PHILADELPHIA--(September 26, 2017) – Flushable pregnancy tests, remote patient monitoring systems, augmented reality to prepare for emergency situations – these are among the seven technologies being developed by the third class of the University City Science Center’s Digital Health Accelerator (DHA).
The accepted companies include:
CareCierge is a high-tech/high-touch benefit for employees who struggle to balance work while caring for an ill or aging loved one. CareCierge empowers employee caregivers with a personalized roadmap for care coordination and a trusted advisor to talk to, thereby reducing the lost productivity and increased healthcare expenditure that costs US Businesses $47 Billion/year.
ImmERge Labs uses virtual and augmented reality to reimagine how the world prepares for emergency situations. Using disruptive technologies to improve critical skills, ImmERge Labs transforms bystanders into rescuers through applications that integrate a physical manikin with highly realistic, multi-sensory simulations that technically, emotionally, and mentally prepare one to render life-saving interventions.
LIA Diagnostics is the first-ever, flushable and biodegradable pregnancy test. Lia uses innovative materials and unique manufacturing to provide women with a discreet, battery-and-plastic-free alternative. Through DHA, Lia is planning to develop a digital application that will help facilitate purchases, further develop the Lia brand, and provide post-test education.
PainQx is a diagnostic/software company that has developed a next-generation approach to objectively measure pain in humans. The PainQx platform achieves this by assessing neural activity from a patient’s brain and processing and decoding the data through its proprietary algorithms. The output is a pain biomarker that is directly correlated to a patient’s pain state. The PainQx system is currently being used as a clinical assessment tool by companies using pain as an endpoint to measure their drug’s and device’s efficacy.
RegDesk helps MedTech and PharmBio companies get their regulatory and reimbursement strategies right the first time. Using machine learning and the largest global network of compliance experts, RegDesk clients obtain reliable productspecific regulatory, reimbursement and market access insights globally, allowing for faster access to market, with reduced risk and lower cost.
repisodic enables hospitals and their patients to find high-quality, personalized post-acute care by offering the most comprehensive picture of these providers available anywhere – online for free. The repisodic platform connects postacute care providers with discharging hospitals, patients, and their families to coordinate care and improve outcomes.
Semacare is a deep machine learning artificial intelligence platform that improves health outcomes by allowing for earlier diagnosis of serious heart conditions. Semacare’s cloud platform and portable clinical-grade ECG and Pulse Oximeter provides data for early heart failure and stroke prevention diagnosis, and monitoring Q-T prolongation (thekey indicator of a heart condition that causes sudden death).
Each DHA awardee will receive up to $50,000, professional mentorship, and networking opportunities with a variety of key healthcare stakeholders including insurers, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and research institutions located in the Greater Philadelphia region. During the 12-month program, these early-stage healthcare companies will also receive membership at ic@3401—a partnership between the Science Center and Drexel University, in collaboration with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Safeguard Scientifics.
Launched in 2014 by the Science Center, the DHA supports early-stage digital health companies with funding, office space, professional mentorship and introductions to key healthcare stakeholders in the Greater Philadelphia region. The DHA has received support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Fund.
To date, the 13 companies in the first two classes of the DHA have gone from prototype to commercialization, creating over 160 new jobs, generating over $21 million in revenue, and raising more than $21 million in follow-on investment.
About the Science Center
Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Center’s incubator support one out of every 100 jobs in the Greater Philadelphia region and drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a business’s lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists,
entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO – and beyond.
For more information about the Science Center, go to www.sciencecenter.org
