2022 was filled with new successes, breakthroughs, and a pathway toward commercialization!
Customer feedback and market research led to us pivoting from the development of modules to kits that can be utilized by pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers on their existing equipment. This strategic decision expands our market potential by hundreds of millions of dollars and will shorten the sales cycle.
From here it was full steam ahead as we hit key milestones and spread the word about our disruptive technology. Many of our wins and 2023 goals are outlined below.
- Paul C. Dreier, Chief Executive Officer
Product Development
Available in Q1 2023, our Proteometer L Kits provide molecular recognition and quantification without the need for a mass spectrometer. Drug developers and manufacturers can now tell in near-real-time when a batch goes bad. Our product is a tool that saves significant time and money while allowing for FDA compliance. Existing customer instruments can be converted into a “Proteoform Meter” in less than an hour and Novilytic will happily support the conversion (though it’s rarely needed). The “L” in our Proteometer L kits stands for Luminon, which is a Novilytic-invented term defined as a fluorescent-labeled molecular recognition agent that distinguishes between critical quality attributes in a proteoform family.
We are currently in the middle of several pilot programs with large instrument manufacturers and CDMOs that will ultimately guide this product’s release. It’s our goal that the instrument manufacturers will also assist with the product’s sales through inclusion in their catalogs.
Three more new products have been moved from alpha to beta versions in preparation for productization. It’s our goal to launch kits for Proteometer LA (animal mAbs), Proteometer E (ELISA), and Proteometer CV (titer and charge variance of mAbs) will likely be available in 2024.
Patent Protection
Technological advances led us to apply for two additional patents. If received, this will bring our grand total to 12.
We have also signed a technology development agreement with a major CDMO, and multiple pilot development, NDS, and MTA agreements for the evaluation of our Proteometer L with various pharmaceutical and instrument companies.
Grants
We applied for and received a $12,500 grant courtesy of the Indiana Economic Develop Corporation's "Indiana State Trade & Export Promotion Program." We used the funds to present our technology to an international audience at the Bioprocessing West trade show.
Design and Operations
With the technology for a product officially developed, we began the exciting process of outlining how we wanted our first Proteometer kit to look and what the message was that we wanted to portray to the world. We landed on packaging that keeps our “Canary in the Fermentor” tagline close whilst drawing attention to the colors in our canary’s wings. The colors represent the numerous molecules that may be present in a fermentor and reinforce the number of applications that our product has. On top of all of that, it also looks incredibly sharp 😊. A photo of our prototype can be seen below.
Product management and marketing continue to work with outside partners to finalize details related to kit assembly, dimensions, customer service, and more.
Collateral
As the saying goes, “the devil is in the details.” This held true as our team methodically worked together to develop content and explanations of our offering, its features and benefits, as well as the time and money that it can help save. These were outlined in the following projects:
Product and technology definitions – With breakthroughs comes the need to define them and quantify how and why they will be impactful
Brand guidelines – Updated to reflect new imagery and secondary color palette
Secondary corporate PowerPoint template – Created for decks that contain multiple chromatograms
Website overhaul – We are continuing to shift the focus of our site from an investor audience to a chemistry and drug development (customer) audience
Sell sheet – We’ve developed a draft of the product sell sheet that will be made public once professional product photography occurs in February.
Application notes – Live on our website, will also be accessible via a QR code on our packaging
Technical presentation – An in-depth overview of our technology and data
Poster presentations – Two technical presentations developed: National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals and Purdue Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals
Press release – We shared the news of closing a $1.6M seed round
Events / Awards
Bioprocessing West technology presentation – Our first presentation of MASC (Mobile Affinity Sorbent Chromatography) and other patented technology
NIIMBL poster presentation – “At-Line Nanoparticle Based Molecular Structure Analysis”
HEALS Initiative (Heartland Engine for Advanced Sciences Manufacturing) – We were the representative for startups and small businesses for this $160M initiative
Elevate Ventures Innovation Showcase – Jeoparty skit
Participated in Conexus Indiana’s Hardtech Entrepreneurship Focus Group
Completed several strategy meetings with the Indiana Health Industry Foundation and their strategic partners
Purdue AMP poster presentation – “Reducing Process Costs With Nanotechnology”
Elevate Ventures Kinetic Pitch Event – We shared a technology deck about our sales model and how we are a market disrupter
Bioprocessing Summit attendance – Our CTO, Fred Regnier, attended and networked with key organizations in our industry
In the News
Local, regional, and industry media have begun to recognize our growth and industry potential as a disrupter. We were humbled and honored to receive coverage from many different contributors, a few of which are highlighted below.
Indiana Business Journal - Print and digital story
Inside INdiana Business - Four stand-alone stories
Life Sciences Indiana - Newsletter
Indiana Health Industry Foundation - Newsletter
Purdue Research Foundation - Three stand-alone articles
zWorks - Newsletter and social channels
VisionTech Partners - Q&A blog
WLFI (West Lafayette CBS affiliate) - Two video and digital stories
Biofutures Magazine - Upcoming article
BioCrossroads - Social channels
New Team Members!
None of our success occurs in a vacuum. It is all due to our hardworking, talented, and kind team members. We’re very excited to announce that we made four new hires in 2022!
Eric Bowen, Director of Product Management – Eric has experience both in the laboratory and on the commercial side of businesses (he also holds an MBA). This has made him a natural fit as our Director of Product Management, a crucial role that works with customers to understand how our product can best fit their needs.
Wendy Salazar, Office Manager – Wendy is truly a jack of all trades at Novilytic. In addition to her office manager duties, she has an impressive financial background and helps to ensure that our books are balanced and that our laboratories are fully stocked for all experiments.
Megan Green, Product Marketing Specialist – Megan is an Orr Fellow and Lilly Scholar who is currently a senior at Notre Dame studying Science Business. She will join us in the summer shortly after graduation. Her understanding of chemistry mixed with her passion for marketing and people makes her a natural fit on our commercial team.
Darryl Hardy, Creative Marketing Intern – Darryl is a senior at Ball State University and a member of TechPoint's Xtern program who will be joining us in the spring. He has a passion for making brands come to life through design and video. We are very excited to use his talents to promote our products and successes in 2023.
2023 Goals
Launch Proteometer L before the end of February.
Establish three reseller contracts before the end of March. Instrument supplier examples: Agilent, Waters, Thermo, etc. Laboratory supplier examples: Fisher, Avantor, Resilience, etc.
Finalize the development of Proteometer charge variance, and oxidation, and explore glycan, glycosylation, and potential other additions.
Two product releases using Novilytic IP by September 2023. In addition to Proteometer L, we are also developing LA, E, and CV.
Reach minimum revenue goals before December.