Mayo Clinic Ventures

Longevity Tech

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 UNITY Biotechnology develops therapeutics targeting age-related diseases, particularly focusing on therapy in ophthalmologic diseases, including diabetic macular edema and age-related neurologic conditions.
 
 
 
 
 Its therapeutics are intended to selectively eliminate or modulate senescent cells to slow down, stop, or even reverse age-related disease and restore aging or damaged tissue to a more functionally healthy state. The approach is expected to remedy diseases of aging, such as retinopathies, neurodegenerative disorders, fibrosis, and cancer.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s lead drug candidate, UBX1325, is evaluated for the treatment of age-related diseases of the eye, including diabetic macular edema. The small molecule targets Bcl-xL, a protein that senescent cells rely on for survival. It is claimed that UBX1325 demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) across 48 weeks compared to sham treatment in the Phase II BEHOLD study in patients with DME. A Phase IIb study (ASPIRE) was enrolling patients with DME to evaluate UBX1325 head-to-head against aflibercept.
 
 
 
 
 UNITY Biotechnology was also developing programs targeting the Tie2 signaling pathway for therapeutic benefit. Tie2 pathway activity declines with age and causes the loss of vascular barrier integrity and diseased blood vessel formation in the eye. The Tie2/VEGF bispecific molecule targets two pathways believed to be core to disease progression in DME and AMD. Another program directed at Tie2 activation is in preclinical studies for multiple indications.
 
 
 
 
 The company's neurology programs intend to explore new mechanisms for cognitive benefit, and the company licensed its &alpha;-Klotho program, UBX2089, to Jocasta Neuroscience for development and commercialization in cognitive dysfunction associated with neurological and psychiatric conditions.
 
 
 
 
 
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 Elysium Health offers health products such as dietary supplements and anti-aging drugs. It develops Index, an at-home biological age test kit, that measures 10 different aspects of aging using epigenetic science.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 The test kit uses a saliva sample and is backed by an algorithmic platform for epigenetic examination to calculate biological age and system age by examining sites on the DNA where methylation has taken place. DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that affects the way genes are expressed and how their genome-wide pattern changes predictably with age. The test kit makes use of an elysium chip, developed by biotechnology company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/36695">
 Illumina
 </a>
 . It takes six weeks for the results to arrive once users submit the saliva sample. Based on the results of the test, the users receive recommendations to improve their lifestyle and health. This biological age test kit was priced at USD 299 as of October 2023.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 In March 2022 the company entered into a material transfer agreement with the University of Oxford.&nbsp; Through this, the university would examine hundreds of samples from the VITACOG study to develop epigenetic measures of brain aging and health.The VITACOG study was initiated by the University of Oxford and it explores whether dietary supplementation with a precise formulation of B vitamins would slow age-related brain atrophy in older population with mild memory concerns.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In December 2019, the company raised USD 40 million in a Series C funding round led by GISEV Family Office. The company expected to use the funds for the expansion of its product portfolio and pipeline.
 
 
 
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New technologies are opening up mental health services to previously overbooked and underserved populations.

Mental Health Tech

Marigold Health provides a text-based anonymous peer support platform for patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and other mental conditions. The company's proprietary peer support program combines one-on-one coaching from certified peer specialists with 24/7 access to text-based support groups through the Marigold app. The app is integrated with natural language processing technology that flags health needs expressed in chats and triggers additional support when necessary. Marigold's approach has shown promising results, with an outcomes analysis of 1,000 app signups, revealing that 98% of users reported improvement in at least one dimension of Recovery Capital, a clinically validated metric measuring an individual's ability to maintain long-term recovery.&nbsp;The company implements a value-based reimbursement model for peer support, ensuring that improved member outcomes reduce total healthcare expenses. Marigold aims to build a nationally distributed peer delivery model that can support a range of chronic conditions beyond SUD.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, Marigold's program was available to 25,000 members across Delaware, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, with plans to expand to at least four additional states by the end of 2025.

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

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 Nference operates a biomedical knowledge synthesis platform that captures and analyzes health data, including unstructured information, to aid researchers in drug discovery. Its nSights platform, launched in 
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220921005189/en/nference-Launches-AI-Driven-Platform-and-Expands-Partnership-with-Mayo-Clinic-Offering-Access-to-One-of-the-Deepest-Real-World-Data-Sets-in-the-Industry">
 September 2022
 </a>
 , allows users to access a broad range of de-identified healthcare data types, such as clinical notes, lab results, and imaging. This AI tool facilitates in-depth analysis and research, enabling users to explore data, generate hypotheses, and develop algorithms.
 
