For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo, State Delegate Brian Feldman (District 15) along with business and community representatives, celebrated the opening this morning of the County’s fourth and latest business incubator, the Rockville Innovation Center. Officials announced the first ten new tenants for the facility and participated in a ceremony to recognize and honor the graduation of nine companies from the County’s Business Incubator Network.
“It’s a great day in Montgomery County when you can celebrate the opening of a brand new facility designed to help young businesses grow and succeed and, at the same time, celebrate the achievement of that success by nine companies graduating four our Business Incubator Network, as well,” said Leggett. “Ultimately their success is our success, and my administration is committed to ensuring the success of all businesses in Montgomery County.”
The new 23,000 square foot Rockville Innovation Center features a high-end board room, spiral staircase and great views of the new Rockville Town Plaza. It’s geared towards international and health companies and features many of the same business support, networking and shared amenities as the County’s three existing incubator facilities.
“Since opening the County’s first incubator facility, the Maryland Technology Development Center (MTDC) in 2000, the Montgomery County Business Incubator Network has graduated more than 40 companies that have created over 1,700 jobs and occupy nearly 500,000 square feet of commercial office space here in the County,” said Pradeep Ganguly, director, Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. “We are very proud of this track record of success, continued today by nine more graduating companies.”
The Montgomery County Business Incubator Network also includes the original Maryland Technology Development Center, a 60,000 square foot facility offering office and lab space, the Silver Spring Innovation Center (SSIC), a 20,000 square foot facility opened in Downtown Silver Spring in 2004 and the 10,000 square foot Wheaton Business Innovation Center (WBIC), which opened last summer.
“We learned about the County’s Business Incubator Network at a local chamber event for women business owners, and look forward to providing our wealth of health and wellness solutions to more than 5,000 individuals across the U.S. and Canada from our new location here at the new Rockville incubator facility,” said Mary Moslander, founder and chief executive officer of LiveHealthier, one of the new tenants at the Rockville Innovation Center.
All Incubator Network facilities feature state-of-the-art office and/or lab technology and provide tenants with reception services, conference rooms, fax and copy machines, mailrooms, lunch/snack rooms, etc. Additionally, all Network tenants, including those in the County’s “Virtual Incubator Network” – (which allows area businesses to pay a minimal monthly fee for access to everything but an actual office space) have access to weekly programming and educational seminars that take place throughout the Business Incubator Network. Programs and services offered by the University of Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center, housed at the MTDC, the Technology Council of Maryland and the County’s Business Mentorship Program are available free of charge.
“As a non-research and development focused biotech company, we found the Rockville Innovation Center a great fit thanks to its ideal location in downtown Rockville just steps from the Metro, offering an optimal environment for hosting potential investors and attracting a diverse workforce,” said J. Kelly Ganjei, CEO and President, of RemeGenix, another new Rockville Innovation Center tenant.
Two more incubators will be added to the Network in the near future. The Germantown Innovation Center will be located on the Germantown campus of Montgomery College and will offer around 30,000 square feet of newly renovated/retrofitted office and lab space to support 15 to 25 technology and life sciences companies. The County hopes to have this facility open and operational by the end of this year.
“We are grateful to Montgomery County for this opportunity to grow our business in the new Rockville Innovation Center putting us in an even stronger position to take green power to a whole new level,” said Gary Skulnik, co-founder and president of Clean Currents, LLC, one of the new Center tenants.
Another incubator is planned for the East County Center for Science and Technology office park the County is developing at a 115-acre site along Route 29, adjacent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new headquarters in eastern Montgomery County. The County recently won approval to purchase the land from its current owners, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
The complete listing of new tenants and graduating companies is attached below.
For more information on the Montgomery County Business Incubator Network, contact Kristina Ellis at 240-777-2024 or John Korpela at 240-453-6348.
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Congratulations Graduates
Advanced Vision Therapies, Inc.
“Finding Solutions to Prevent Blindness”
Michael Kaleko, Founder
Sheila Connelly, Founder
Tiance Luo, Founder
9 West Watkins Mill Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
www.avtxinc.com
Advanced Vision Therapies, Inc. (AVT) is focused on the treatment of sight-threatening eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and finding a cure that works. The market, which is of a multi-billion dollar magnitude, and represents significant unmet medical needs, has been underserved by large pharma. Recent clinical trial data suggest that these diseases will be treatable, but with therapeutics that must be repeatedly injected directly into the eyes. AVT recognized that an improved delivery system is required to enable the broad application of ocular therapeutics. The company has identified two novel therapeutics and developed a proprietary delivery system, which, with a single administration, will provide sustained, possibly life-long therapy. The AVT business model is to leverage its expertise and that of its collaborators to rapidly advance its first product candidate into the clinic and then form a partnership with large pharma for late stage clinical trials, product launch, and marketing.
