Texas company unleashes hospital-grade face masks for dogs

good dog

This Texas company thinks canines deserve clean air, too. Courtesy photo

Leave it to an Austin company to give us what we really need during this pandemic: dog face masks. Unlike their human companions, however, these are not for use in the fight against COVID-19.

On August 27, locally owned The Good Air Team announced the release of its K9 Mask, an N95-caliber snout shield for dogs. Though they resemble muzzles, these specially designed masks filter smog, emissions, pollens, smoke from wildfires, dust, and even bacteria.

Basically, says the company, whenever a human is advised to wear a mask for environmental reasons, so should a canine. Exposure to toxic particles — particularly smoke — can cause pulmonary disease and vision problem in pups, among other issues.

Each mask is washable and outfitted with a removable four-layer air filter to help remove particles from the air as the dog breathes in. The air filter adheres to the Centers for Disease Control's requirements for an N95 mask, a hospital-grade face covering that filters 95 percent of the toxins in air.

Upon exhaling, the mask uses an "exhaust valve" to release air from the mask. The company claims the valve even releases heat to cool off a panting dog.

"Wildfires in places like California the last several years have unfortunately become the new normal. Finding solutions to the problems of air pollution, like wildfire smoke, is the number one goal of the Good Air Team," says CEO Kirby Holmes in a release.

Holmes and co-owner Evan Daugherty launched The Good Air Team in 2018. The K9 Mask project is the result of the company's successful March 2019 Kickstarter, where it surpassed its $10,000 goal to bring the line into production.

K9 Masks are available online for $59, come in small, medium, and large sizes, and are outfitted with adjustable neck and muzzle straps. Special five-packs of air filters can be purchased for an additional $24.88.

Adds Holmes: "We are empowering dog owners with new solutions to protect their pet's health."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Dr. Colleen O'Connor has adapted immunotherapy treatments to be used in dogs. Courtesy of CAVU Biotherapies

Houston-based veterinary biotech startup modernizes cancer treatments for dogs

Paw-dern medicine

More than three years after its founding, Houston-based veterinary biotech company CAVU Biotherapies recently accomplished a significant milestone. In October, CAVU's specialized immunotherapy was administered to its first cancer patient: a black Labrador in Pennsylvania diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma.

Dr. Colleen O'Connor, CEO and founder of CAVU Biotherapies, established the company in July 2015 with a goal to help pets live longer post-cancer diagnoses. O'Connor, who earned a PhD in toxicology with a specialty in immunology, has more than a decade of hands-on experience researching cancer treatments.

"Our goal is to scale up and be able to increase our dogs' qualities of life with us," O'Connor said. "We want to keep families intact longer and we want to be able to modernize cancer care for our animals."

At CAVU, O'Connor dedicates her time to modernizing cancer care for dogs by developing an Autologous Prescription Product, otherwise known as adoptive T-cell therapy for dogs. The T-cell therapy is currently offered as a companion treatment to other canine cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, O'Connor said.

Historically, cancer research for animals has lagged behind that of humans, and cancer diagnoses have come late due to the language barrier, O'Connor said. Of the dogs who enter remission, a majority of them relapse within 10 months to one year, she said.

"A majority [of dogs] are diagnosed at stage four, and you have to become very aggressive," O'Connor said. "For B-cell lymphoma, with the current treatments right now and the current standard of [therapies], less than 20 percent make it to two years post-diagnosis."

Launching CAVU
O'Connor first began studying T-cell therapy for humans with cancer during her post-doctoral fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Her fellowship also partnered with Texas A&M University's Small Animal Hospital to develop a clinical trial studying the effects of adoptive T-cell therapies on dogs with B-cell lymphoma.

T-cell therapy is a cellular-based treatment in which a type of white blood cells — or the cells that fight off tumors and infections — are harvested from blood samples drawn from patients. The cells are then injected back into the patient through an IV to fight the cancerous cells, O'Connor said.

Unexpectedly, O'Connor's 19-year-old dog, Bubbles, was diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma in 2008 and later dying from it in December 2009. Five years later, O'Connor's sister's 6-year-old dog, Daisy, also died from transitional cell carcinoma. O'Connor said she remembers feeling helpless as she watched the dogs succumb to the disease.