 
 The platform provides access to patient data across multiple therapeutic areas, such as heart disease, cancer, metabolic, immune disorders, and infectious diseases. As of March 2024, the company claimed that the platform processes data from over 20 years, including 657 million clinical notes, 1.3 billion lab test results, and 10.2 billion flowsheets, covering over 11 million patient records.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s customers include Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation when it entered a multi-year licensing agreement to grant the Foundation access to nference's nSights platform to advance global healthcare solutions (
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240206023301/en/nference-Announces-Multi-Year-Funding-from-Global-Foundation-to-Advance-Health-Equity#:~:text=CAMBRIDGE%2C%20Mass.%2D%2D(BUSINESS%20WIRE,the%20Bill%20%26%20Melinda%20Gates%20Foundation.">
 February 2024
 </a>
 ). In 2019, the company also provided Janssen Research &amp; Development to leverage its platform for drug discovery and clinical development.
 
 
 Furthermore, the company entered into a partnership with Mayo Clinic in 2017 to synthesize and analyze genomic and clinical data from Mayo Clinic and public databases. Nference was Mayo Clinic&rsquo;s first clinical data analytics platform partner. Other data partners include Duke Health, Banner Health (
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230822542860/en/Banner-Health-Partners-with-nference-to-Accelerate-Scientific-Discovery-for-Patient-Care">
 August 2023
 </a>
 ), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Emory Healthcare (
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231205118996/en/nference-and-Emory-Healthcare-Collaborate-Adding-Another-Top-Ranked-Medical-Center-to-Federated-Data-Network">
 December 2023
 </a>
 ). In 
 <a href="https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-launches-new-technology-platform-ventures-to-revolutionize-diagnostic-medicine/">
 April 2021
 </a>
 , Mayo Clinic and Nference formed a joint venture to launch Anumana, a company aimed to develop and commercialize digital sensor diagnostics.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1053">
 December 2020
 </a>
 , the company raised USD 60 million in a Series C funding round led by Matrix Capital Management. The funds were expected to be used to further develop its platform.
 
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Membership-based, non-insurance healthcare companies helping maintain a steady state of well being.

Preventive Healthcare

JOGO Health provides virtual care solutions for managing chronic pain and neuromuscular conditions. Its flagship product, JOGO-Gx, is an AI-driven mobile app that integrates with wearable sensors that leverage electromyography (EMG) biofeedback therapy. This approach enables patients to gain insights into their muscle systems and learn to control muscle tension effectively, promoting pain reduction.The company's core technology leverages the principles of neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain's ability to reorganize its neural pathways. By training the brain to relax through biofeedback, JOGO-Gx helps patients manage conditions like chronic lower back pain, Parkinson's disease tremors, and cancer pain. Its products do not emit electrical signals, making them non-invasive.In 2020, the FDA granted a 510(k) exemption for JOGO-Gx, enabling broader access to its virtual EMG biofeedback solutions. Furthermore, in May 2023, JOGO Health received the FDA's breakthrough device designation for its JOGO-CLBP product.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, the company had treated over 25,000 patients worldwide across over 50 hospital partners, including Mayo Clinic and Mount Sinai.In July 2024, JOGO Health partnered with Mayo Clinic to study Parkinson's tremors, functional tremors, and essential tremors using JOGO Health's digital platform.

New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

TripleBlind helps organizations process and collaborate using sensitive data in an encrypted space without compromising privacy. The company’s patented products encrypt data during the upload process while its digital rights management and auditing tools control and monitor data access, enabling enterprises to comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR and other industry-specific privacy requirements in the financial services and healthcare sectors.Key customers and partnershipsTripleBlind announced a partnership with the Mayo Clinic in January 2024 to strategically collaborate on digital healthcare solutions that would allow the Clinic to analyze data without sharing it and develop algorithms and test AI models.

Automation in clinical diagnostics to improve speed and accuracy in patient diagnosis and treatment.