ADF Solutions, Inc.
JJ Wallia, Founder
Raphael Bousquet, Founder
4641 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 515
Bethesda, MD 20814
www.adfsolutions.com
ADF Solutions is the leading provider of software triage tools for forensic analysis. These tools allow for first responders, case agents and forensic examiners to quickly and cleanly analyze suspect computers and drive images, both in the field, and in forensic laboratories. The company’s solutions are currently being deployed and tested at agencies worldwide for child exploitation cases, drive images analysis, cyber crimes, financial crimes and others.
Applied Cell Sciences, Inc.
Jesse Baumgold, Founder
9430 Key West Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
www.appliedcellsci.com
Applied Cell Sciences, Inc. provides products and services for drug discovery. Its products include GPCRs and related drug-discovery targets for use in high-throughput screening. Its services include custom large-scale cell culture, large-scale transient transfection and cryopreservation, stable cell line construction and related services.
Ariadne Genomics, Inc.
lya Mazo, Founder
9430 Key West Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
www.ariadnegenomics.com
Ariadne brings together a unique combination of talents in algorithm design, commercial bioinformatics system construction and bench-level biological expertise. The availability of public human and other genomic date, organism-wide protein-protein interaction data and widespread gene profiling technologies presents new challenges to the storage and analysis of biological and pre-clinical data. In recognition of this trend, Ariadne introduces a new generation of bioinformatics products that combine flexibility of desktop applications and browsing power of web-based solutions.
Mobitrum
Optimized Design Manufacturing
Ray Wang, Founder
www.mobitrum.com
The goal of Mobitrum is to revolutionize Optimized Design Manufacturing (ODM) through innovative designs in embedded and configurable broadband wireless technology for wireless LAN, wireless WAN, wireless PAN, and cellular device manufacturers. The company works with smart sensor technology, sensor mesh networks, software defined radio technology for WLAN and Cellular and intelligent distributed remote control and monitoring.
Mobitrum is the recipient of numerous SBIR grants from NASA and now operates in both Maryland the Taiwan.
NetImmune (now known as RioRey)
Jason Lu, Founder
7920 Norfolk Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
www.riorey.com
Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks, in which a targeted server is crippled or shut down by a flood of malicious traffic, are a growing threat to both public and private networks, endangering revenue, productivity and confidential data. NetImmune’s technology provides a unique, hardware-based solution to the DDOS threat. The technology was originally developed by the University of Maryland, commercialized by NetImmune and is now sold under the name of RioRey.
Radius Technology
Chris Archer
804 Pershing Court
Suite 001
Silver Spring, MD 20910
www.radius360.net
Radius Technology Group, Inc. is an award winning Information Assurance and Security Services firm. They offer innovative, comprehensive information assurance and technology security services. Their "risk-based" approach aligns the most effective information assurance solutions with the unique needs and business objectives of its clients.
Synergy America, Inc.
Don Chen, Founder
19 Firstfield Road, Suite 100
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
[email protected]
Synergy America, Inc. (trade name: SynAm) is engaged in the Research and Development of vaccine for prevention and/or treatment of infectious diseases. Its focus is on new generation of vaccine for pneumococcal infectious diseases. The final product will also increase the efficacy of pandemic flu vaccine, in addition to aid developing countries. Currently, SynAm has 6 full time employees and 3 advisors and 5 consultants. With its first institutional investment by CCM of Malaysia, SynAm is in the process of submitting an IND for a new pneumococcal vaccine
20/20 GeneSystems, Inc.
Jonathan Cohen, Founder
9430 Key West Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
www.2020gene.com
20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. is dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel protein biomarker based diagnostics useful for both early disease detection and personalized medicine. The company presently utilizes several proprietary protein array technologies including a technique for multiplex tumor profiling that is a platform for “companion diagnostics” that predict patient response to targeted therapies. The company is using its technology to develop what it believes will be the first blood test for the early detection of lung cancer that will be a routine screen for smokers and others at high risk for the world’s leading cancer killer. The company also has a profitable business unit, 20/20 BioResponse, dedicated to delivering biotechnology solutions to first responders.
Rockville Innovation Center
Tenants
AID Networks LLC
Tia Gao, Founder
e-mail: [email protected]
AIDN is committed to producing an operational wireless monitoring system to provide time-critical patient status updates to healthcare providers anytime and anywhere. Worn as a portable wristband, it continuously monitors key vital signs and relays them over a reliable wireless network to any number of receiving devices, including PDAs, laptops, and ambulance-mounted terminals. The data is displayed securely, on demand, in real time, and integrated into hospitals’ existing electronic medical records. This technology is poised to make a profound impact on our nation’s hospitals by improving patient safety, increasing patient throughput, and increasing hospital capacity.
