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Biotechnology has been the source of some of the world’s most important medical discoveries in recent years. Many of the most groundbreaking advances, including the COVID-19 vaccine, epidemic tracking technology, and virtual biobanking have come from startups and small companies. The biotech space is populated by thousands of these startups. Their pioneering spirit and ability to adapt quickly have enabled these companies to take the lead in the biomedical industry. Here are some of the most exciting examples of those advances:
BioNTech Delivered the First Effective COVID-19 Vaccine
The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a race to develop a vaccine unlike any race we’ve witnessed before. The first to cross that finish line was BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), a German biotech startup helmed by a husband-and-wife duo who both have extensive backgrounds in oncology and infectious disease research.
The medical research power couple achieved this with a never-before-approved technique of using mRNA compounds to produce bits of protein that were sufficient to trigger an immune response. In November 2020, BioNTech’s pioneering approach produced a vaccine that was more than 90% effective at preventing infection.
Audubon Launched a Global Biobanking Network to Assist Medical Research
In the quest to develop tools for detecting cancers earlier and create more targeted and effective treatments, Audubon Bioscience is giving all researchers in the field the jump start they need to get to that finish line faster.
The young biotech company gives medical researchers access to a global database of tissue samples, each with extensive clinical data that researchers can use to identify more individual biomarkers for detecting cancer and developing more personalized treatments.
With over 100 clinical sites spread across 12 countries, Audubon’s human tissue samples span a broad range of demographics and diseases, offering researchers a more diverse pool of genetic samples and diseased tissues to do its groundbreaking research.
This global reach, combined with plans for launching an e-procurement platform, is on the way to transform an otherwise fragmented and unwieldy biobanking space, which created lots of delays as researchers struggled to locate the specific samples and clinical data they needed.
Biobot Analytics Empowered Cities to Track Epidemics Through Sewers
Originally launched in 2017 with the mission to track the opioid addiction epidemic, Biobot Analytics pivoted to COVID-19 tracking in 2020. The rapidity and smoothness of that transition reflect the unique ability of startups and young companies to adapt to the evolving needs of public health.
By gathering genomic and chemical data from the wastewater in municipal sewers, Biobot Analytics is able to track the spread of viruses, bacteria and other chemicals through communities. Individuals who may not be showing symptoms yet can still shed viral and bacterial cells in their waste, meaning Biobot Analytic’s tech has enabled early detection of the movement of COVID-19. This early detection allows cities to better anticipate the virus’s path and coordinate public health resources to get ahead of that spread.
The company has now been chosen by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to deploy its disease surveillance program on a nationwide scale so that HHS can detect epidemics sooner — whether viral, bacterial or drug-related.
