Thursday, October 20, 2022
SymBiosis Capital Management, LLC (“SymBiosis”) and HealthTech Arkansas today announced the formation of BioAR Trial, an accelerator program to help biotherapeutics companies in late pre-clinical stages of development bring groundbreaking therapies to market faster, while increasing Arkansans’ access to cutting-edge clinical care and innovative medicines.
SymBiosis and HealthTech Arkansas together are ideally positioned to advance the mission of BioAR Trial. Based in Bentonville, SymBiosis has significant scientific and operational capabilities, financial resources, and experience working with a range of biotherapeutics companies through various phases of growth and development. HealthTech Arkansas has partnerships with the largest hospitals and health systems in Arkansas that it will activate to provide BioAR Trial participating companies with high-quality clinical trial sites in Arkansas that can rapidly enroll diverse populations.
Companies from around the world are invited to apply to participate in BioAR Trial, which will focus on deploying advanced and emerging therapeutic modalities—such as precision medicines, biologics, cell therapies, and genetic medicines—to treat serious and life-threatening diseases in oncology, immune disorders, and cardio-metabolic disease. The application for BioAR Trial is now open through January 15, 2023, at www.bioarkansas.co. BioAR Trial’s first cohort of five companies will begin in April 2023.
“Our goal at SymBiosis is to make investments that help bring innovative therapeutics to market to improve and save lives,” said Chidozie Ugwumba, Managing Partner of SymBiosis. “We are pleased to partner with HealthTech Arkansas to make our shared vision of BioAR Trial a reality and expect that this will be the first in a series of initiatives that help transform Arkansas into a national leader in healthcare. We are excited for what we anticipate will be a strong response to this unique opportunity and to begin working with the participating companies to advance their biotherapeutics.”
“Partnering with SymBiosis to establish BioAR Trial is an important next step towards achieving our goal of driving innovation for Arkansas healthcare providers through our accelerators and internal innovation programming,” added Jeff Stinson, Director of HealthTech Arkansas. “We are pleased to couple our healthcare accelerator’s ability to provide high-quality clinical trial sites for promising early-stage companies with SymBiosis’ deep expertise in helping biotherapeutic companies to fulfill their vital missions.”
“We take very seriously the task of helping to accelerate the growth and success of companies developing some of the world’s most-promising therapeutics by streamlining the clinical trial process,” said Jahan Ali, Vice President of Business Development at SymBiosis, who will lead BioAR Trial. “The combination of SymBiosis and HealthTech Arkansas’ resources and capabilities will enable BioAR Trial to do just that. We are thrilled to welcome our inaugural class of participating companies.”
BioAR Trial’s partner hospitals and health systems are:
Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
Arkansas Heart Hospital
Baptist Health
CHI St. Vincent
Highlands Oncology Group
St. Bernards Healthcare
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
The BioAR Trial selection committee is comprised of representatives from partner health systems and clinical trials sites who will review applications and identify ten finalists, from which the five participating companies will be selected in March 2023.
