Texas Research Park Tenants

Many commercial organizations reside in Texas Research Park facilities, which are dedicated to providing laboratory and office space for new and emerging technology companies. The Research Plaza I and II facilities were constructed in 1991. Plaza building tenants share a portion of each building, which allows the TRPF to minimize finish-out costs, an important consideration for start-up companies. As a result of the Plaza building successes, the Siberry Technical Center, a 17,000 square-foot technology transfer/product development building was constructed in 1999. This building was dedicated to George Siberry, who worked for ILEX Oncology until his death in 1999.

GeneTex, Inc.

GeneTex, Inc. was spun out of the UTHSCSA in early 1997 to take advantage of leading edge research being done in the field of breast cancer by its founders, a team of exceptional individuals who are experts in the fields of molecular biology, breast cancer research and breast cancer treatment.

Currently, one out of every nine American women will develop breast cancer. Of those who do, one out of four will die of it. Identification of breast cancer is projected to increase as more and more women have an annual mammogram. The American Cancer Society estimated 180,000 new invasive cases of breast cancer were diagnosed among women in 1997. An additional 1,400 cases were diagnosed in men in the same year. Political pressure has increased funding for breast cancer research, so a greater number of investigators have focused their efforts in this area. As a result, there is a tremendous need for reliable assays (test kits), used to determine the prognosis of patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

The San Antonio and Houston scientific communities are world-renowned for breast cancer research. Proximity to these communities was a major reason for establishing the GeneTex, Inc. headquarters in San Antonio. In 1998, a commercial laboratory was constructed for GeneTex in the Texas Research Park, using funds provided by the TRPF and the Bexar County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

GeneTex's near-term goal is to build a portfolio of research-reagent antibodies to proteins involved in cancer and to market these reagents to the research community. The long-term goal is to identify clinically relevant reagents and develop the prognostic and diagnostic applications of these newly identified antibodies.

Today, GeneTex markets over 20,000 antibody products to the research community. Sales of antibodies are growing steadily. In 2000, GeneTex scientists, Robert Christy, PhD., and James Wang, Ph.D., identified several clinically relevant antibodies and the process of developing these antibodies for clinical prognostic use has begun. A total of four Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) have been received to begin this clinical development.

For more information on GeneTex and the products they have available, visit their website at http://www.genetex.com

Onco Vista

Onco Vista's facilities include a state of the art, 6,400 square foot research facility at the Texas Research Park. The facility has four research labs, equipment and instrumentation for chemical synthesis and biological evalutations as well as a 2,400 square foot manufacturing suite. the manufacturing suite is capable of GMP manufacturing of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals sufficient to generate the compounds necessary for the preclinical development and clinical trials.

Genzyme Oncology

BioMedical Enterprises, Inc. (BME)

BioMedical Enterprises, Inc. (BME) was created in 1991 to address changing needs in medicine, specifically in bone research. As a medical device manufacturer, BME has focused its technology on minimally invasive techniques. Currently BME sells the Bone HOG Bone and Marrow Collection System both domestically and internationally. The Bone HOG is one of several technologies BME has developed in a complementary line of bone grafting instruments and devices. The Bone HOG is used to harvest whole cancellous bone from patients, using a minimally invasive surgical technique resulting in less pain and therefore, a shorter hospital stay. The Bone HOG can be used to biopsy, resect or harvest bone to restore cancerous lesions of the skeleton. BME manufactures this disposable surgical device, which is sold with accompanying instruments.

In June 2000, BME introduced a new product called the OSStaple™: Dynamic Compression Staple with Memograph Warmsystem to the U.S. market. This product consists of shape memory Nitinol staples and accessories for setting and warming the staples to achieve compression in fixation of the bones in the hand, tibia, foot and ankle. Doctors are reporting that patients are becoming fully mobile more-quickly. BME introduced a spine-related staple during 2001.

BME is currently raising money to grow the company to a stage required to market all of its technologies. Additionally, BME is pursuing a CE mark for the OSStaple™ products and an upgrade from ISO 9002 to 9001, which includes client research activities. It is anticipated that in less than ten years, BME will be a major player in the orthopaedic medical device industry.

Lipitek International Inc.

Lipitek, founded by Alexander Weis, Ph.D., opened its research and drug development laboratories in the Texas Research Park in 1991. Lipitek's staff is composed principally of pharmaceutical scientists whose work was dominated by two basic and one diagnostic research project.

During 1999, working in collaboration with scientists at the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia, Lipitek completed Phase II investigations of the antiparasitic abilities of its proprietary L-Nucleoside compounds for the Department of Defense. These compounds were based on anticancer molecules previously developed at Lipitek. The Phase II work focused on optimizing the antiparasitic properties as indicated by the Phase I results. The team of researchers succeeded in producing compounds with excellent antiparasitic capability in vitro. In vivo experiments are currently in progress.

Lipitek also advanced developmental work on its proprietary anticancer compounds. A European pharmaceutical firm is financing research aimed at combining an anticancer agent the firm has developed with Lipitek's proprietary compounds to produce a new cancer fighting compound. Preliminary results have been encouraging.

Also during 1999, Lipitek scientists completed a National Cancer Institute sponsored Phase II grant in diagnostic research. Researchers successfully produced a new family of molecular probes with enhanced fluorescence which signals several times stronger than probes currently being used. The probes are unique because they can be read in two ways, by ultraviolet spectrometer and by an EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance), and will be used in both diagnostic and cellular research.

SypTech Corporation

Syptech Mission
The mission of Syptech's Corporation is to conduct research on the development and commercialization of electronic medical devices to help people and make their life more comfortable. Syptech Corporation is developing a cutting-edge technology to fulfill a futuristic concept of customized therapy for today's patients.

Syptech Vision
Syptech R&D, headquartered in San Antonio’s Texas Research & Technology Foundation Park specializes in medical electro-biological devices. More than 20 years of experience in the practical applications of radio frequency waves has produced new medical equipment that combines imaging technology with software that is capable of adjusting a therapy for each patient. Our mission is to develop and commercialize medical equipment that can provide solutions to emerging medical needs. Our goal is to treat various conditions safely through innovative technology that provides an alternative to surgical or pharmacological treatments. Our goal is to meet these critical needs by creating safe and effective electronic devices.

Accomplishments
Syptech’s initial interest was in tracking technology. Syptech has a patented Radio Frequency Local Positioning System (RFLPS) that can track objects inside or outside any building. RFLPS technology has a tracking range of several miles and the accuracy of a few inches. This technology is particularly useful for security applications inside of buildings, where GPS systems will not work. For example, RFLPS has the ability to track the movement of hospital staff and patients in real time, and match their IDs to their location in the building. The patented system generates data which is used to determine the location of the tracking subject or a person and visualize it at the computer terminal.

Syptech History
Syptech was founded in 1994, as a part of the Michigan Center for High Technology program in Detroit. Syptech, located in the Motor City focused on commercialization of imaging and positioning systems for automotive, security, manufacturing, environmental, and geophysics applications. The co-founder of the company helped to identify the location of rare dinosaur bones in the desert of New Mexico. Part of this exciting event was recreated in the opening scene of the Steven Spielberg movie Jurassic Park. Imaging is still very much a part of Syptech R&D, but now the imaging is of living objects and even single cells.

To contact Syptech, email info@syptech.com or visit www.syptechcorporation.com.

Southwest Oncology Group

Cancer Therapy and Research Center
© 2007 Texas Research & Technology Foundation