supplement to mammography to help reduce false positive results in breast cancer screening.
• Loop Diagnostics has a novel first-in-class in vitro cellular immunoassay that identifies sepsis after the first-hour of bloodstream infection. The company has a patented method and kit to identify immune activity biomarkers that is three times more sensitive than the current biomarker competitor and provides a 10x faster diagnosis than pathogen identification.
• PATHeous Health is building a Dysphagia Care-as-a-Service business to improve access to feeding and swallow healthcare for senior care providers. The start-up’s diagnostic and therapeutic solutions impact patients that suffer from swallowing impairment and nutrition consumption in multiple care settings, including skilled nursing, home health, in-patient rehabilitation, assisted living and community dwelling adults.
• Virtuleap unlocks neuroscience with virtual reality to help pharmaceutical companies accelerate the approval of drugs designed to treat cognitive illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.

Here’s the latest news release about the event and this particular pitch group.

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