Alertus Technology, LLC
Jason Volk, Founder
Blake Robertson, Founder
www.alertustech.com
Alertus Technologies is the innovation leader in all-hazards emergency alert systems for campuses and school systems. Alertus' emergency notification system allows institutional safety leaders to diseminate localized, custom text alerts to wall-mounted Alertus Notification Beacons. Similar to a fire alarm, each beacon contains strobe lights and a siren, but also contains a text LCD display. Alerts are transmitted in seconds to all beacons or specific areas/buildings/rooms using a reliable radio frequency communication platform developed at the University of Maryland. Alertus Notification Beacons can also make use of existing information displays (e.g., LED marquee displays, plasma televisions) using output terminals on the back side of each beacon and can interface with other peripherals and supplemental sirens/strobes. The Alertus system has a low cost of ownership with no recurring service fees.
The Alertus solution was developed at the University of Maryland after a tornado ravaged the campus killing two students and threatening thousands of other students, faculty, staff and visitors
Clean Currents, LLC
Gary Skulnik, Founder
Charles Segerman, Founder
www.cleancurrent.com
Clean Currents brings together renewable energy generators, energy suppliers and end-users to create new opportunities for renewable energy development. For large electricity end-users, such as universities, hospitals, hotels, office property owners and others, this represents a new model for purchasing renewable electricity. For small businesses and residential electricity users, the firm can act as a broker or aggregator to bring lower cost clean electricity solutions.
Fuzbien Technology Institute
Saeyoung Ahn, Founder
Charlie Kim, Founder
Seung Hun Hong, Founder
[email protected]
FTI has been established to utilize the carbon-nano-tube (CNT) based platform technology (CNT-p) for the detection of disease proteins, health markers, and environmental molecules. This CNT based platform may provide with detection devices of high sensitivity in a very low cost affordable for the general public and could reform the preventive medicinal system in the future.
FTI will develop the modality of detection and diagnosis for selective protein and molecular recognition of a target analyte in collaboration with nearby university and government labs. The low cost platform will find many applications for those already in use in the market.
Inteliguard, Inc.
Ian Sellman, Director of U.S. Operations
www.inteliguard.net
Inteliguard Inc. is a newly formed US subsidiary of Advanced Filtering Technologies Limited, an established UK based Company intent on marketing the Inteliguard range of products to the North American market.
The first product in the Inteliguard range is an Internet Content Filtering Solution, based on advanced Artificial Intelligence, which is being used in approximately 300 sites in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, an E-Mail Filtering Solution has been developed and is currently in beta testing with a number of clients. The Company has plans to develop a number of other products, using the same AI based technology, over the next five years.
Keygene, Inc.
An Michiels, Director of U.S. Operations
www.keygene.com
Keygene N.V. is a renowned research company of 17 years old with app. 100 employees, located in Wageningen, The Netherlands. The mission of Keygene is to be the leading company in developing and applying molecular genetics in plant breeding. Keygene has five shareholder companies that are active in vegetable breeding and represent a large proportion of the world vegetable seed business, with companies all over the world in Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA.
Live Healthier
Mary Moslander, Founder
www.livehealthier.com
LiveHealthier is a health and wellness company that engages individuals in actively managing their health by providing access to comprehensive health management tools, personal health records, trusted health information and private consultations with health professionals. LiveHealthier utilizes an interactive and proprietary web platform to extend and enhance existing online and offline interactions and their positive impact on health.
RemeGenix, Inc.
Kelly Ganjei, Founder
Luciano D’Adamio, Founder
Salvatore Oliviero, Founder
www.remegenix.com
RemeGenix is a start-up company specializing in the development and commercialization of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, RGX will focus on the commercialization of technologies that are focused on treating the cause of the disease versus treating the symptoms. The company’s primary focus area of neurodegenerative disease is one of the largest therapeutic sectors in biotechnology with much of the market being left clinically unmet. RemeGenix product candidates can be used to address a wide range of neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and traumatic brain injury.
Synaptic Science, LLC
James Baxendale, Founder
www.synapticscience.com
Synaptic Science LLC produces and sells SEURAT (Structure Exploration Utility for Rational Therapeutics) to small molecule drug discovery teams within biotechs, big pharma and contract research organizations (CRO’s). SEURAT is an integrated suite of software tools accessible through a single interface that provides all the functions necessary to support the day-to-day activities of chemists, biologists and preclinical project groups. Drug discovery teams need a way to perform collaborative data analysis in real time and a way to hand data to their CRO’s and CRO’s need a way to publish experimental results back to the drug discovery teams that employ their services.
ViroDefense, Inc.
Marc Collett, Founder
[email protected]
VIRODEFENSE is an antiviral research, development and consulting company formed to promote and develop effective antiviral pharmaceuticals that address global public health threats. The company is presently focusing its antiviral drug development efforts on poliomyelitis (Polio). There is no known treatment for Polio. This effort is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.