Robert (Bob) Brickman, CPA, is a Director in Postlethwaite & Netterville’s Accounting and Assurance Services Group. P&N has been a long-time supporter of NOBIC, and the Center is grateful to have Bob serve on the advisory board.

Bob started his career in 1989 with Deloitte’s audit practice in Boston. He worked in a variety of industries, with a focus on manufacturing, consumer business, software and other technology companies. While at KPMG in New Orleans, Bob served public companies during the dawn of the Sarbanes-Oxley era. As an audit partner, Bob’s clients included oil and gas, oilfield service, maritime and shipping, among other industries.

Bob has extensive experience assisting clients with audit and accounting services, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising activities, and other business challenges. He has worked closely with equity and debt offerings in both public and private equity markets, including IPOs on major exchanges, secondary SEC offerings and private placements. Reflecting his experience and interest, Bob is leading the firm’s initiative in serving early stage growth companies and he recently served as President of the Association for Corporate Growth – Louisiana chapter, a national networking organization.

(New Orleans) ‒ Fluence Analytics, a manufacturer of industrial and laboratory analytics products, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with Nihon Rufuto, a Japanese company specializing in the import and domestic sales of scientific instruments.

Nihon Rufuto will introduce, market and distribute ARGEN throughout Japan. ARGEN is a static light scattering instrument that yields realtime measurements on the stability of therapeutic proteins and peptides and the quality of natural and synthetic polymers.

The partnership combines ARGEN’s unique technology and the value it delivers to the biopharmaceutical development process with Nihon Rufuto’s presence and expertise in the rapidly expanding Japanese biotech market. Nihon Rufuto is scheduled to showcase an ARGEN system during InterPhex Japan in Tokyo on June 27-29, 2018.

“We are excited about this new partnership enabling us to expand into another major market,” says Alex Reed, CEO of Fluence Analytics. “Working with Nihon Rufuto gives us access to Japan’s diverse range of advanced industries, including polymers and biopharmaceuticals, where our products will help scientists and engineers save time while developing better, safer products.”

About Fluence Analytics
Fluence Analytics is a manufacturer of industrial and laboratory products that produce continuous data streams. These measurements, combined with powerful, proprietary analytical tools, enable realtime optimization of process control and faster R&D for polymer and biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Visit www.FluenceAnalytics.com to learn more about the company’s solutions for realtime data. realtime optimization.

About Nihon Rufuto
Nihon Rufuto is a company concerned with the import and domestic sales of foreign-based medical and scientific instruments. Since 1998 Nihon Rufuto has been engaged in the consulting, marketing and distribution of scientific equipment for R&D and quality control applications in industry and academia. Visit www.nihon-rufuto.com/english/ to know more about the company’s products and applications.

Talaria Antibodies Inc, a spin-off company from LaCell LLC, was a semi-finalist in the Delta I-Fund Demo Day competition. Dr. Shawna Wicks, President and CEO of Talaria Antibodies, and her team completed the twelve week program which included customer discovery interviews with over 70 potential clients and product users. Talaria Antibodies, which was founded to produce polyclonal antibodies for the regenerative medicine and obesity research community, discovered an unmet need for its antibody based products as experimental teaching kits for the high school, junior college and undergraduate classroom. The Delta I-Fund is an early stage, proof-of-concept accelerator formed to train entrepreneurs in the eight-state Delta Regional Authority territory.

BioAesthetics, a company transforming plastic and reconstructive surgeries through regenerative medicine, closed a financing round led by Silicon Valley-based Hemi Ventures. Investors included San Francisco’s IndieBio, the New Orleans BioFund, and the New Orleans Startup Fund.

“We’re tremendously excited to join the BioAesthetics team on their journey to innovate patient care through regenerative medicine,” said Amy Gu, Managing Director of Hemi Ventures. “Their advancements are writing the next chapter for living tissue grafts and will improve choices for patients and their medical providers.”