Clinical Decision Support Systems

Anumana is an AI-driven health technology company that develops software-as-a-medical-device (SaMD) solutions to detect hidden diseases using electrocardiogram (ECG) AI algorithms. The company's flagship product, ECG-AI LEF, received FDA 510(k) clearance in October 2023 for detecting low ejection fraction (LEF) in patients at risk of heart failure. This device uses data from routine 12-lead ECGs to screen for LEF in adults. It was developed based on pioneering research from Mayo Clinic using over 100,000 ECG and echocardiogram data pairs from unique patients. In a clinical study of 16,000 racially diverse patients, ECG-AI LEF achieved an 84.5% sensitivity and 83.6% specificity for detecting LEF.
Anumana's technology aims to enhance disease detection at earlier, more treatable stages by identifying subtle signals in ECGs that are imperceptible to humans. The company's pipeline includes additional FDA breakthrough-designated algorithms for detecting pulmonary hypertension, cardiac amyloidosis, and hyperkalemia. These algorithms have been validated in over 75 peer-reviewed publications, including prospective studies published in Nature Medicine and The Lancet.
In 2022, Anumana received approval for two CPT III codes from the American Medical Association, establishing ECG-AI as a new innovative procedure. The company's solutions are designed for real-world physician use, integrating into existing clinical workflows at the point of care.
Anumana was founded in 2021 as a joint venture between nference and the Mayo Clinic to leverage their expertise in developing ECG-AI technology from an investigational resource to a clinical tool for clinicians. The company has established multi-year agreements with pharmaceutical partners, including Novartis and Pfizer, to drive the development and delivery of its AI-powered solutions.

JOGO Health is a virtual care company that uses clinically proven digital interventions to treat pain, neuromuscular, movement and pelvic floor disorders. The company's AI-driven mobile app and wearable sensors provide treatments for conditions like stroke, chronic pain, and pelvic health by tapping into the brain's neuroplasticity.

AccuLine is a digital healthcare company, which was founded with the vision to saves the lives of millions of people worldwide, by preventing the next heart attack. AccuLine is developing CORA— a smart, accurate, and easy to use exam for the early detection of coronary artery disease.

Qlaris Bio is a clinical stage biotechnology company that develops innovative first-in-class therapies for patients suffering from serious and debilitating ophthalmic diseases. Qlaris Bio is exploring novel mechanisms of action to address episcleral venous pressure (EVP), the largest component of intraocular pressure (IOP), to reduce the risk of blindness in glaucoma, including Primary Open Angle Glaucoma and Normal tension Glaucoma.

The Patient Company provides clinical staff members with an automated lateral patient transfer device called SimPull. The company was founded in 2019 by Andrew Heuerman and has locations in Scottsdale, Arizona & Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tympany is a platform for performing minimally invasive ear surgeries, reducing unnecessary mastoidectomys and improving outcomes.

R-Zero offers smart building technology that delivers real-time insights on optimizing indoor spaces to improve workforce productivity, predict real estate needs, and create operational efficiencies, including reducing energy costs. R-Zero’s smart building solutions include IAQ and comfort monitoring, high-efficiency HVAC filtration, space utilization sensors, occupancy-based building controls, and real estate performance analytics. R-Zero’s connected platform is easy-to-use, secure, and scalable, enabling owners, operators, and their tenants, to prepare their buildings for tomorrow's challenges.

Helix is the leading population genomics company working at the intersection of clinical care, research, and genomics. Its end-to-end platform enables health systems, life sciences companies, and payers to advance genomic research and accelerate the integration of genomic data into clinical care. Powered by one of the world's largest CLIA / CAP next-generation sequencing labs and its proprietary Exome+™ assay, Helix supports all aspects of population genomics including recruitment and engagement, clinically actionable disease screening, return of results, and basic and translational research.

Anumana is an AI-driven company that develops ECG algorithms enabling early disease diagnosis and intervention. Anumana harnesses industry-leading AI and translational science to decode the electrocardiogram (ECG) – like a deep predictive tool and biomarker of disease, empowering care providers to help patients early.

