To understand the BioTech startups in the Inland Empire, you’ve got to scan what’s coming out of two entities, the first being Murrieta Innovation Center and second is UC Riverside’s Wet Lab Incubator. Both of these organizations play a vital role in incubating the Inland Empire’s BioTech startups.

The University of California, Riverside got $2.5 million for Inland Empire’s first entrepreneurial life sciences incubator back in 2019. An additional $2.5 million of State of California grants and internal UC Riverside funds were pooled to build the university’s wet lab incubator.

The Murrieta Innovation Center, or MIC, opened doors in 2015 when the City of Murrieta housed MIC in the old city hall complex in Riverside County near the junction of Interstates’ 15 and 215. It has nine BioTech start-ups in the Southwest Riverside County area & house several resource organizations.

Murrieta Genomics

This is not a BioTech startup in itself but an incubator that houses other BioTech startups. Based out of the Murrieta Innovation Center, this Inland Empire BioTech incubator called Murrieta Genomics, LLC, the Southern California genomic sequencing business incubator helps BioTech startups intending to launch genomic sequencing in precision medicine, agriculture,  forensics, veterinary and direct to consumer applications. It provides access to the specialized equipment, know-how and mentors to help commercialize genomic sequencing startup ideas.

One of the first BioTech company it incubated in 2018 was EpigeneticsRX, a company dedicated to preventive medicine guided by epigenetic information.

Basilard BioTech

Basilard Biotech is a Southern-California-based company works in engineering of cell based therapies in Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT). In 2019, the company released a gene delivery technology platform called Celletto™.

The startup’s technology was patented at the University of California, Riverside, and then licensed to startup Basilard BioTech.

SimplSeq

Located at MIC, SimplSeq improves genomic sequencing by simplifying the sample preparation process. Basically, the BioTech startup simplifies and automates the genomic sequencing workflow process.

SimplSeq raised its seed round in March this year when it announced obtaining $500K from an investor whom the company leadership met at the JP Morgan Conference.

“We met with our investor at the JP Morgan conference in San Francisco. He was already convinced that we had something special, but it helped to meet with him and some of his advisors to fully explain the merits of the company’s technology.”

John Powers, SimplSeq’s CEO

GattaCo, Inc.

GattaCo is a BioTech startup that automates sample  collection and processing. It does so by rapid & high quality sample purification. One of its recent inventions in A-PON Kit, a kit-based technology for blood component separation at the point of need.

It has also developed technologies for membrane-based filtration and sample purification.

NeyroblastGX

NeyroblastGX LLC (NGL), a BioTech startup founded in 2020 out of the Murrieta Innovation Center, CA develops next-generation theranostic products for neurodegenerative and infectious diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19. 

Swellter, Inc.

Swellter is a patient immersion platform providing content and information for oncology patients. Laboratory and pharmaceutical companies can share relevant and potentially  transformative diagnostic and therapeutic options with oncologists and cancer patients.

TRIO Pharmaceuticals

TRIO Pharmaceuticals is a cancer immunotherapeutic company making drugs that directly stop tumor growth and selectively stop immunosuppression in the tumor without targeting the current immune checkpoint pathways. It was incubated at the Murrieta Innovation Center.

The startup recently announced partnerships with other companies in the BioTech space.

Karamedica. Inc.

Karamedica’s founders have developed and patented non-thermal atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma technology for decontamination of delicate biomaterials, like chitosan. Chitosan is a biopolymer that has shown tremendous promise in the medical literature as a hemostatic agent, immune adjuvant, drug delivery vehicle, tissue scaffold, and many other medical applications.

The startup received a $2.5 million Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Institute on Aging.

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