"I was giving them drugs and protocols that were from 1980 … and I was really upset that there wasn't much more we could do for our dogs — especially because I treat my dogs like family," O'Connor said.

That was when O'Connor realized she wanted to help prevent other people from feeling the pain of losing their furry family members. While T-cell therapy is not a new method of treating cancer in humans, O'Connor focused on modifying the serum to create a treatment plan appropriate for dogs.

However, launching a company focusing specifically on treating cancer in animals was not without its challenges; O'Connor said she had to learn how to start a business, make industry connections, and adopt an entrepreneurial mindset.

To help with this, CAVU also connected with various entrepreneurial accelerators, such as Houston Technology Center and Station Houston, which are associations that help place young businesses in front of investors.

CAVU later became a member of the Houston Angel Network — a group of private investors of high net worth individuals that as a group invest in startups. By presenting her business to HAN and its investors, CAVU was able to gain financial backing.

CAVU also recently joined the Capital Factory in early 2018, an Austin-based accelerator program for entrepreneurs in Texas. O'Connor said the program has helped her meet investors, mentors and other startups.

"The way I overcame a lot of this [the early challenges] is by education, listening and trying to navigate and talk with as many of the right people as I could that had experience," she said.

The future of CAVU
Since CAVU treated its first patient in October, CAVU's adoptive T-cell therapy treatment has been administered to six dogs, O'Connor said. CAVU's T-cell therapy is currently available at more than 12 veterinary clinics across the country, including clinics in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and Missouri.

Additionally, four Houston-area clinics currently offer the T-cell therapy treatment: Garden Oaks Veterinary Clinic, Bayou City Veterinary Hospital, Memorial-610 Hospital for Animals, and Sugar Land Veterinary Specialists.

In order for a dog to be considered as a candidate — though it is ultimately up to the veterinarian on whether the T-cell therapy is right for specific dogs — the dogs must weigh more than 8 pounds, not be allergic to mouse or cow products and have no active autoimmune diseases.

The company also launched a new clinical trial with A&M University in October, looking at the effects of CAVU's T-cell therapy coupled with reduced chemotherapy periods for dogs, from roughly 19 to 26 weeks of chemotherapy to 6 to 8 weeks.

While CAVU's therapy is currently only available for dogs, O'Connor said her team plans to modify the T-cell therapy to be administered in other animals.

"We have a lot of cat owners ask us [about treatment] and we are going to do that for the next round in funding," she said. "We're going to look at how to translate this for cats and eventually horses."

O'Connor said that CAVU will launch more clinical trials with A&M University's Small Animal Hospital in the future, with CAVU aiming to make T-cell therapy treatments for cats and horses available in 2020.

Looking back, O'Connor said she has come a long way in her career path: from working with sea animals at the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky to studying human immunology and toxicology, but she's returned to studying animals.

"It's amazing how I pivoted, but at the end of the day I kind of came back to animals … and I came back full circle in a way I could have never expected," she said.

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12 health tech startups named to Houston accelerator's next bootcamp

onboarding

Twelve promising health tech startups have been selected for the annual bootcamp at the Texas Medical Center.

TMC's Accelerator for HealthTech selected 12 companies from around the world and across specialties for the opportunity. Following the bootcamp, TMC will move forward a selection of startups to join its accelerator.

"Houston, a thriving hub for innovation, is rapidly becoming the destination of choice for healthtech companies," reads a statement from TMC. "With the Texas Medical Center at its heart, the city offers unparalleled resources, cutting-edge research facilities, and a collaborative spirit that fosters growth. This environment not only attracts startups but also provides them with the necessary tools to navigate the complex landscape of healthcare commercialization."

Through the bootcamp, the participants will engage with advisors and industry experts, refine their business models, prepare for market entry, and have opportunities for collaboration with the TMC's member organizations.