TripleBlind has created the most complete and scalable solution for privacy enhancing computation. The TripleBlind solution is software-only and delivered via a simple API. It solves for a broad range of use cases, with current focus on healthcare and financial services. The company is backed by Accenture, General Catalyst and The Mayo Clinic. TripleBlind’s innovations build on well understood principles, such as federated learning and multi-party compute. Our innovations radically improve the practical use of privacy preserving technology, by adding true scalability and faster processing, with support for all data and algorithm types. TripleBlind natively supports major cloud platforms, including availability for download and purchase via cloud marketplaces. TripleBlind unlocks the intellectual property value of data, while preserving privacy and ensuring compliance with HIPAA and GDPR.  TripleBlind compares favorably with other privacy preserving technologies, such as homomorphic encryption, synthetic data, and tokenization and has documented use cases for more than two dozen mission critical business problems.

nference develops transformative technologies and products in healthcare. Their solutions enable scientists to discover and develop personalized diagnostics and treatments for patients. Their EMR data transforming into solutions for the healthcare ecosystem with medical centers and biopharmaceutical companies.

Progentec Diagnostics was set up to explore and commercialize state of the art diagnostic interventions in therapeutic areas with a high level of unmet need. The company is collaborating with a number of research institutions and individuals around the world engaged in bringing the latest technological innovations to the field of diagnostics. The commitment to this cause is firmly rooted in our belief that better diagnostics would not only help in better and less costly management of diseases, but also help tremendously in reducing the incidence of diseases through early screening and detection.

Novome Biotechnologies, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on engineering defined activities into the human gut microbiota to treat chronic diseases. The Company has developed the first-ever platform for controlled colonization of the gut with engineered bacteria, enabling first-in-class living therapeutics: Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs). Novome is utilizing its proprietary GEMMs platform in its lead preclinical program in hyperoxaluria, which is focused on the development of a therapeutic strain of bacteria that degrades oxalate to prevent the formation of kidney stones. Efforts are also directed to the expansion of its proprietary synthetic biology platform into additional indications.

Elysium Health offers health products built with science such as dietary supplements and anti-aging drugs. It seeks to solve challenges in health with science, to help people live healthier and longer lives. It works directly with the scientists, clinicians, and health professionals around the world to identify and develop the natural compounds. Its product is a proprietary formulation of two ingredients designed to support long-term well-being at the cellular level.

HuidaGene utilizes its proprietary CRISPR-based, AI-driven HG-PRECISE platform to develop potentially curative gene therapies. The Company is advancing clinical programs, including trials of HG004 (granted ODD & RPDD by FDA) for RPE65-associated retinal disease, HG202 RNA-editing therapy for nAMD, HG204 RNA-editing therapy (granted ODD & RPDD by FDA and ODD by EMA) for MECP2 duplication syndrome, and HG302 DNA-editing therapy (granted ODD & RPDD by FDA) for DMD. The preclinical programs include HG303 DNA-editing for ALS and CRISPR RNA-editing therapy for Alzheimer’s.

AtriAN is commercializing technology created at Mayo Clinic in the US. AtriAN is an Irish Medical Device company based in Galway--A powerful and prolific hub for medical devices.AtriAN uses a gentle energy, micro Pulsed Electric Fields (mPEF) to only ablate hyperactivity. The other tissues such as the myocardium are spared.

Cadence Neuroscience is an early-stage company developing new medical device therapies for the treatment of epilepsy, central pain, and other neurological disorders. The company's core technology has been developed at Mayo Clinic and is under clinical evaluation. Its medical device therapies provide medical practitioners with a procedure that can be used to tailor brain stimulation therapy to each individual and enhance seizure control compared to currently used protocols.  Cadence Neuroscience was established in 2017 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Marigold Health uses AI-augmented chat support groups to reach and retain patients with behavioral health needs in community-based treatment. Patients receive a personalized wraparound support while care teams see dramatic gains in capacity using patients to engage each other.   We partner directly with treatment providers and managed care organizations in the Medicaid market.

Vineti is a commercial cloud-based platform that expands patient access to life-saving cells and gene therapies. The software solution offers an independent, purpose-built enterprise solution that is essential for enabling the growth and wide distribution of transformative personalized therapeutics, such as CAR-T cell therapies, for the treatment of late-stage cancer. The Vineti Personalized Therapy Management (PTM) ® platform automates patient-centric supply chains for a wide range of advanced therapies, in all phases of clinical development and commercial operations. Veneti aims to solve the key challenges patients, medical providers, pharmaceutical companies, and regulators face in the delivery and commercialization of personalized medicine. Amy DuRoss, Heidi M. Hagen, Malek Faham, Razmik Abnous, and Stephen Ting co-founded Vineti in San Francisco, California in 2016.

