Biotech Briefing: Reflexion Physical Therapy System Reduces Costs for Knee Surgeries

Plus: Allele Awarded NIH Grant to Develop Nanoantibody Approach for Sepsis

Reports + Research

Reflexion’s Physical Therapy System Reduces Costs for Knee Surgery

Knee surgery patients who used Reflexion Health’s VERA system had fewer hospital readmissions and post-acute care visits, saving the healthcare system $2,745 on average per patient. These findings came from the first large, randomized clinical trial of nearly 300 patients comparing virtual physical therapy with clinic-based physical therapy. VERA, which stands for Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation Assistant, supports and remotely monitors physical therapy exercises in real time by providing an avatar and guided therapy exercises for at home recovery.

LunaDNA Files with SEC to Issue Shares

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that LunaDNA has filed with the SEC to “register 714 million shares to build a credit union like co-op around an anonymous genomic and health database.” LunaDNA was founded on the idea of asking the public to donate their DNA information as well as associated health records and diet and exercise history in exchange for shares of the company. LunaDNA hopes to make money through charging researchers to access the database and possibly through future royalties from drug discoveries, which could in turn provide dividends or financial payments to donor shareholders.

Allele Awarded NIH SBIR Grant to Develop Nanoantibody Approach for Sepsis

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospital ICUs and is a life-threatening illness triggered by the body’s overreaction to an infection. New, innovative treatments for sepsis have stymied researchers for decades. Allele hopes to change that with nanoantibodies that have superior therapeutic efficacy over conventional monoclonal antibody drugs, which have not delivered benefits in the necessary therapeutic window. With the grant funding, Allele plans to advance preclinical development of their nanoantibodies.

Read + Listen

POW! Podcast of the Week

Big3Bio has curated a list of top biotech podcasts relevant to San Diego. Find them on SoundCloud here.

Events

It’s Happening Here

Watch ten companies compete for $75,000 prize money provided by San Diego Venture Group and Cox Business at The Tech Coast Angels’ QuickPitch 2018. Taking place the evening of October 24, register here.

On October 25, The San Diego Innovation Council (SDIC) is hosting a full day of company presentations and networking at JLABS. The Innovation Showcase will highlight investment opportunities in the software, engineering, clean tech, agricultural, and life sciences sectors.

On October 27, the Cancer Research Institute is offering a free half-day event for cancer patients to learn about immunotherapy. Also on the same day, the public is invited to Explore Salk with family-friendly scientific learning opportunities.