University of Utah launches into Altitude

Altitude Lab, a biotech incubator formed by University of Utah and its biopharmaceuticals spinout Recursion Pharmaceuticals, named its first three resident companies on Tuesday.
The companies were identified as Known Med, developers of an organoid-based platform for personalised cancer treatment, 3Helix, creators of collagen-driven diagnostic tools for liver fibrosis, and NexEos Bio, which is working on therapeutics and tests for eosinophil-related diseases.
NexEos Bio is a spinout of University of Utah, forged on the scientific discoveries of Gerald Gleich, an allergist and immunologist at the institution’s School of Medicine.
3Helix originates from work spearheaded by Michael Yu, a professor of biomedical engineering at University of Utah who started his program while at Johns Hopkins University.
Altitude Lab will aim to address a shortage of biotech incubation capacity, particularly in Utah. Plans to launch the incubator were announced in March 2019.
The 14,500 square-foot facility will possess molecular and cell biology tools, lab space and office and networking facilities, and offer opportunities for grant funding.
University of Utah will operate the incubator through its tech transfer arm: Center for Technology & Venture Commercialization (TVC).
Keith Marmer, associate vice-president for TVC and corporate partnerships at University of Utah, said: “Utah is a substantial source of innovation, as TVC has launched more than two hundred companies in just the last decade, one of which was Recursion.
“We understand that one of greatest obstacles to building a company is finding affordable lab and office space, so Altitude Lab is providing the region with an important building block to nurture and accelerate ideas to market.”