Geneticure is a Mayo Clinic backed company that has created a patented cheek-swab test that can predict individual treatment response for high blood pressure medications and devices therapies.

Unity Biotechnology designs therapeutics that prevent, halt, and reverse various diseases of aging. The company focuses on clearing senescent cells; and designs senolytic medicines. Its medicines target vulnerabilities unique to senescent cells to clear those cells from the human body while leaving normal cells unaffected.

Evelo Biosciences is dedicated to improving the lives of patients globally through the development of a new modality of medicines – monoclonal microbials. Monoclonal microbials are orally delivered medicines that modulate systemic immunology and biology through direct interactions with human cells in the gut. These new medicines are broadly applicable across many diseases – including autoimmune, immunoinflammatory, metabolic, neurological, neuroinflammatory diseases, and cancer. Monoclonal microbials have the potential to fundamentally change traditional models of drug discovery and development. By finding and selecting naturally occurring monoclonal microbial with defined therapeutic effects, Evelo can improve the speed, cost, and success of drug discovery and development. Evelo’s platform enables pharmacological intervention at all stages of the disease with naturally occurring, safe, and effective monoclonal microbials. Evelo Biosciences was conceived and created within VentureLabs®, Flagship Pioneering’s institutional innovation foundry, and launched by Flagship in 2015.

Torax Medical, Inc., a clinical stage medical device company, develops an implantable device for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease. It provides treatments for digestive diseases, including acid reflux. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Shoreview, Minnesota.

Epirium Bio is a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, is developing a small molecule platform targeting improvements in muscle strength, tissue regeneration, and mitochondrial function.

As the cost of next-generation sequencing technology continues to drop, this has created an environment where molecular tumor profiling is more accessible than ever before. Despite these advances, there remains a challenge: the ability to analyze and accurately interpret the overwhelming amount of genomic and therapeutic data now available via next generation sequencing.  Lifecode is dedicated to translating and presenting this new information in a meaningful way for patients, payers and providers. Towards this end Lifecode has built an exceptional team of talented individuals with expertise in data science, software engineering, computational biology, bio-informatics, machine learning, curation science, molecular biology, and pathology.	  With funding from both Sequoia Capital and The Mayo Clinic, Lifecode has the DNA of both a software company and a world-class clinical lab.  Their flagship assay, the Lifecode Pan Cancer Somatic Panel is currently being offered on a limited basis to a select number of physicians in the United States.  Lifecode is seeking extremely talented and hardworking individuals who share their passion for genomically driven, personalized cancer care.

Stride Health is a provider of an insurance recommendation platform designed to offer health insurance services. Everyone deserves a smart way to protect your health – and your wallet – without breaking a sweat. That’s why we do the tricky calculus for you. In minutes we’ll enroll you in your most cost-effective health plan, minimize your taxes and maximize your take-home pay as an independent worker or part-time employee. If that wasn’t enough, our personal advisors will navigate the details for you whenever you need us!

Kardia Health Systems is a healthcare information technology firm offering the delivery of specialty medicine, starting with cardiology. Using Internet technology and a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model, Kardia makes this technology accessible to practices of varying sizes.  Kardia Health Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Golden Valley, Minnesota.

Naviscan, Inc. is the leader in organ-specific molecular imaging. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes a high-resolution PET scanner which provides unprecedented visualization of small body parts. While Naviscan’s PET scanner can image virtually any body part that can fit into the gantry, it is most often utilized as an adjunct to conventional imaging technologies by clinicians who stage and manage breast cancer. Surgeons, radiologists, nuclear physicians, and oncologists in hospitals and breast clinics use our compact, mobile and easy-to-use PET scanner to precisely characterize breast cancer, enhance surgical planning, monitor patient response to therapy, and evaluate suspected recurrence.

Mayo Clinic Ventures is dedicated to quickly bringing answers to the people who need them most: the patients living with diseases and conditions that threaten to limit or even end their lives. Our team works closely with Mayo physicians and scientists to mine inventions, ideas and discoveries that will truly transform health care. Their dedicated efforts bring significant financial support to Mayo's patient care, education and research efforts.

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