[January 18, 2013]

Three Life Sciences Companies Find Their Space at the Science Center Port

The University City Science Center kicked off its 50th anniversary year with three new life sciences companies taking space in its Port business incubator. Despite the three companies all having a focus in the life sciences, healthcare, or medtech, each came to the Port with different needs. DoseCue, formerly a virtual resident of the Port, has taken space at 3711 Market Street in Philadelphia, Penn; Biomated Solutions is occupying a lab space in the Port's Hubert J. P. Schoemaker Lab at 3624 Market Street; and Znetics has taken residence in the Bullpen, the Port's co-working space also located at 3711 Market Street.

After three years as a virtual resident of the Port, DoseCue has established a physical presence at the Science Center. With the goal of improving patient compliance and treatment outcomes by automatically prompting patients at the dose time of their medication, DoseCue hopes to improve patient health and to significantly reduce healthcare costs due to non-resolution or recurrence. DoseCue's product offers brand differentiation to pharmaceutical manufacturers, while offsetting the costs of low medication compliance.

"Over the past three years we were able to take advantage of the programming and meeting facilities available to virtual residents. What's more, DoseCue's association with the Port was cited as a strength by reviewers of an SBIR proposal we were awarded in September," says Shirley Cook, vice president of operations at DoseCue. "ow that DoseCue is gaining momentum, taking physical space at the Port was a natural progression in the growth of our company and we're eager to take advantage of the added benefits of being surrounded by the entrepreneurial community here at the Science Center."

Biomated Solutions designs and develops laboratory automation technologies, and focuses primarily on research animal colony management systems. The startup is aiming to use automation technology to reduce or avoid common inefficiencies in research animal management. Biomated Solutions' devices and services increase throughput and reduce the number of errors that can occur in experiments that involve research animals. As a result, the technology not only reduces the cost of research, but also minimizes the number of animals needed over the course of an experiment.

"Because we offer our services to biological research laboratories, proximity to researchers is key. Even though they don't have a vivarium, the Science Center's location puts us in close proximity to the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, as well as Jefferson Hospital and more, which will help us establish connections to various researchers at those institutions," says Vivek Sharma, founder and CEO of Biomated Solutions. "We also believe it's important that the Science Center provides more than just space, but information and resources to help our business as it grows."

Znetics, formed through the University of Pennsylvania's UpStart program, seeks to develop drugs to treat intestinal motility disorders. With very large numbers of patients with these conditions, a particular focus of the company's work is to help design drugs to treat elderly patients with delayed colonic transit.

About the Science Center

The University City Science Center is the hub for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the Greater Philadelphia region. It provides lab space, office space, business incubation, programming, and support services for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing and established companies. The Science Center was the first, and remains the largest, urban research park in the United States. Graduate organizations and current residents of the University City Science Center's Port business incubators have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually. The Science Center is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2013. For more information about the Science Center, go to www.sciencecenter.org.

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