This funding accelerates the development of BioAesthetics’ first product – an acellular tissue-engineered graft that regenerates the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) for breast cancer/mastectomy patients who are currently limited to prostheses, tattoos, and surgical reconstructions out of skin. Just like breast reconstruction, NAC reconstruction provides significant physical and psychological benefits for many patients. “Nipple reconstructions are an important part of completing the reconstruction of the breast, but current methods for reconstruction lack in aesthetics and longevity and are unsatisfactory,” said Abigail Chaffin, MD, a reconstructive surgeon at Tulane University. “The NAC graft BioAesthetics offers will be a game-changer in nipple reconstruction.”

Nicholas Pashos, PhD, founder and CEO of BioAesthetics, developed a graft that regenerates a permanent, living NAC during his doctoral work at Tulane University. Test grafts show promising results. Within one week, living cells migrate from the host tissue into and throughout the graft. Within three weeks, blood vessels begin to form within the graft and new skin forms over the graft. These results indicate integration and acceptance of the acellular graft by the host without immunocompromising antibiotics or steroids as is the case with standard organ transplants and tissue grafts. “We’re working hard with reconstructive surgeons to develop innovative treatment options that improve the aesthetic and overall health outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Pashos.

https://bio-aesthetics.com/

Nearly 90 New Orleans residents were screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm at LSU Healthcare Network on April 21.

Sponsored by Peoples Health and W.L. Gore, the event was free and open to the public and resulted in 3 aneurysms being discovered, requiring medical attention.

“Up to 90 percent of the time ruptured abdominal aneurysms are fatal,” said vascular surgeon Dr. Claudie Sheahan of LSU Healthcare Network. “It’s likely that this screening saved lives. Aneurysm screening is an effective tool to get awareness out. And if you catch the aneurysm early it’s easy to fix,” she said.

The non-invasive ultrasound screening is a quick and painless way to find aneurysms and save lives. The noninvasive abdominal ultrasound test is simple and takes less than 5 minutes for the results.

“Most people have no idea about the dangers of this silent killer, and we’re able to provide this lifesaving screening, thanks to our professional medical partners and supporters,” said Barbara Guerard, vice president at Peoples Health and board member at AAAneurysm Outreach.

The participants were assessed for risk and were provided information on the risk factors: including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hardening of the arteries, history of smoking, or family history of aneurysms.

The third-leading cause of sudden death in men over 60 in the US, an abdominal aortic aneurysm (bursting of the main artery that carries blood to the lower part of the body) is almost always fatal- within minutes, and there are no symptoms.

It’s estimated that more than 1 million people are living with an undiagnosed abdominal aortic aneurysm, which was a contributing factor in the recent deaths of actors Bill Paxton, Alan Thicke, and Tommy Ford.

AAA screening is recommended every five years for all those over age 60 or with risk factors. Detected early an AAA can be treated with a variety of effective procedures.

“One of the top innovators in the world”

-MIT’s Technology Review Magazine (TR35)

We are pleased to announce Jeff Karp as a keynote speaker for Innovation Louisiana 2018.  Jeff is a Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical school, and a leading proponent of bioinspiration, a branch of biomedical engineering that looks to nature for ideas to solve medical problems.  His work spans the fields of drug delivery, medical devices, stem cell therapeutics, and tissue adhesives.

– Has over 100 issued or pending patents

– Co-founded 4 companies

– Raised over $100 Million

– TEDMED Speaker

There will also be a few new additions to the conference. This November, we will have multiple tracks, new networking opportunities, (and maybe CLE credits!). Visit our new dedicated website to learn more and signup for our newsletter:

http://innovationLA.neworleansbio.com

Advano and the Tulane University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering were jointly awarded $300,000 from the LA Board of Regents under the ITRS, “Industrial Ties Research Subprogram”. This grant is to foster closer collaboration between Advano and Tulane, chiefly aimed at furthering the commercialization of Advano’s core silicon nanoparticle manufacturing technology, which was developed at Tulane University. The goal of the grant is to develop self-healing electrode technology for Silicon-based Ultra High Energy Density Batteries to be used in high-value applications such as Electric Vehicles.

MicroBiome Therapeutics launched its clinically-tested dietary supplement, BiomeBliss, a patented, first-in-class prebiotic dietary supplement specifically developed to support a healthy gastrointestinal microbiome. Their berry flavored mix nourishes your gut’s healthy bacteria to produce signals that can trigger important benefits such as:

• Helps control hunger
• Promotes regularity
• Supports overall gut health