The selected bootcamp companies, according to TMC, include:

Alyf, founded in Newport Beach, California, has developed a personalized cardiac care system that brings patients and providers together with real-time, AI-driven insights, enabling them to monitor, track, and improve cardiac health outcomes collaboratively.
Seoul, South Korea-based Deepmetrics leverages artificial intelligence to provide ICU smart care services that optimize medical device settings, such as mechanical ventilators, to reduce mortality and shorten the length of stay for critically ill patients worldwide.
EquityQuotient, from New York City, is a healthcare intelligence platform that automates compliance and provides actionable insights by aggregating public, private, and first-party data, using proprietary analytics to help leaders address disparities, improve outcomes, and lower care costs.
Also from New York City, Ethermed's AI-powered solution streamlines prior authorizations, eliminating up to 90 percent of auths and 70 percent of the labor involved. Ethermed requires no workflow changes, is fully auditable, and offers aligned incentives from a mission-driven, human-focused company.
Fibricheck, based in Hasselt, Belgium, transforms ordinary smartphones into regulated digital heart rhythm monitors, offering unparalleled access to cardiovascular diagnostics for patients and streamlined workflows for physicians.
Austin-based NearWave has developed a non-invasive, AI-powered handheld imaging device that can predict breast cancer therapy response within seven days.
Pragmaclin, founded in Newfoundland, Canada, developed a cutting-edge PRIMS (Parkinson’s Remote Interactive Management System) that leverages depth cameras and machine learning to monitor and assess Parkinson’s Disease symptoms, offering healthcare professionals remote and in-clinic insights to enhance treatment decisions.
Somnair, a Baltimore, Maryland, company, is developing a non-invasive neurostimulation oral appliance for treating obstructive sleep apnea, offering a sleek, retainer-sized device that provides an effective alternative to CPAP or invasive surgery for millions of patients.
Vancouver, Canada-headquartered Total Flow Medical is developing solutions to enhance the quality of care and life for patients requiring the use of a heart-lung machine during surgery or life support.
Tympulse, hailing from Dublin, Ireland, is commercializing TympanoColl, an innovative and disruptive solution for eardrum (Tympanic Membrane) repair in an outpatient setting through the ear canal.
Perth, Australia-based Vital Trace is developing a continuous lactate monitor for real-time, accurate detection of fetal distress.
New York City's WorkUp is a healthcare-specific talent pipeline management platform that connects students with tailored resources for their clinical career journey, providing personalized support as their needs evolve.

University of Houston-founded company secures $2.5M in NIH grant funding

all in the timing

You could say that the booming success of Houston biotech company CellChorus owes very much to auspicious TIMING. Those six letters stand for Time-lapse Imaging Microscopy In Nanowell Grids, a platform for dynamic single-cell analysis.

This week, CellChorus announced that the company, along with The University of Houston, has been awarded up to $2.5 million in funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institute of Health. A $350,000 Phase I grant is already underway. Once predetermined milestones are achieved, this will lead to a two-year $2.1 million Phase II grant.

The TIMING platform was created by UH Single Cell Lab researchers Navin Varadarajan and Badri Roysam. TIMING generates high-throughput in-vitro assays that quantitatively profile interactions between cells on a large scale, particularly what happens when immune cells confront target cells. This has been especially useful in the realm of immuno-oncology, where it has demonstrated its power in designing novel therapies, selecting lead candidates for clinical trials and evaluating the potency of manufactured cells.

“By combining AI, microscale manufacturing and advanced microscopy, the TIMING platform yields deep insight into cellular behaviors that directly impact human disease and new classes of therapeutics,” says Rebecca Berdeaux, chief scientific officer at CellChorus. “The generous support of NCATS enables our development of computational tools that will ultimately integrate single-cell dynamic functional analysis of cell behavior with intracellular signaling events.”

Houston’s CellChorus Innovation Lab supports both the further development of TIMING and projects for early-access customers. Those customers include top-25 biopharmaceutical companies, venture-backed biotechnology companies, a leading comprehensive cancer center and a top pediatric hospital, says CEO Daniel Meyer.

CellChorus’s publications include papers written in collaboration with researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson, Texas Children’s Hospital, the University of Texas and UTHealth in journals including Nature Cancer, Journal of Clinical Investigation and The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

The new Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award will specifically support the development of a scalable integrated software system conceived with the goal of analyzing cells that are not fluorescently labeled. This label-free analysis will be based on new AI and machine learning (ML) models trained on tens of millions of images of cells.

“This is an opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence methods for advancing the life sciences,” says Roysam. “We are especially excited about its applications to advancing cell-based immunotherapy to treat cancer and other diseases.”

The Houston-born-and-bred company couldn’t have a more appropriate home, says Meyer.

“Houston is a premier location for clinical care and the development of biotechnology and life sciences technologies. In particular, Houston has established itself as a leader in the development and delivery of immune cell-based therapies,” the CEO explains. “As a spin-out from the Single Cell Lab at the University of Houston, we benefit from working with world-class experts at local institutions.”

In May, the company received a similar $2.5 million SBIR grant from NCATS at the NIH. Also this summer, CellChorus's technology was featured in Nature Cancer.

Bridging the skills gap: How recent college grads can help address urgent staffing needs

guest column

With the current low unemployment rate, locating seasoned and talented staffers who require minimal training is no small task, especially within the high-tech sector. At the same time, college graduates are hungry for new opportunities. In fact, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, many new workforce members are currently underemployed. Approximately 4 in 10 are working in a job that does not utilize the skills they recently obtained on a college campus.

On the employer side, there’s the fear of excessive onboarding needs. On top of that, many hiring managers are afraid that recently trained staffers will simply move on to a new opportunity in a few short years or even months.

But when faced with multiple open positions, is it worth taking the chance on the newest members of the workforce? Here’s some advice on how to successfully navigate the current hiring atmosphere, where college graduates may play a big role in combatting staffing shortages.

Consider culture fit

Hard skills are always important. But at the same time, recognize bright and energetic applicants equipped with a baseline of strong knowledge also tend to be rapid learners. These individuals can often get up to speed quickly as long as they receive the appropriate level of training and mentoring over their first few months on the job. In short, there are many cases where hard skills can be taught.

But how about soft skills?

Identifying candidates who understand and appreciate the company’s culture is a separate but critically important issue. When considering whether to bring an individual on board, be sure to assess all of their compatibilities as well. Often, some extra training for an employee who already values and appreciates the company environment results in a staff member who will stay with and benefit the organization for many years to come.

Look for transferable skills

In the current highly competitive hiring atmosphere, it can be difficult to locate candidates with skills that perfectly align with the needs of open positions. Therefore, it’s important for HR staff and hiring managers to consider transferrable skills. While an individual candidate may not be familiar with a particular software solution, do they have any experience that suggests they are well-equipped to navigate relatively similar systems? Be sure to closely review resumes and CVs that might reveal these hidden strengths. In addition, make certain your list of candidate interview questions is crafted to elucidate this kind of information. Remember that recent college graduates often lack significant interview experience. As a result, you may need to pose specific questions that get to the heart of the information you are seeking. For example, you might ask a candidate to relay past experiences where they needed to learn a new skill or solve a complex problem rapidly. This helps identify whether they can navigate new waters in the workplace or whether they can translate previously held skills into new ones.

Benefits of in-house development programs

Skilled employee shortages tend to surface repeatedly. Even if you don’t have any openings right now, things can change rapidly in a matter of months or even weeks. Because this is the case - especially in the technology sector - consider launching internal training programs that help recent hires learn new skills or sharpen older ones. One option would be in-house training by a skilled staffer as part of the new employee onboarding process. Other possibilities include online learning sessions or a partnership with a local college. Training programs can also be launched to help longtime employees learn new skills as emerging, modernized systems are introduced into the workplace, benefitting the company’s entire workforce.

Track new employee progress

All new employees — whether they are recent college grads or more established members of the workforce - can benefit greatly from a performance review process that features frequent check-ins throughout the initial stages of employment. Supervisors should try to meet weekly or biweekly with new staff during their onboarding process to assess their progress in learning new skills, while identifying needs for additional training. Managers should also regularly communicate with mentors assigned to new employees to ensure skills are developed in a positive learning atmosphere.

In addition to any perceived hurdles, companies should also consider the many benefits of hiring recent college graduates. In some cases, they might bring with them new insights and experiences with emerging technologies. They often arrive with an eagerness to learn and they can introduce ideas and energy, creating increased enthusiasm in the workplace.

When it comes to filling vacant positions, there are many cases where considering recent college graduates can greatly benefit your company. A little training and mentoring can often go a long way and sometimes, taking a chance on a yet unproven, but smart and energetic candidate can land a professional who will benefit the organization for years or even decades to come.