Colorado BioScience Association Highlights Health Innovators at Innovation Forward: Forum + Awards Celebration

By: Colorado BioScience Association   Date: 10/13/2021

LightDeck Diagnostics Named Company of the Year, Artisan Bio Honored as Rising Star of the Year

Denver – Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) honored Colorado’s life sciences community at the  Innovation Forward: Forum + Awards Celebration, held on October 12 at the Hyatt Regency. The event included a forum and trade show, where national and state thought leaders shared innovations, success stories, and best practices through dynamic panel discussions. During the evening awards celebration, the community toasted the ecosystem’s perseverance and agility during the past year.

Jennifer Jones Paton, Colorado BioScience Association President & CEO, says:
“CBSA thanks our speakers, panelists, exhibitors, and attendees for making our largest in-person event since early 2020 a day filled with learning opportunities, great conversations, and a long-awaited celebration. A special congratulations to our Company of the Year and Rising Star winners, our finalists for those awards, and all of our honorees.”

Company of the Year
LightDeck Diagnostics is reimaging diagnostic technology by developing simple, fast, laboratory-quality testing almost anywhere. Finalists for the award included Proov and OnKure.

Rising Star of the Year
Artisan Bio is engineering the next generation of immune cell therapy to produce positive outcomes in patients. Finalists were: Enveda Biosciences and Foresight Diagnostics.

CBSA Board Chair Bob Reddy, Vice President, Global Marketing, Medical Education and Training for Medtronic Enabling Technologies, Board Vice Chair Kathleen (Kiki) Traylor, M.D., Director, State Government Affairs for Amgen, and CBSA President & CEO Jennifer Jones Paton highlighted the celebration’s theme, “Innovation Forward” throughout the evening. They emphasized stories of courage and tenacity. In addition to the Company of the Year and Rising Star awards, CBSA recognized:

Educator of the Year
Scott Troy of Westminster High School introduces subjects including innovations to assist dementia patients, forensic science, CRISPR-Cas 9 genetic editing, and the medical impacts of air quality.

Business Partner of the Year
BIO is the world’s largest advocacy association representing member companies, state biotechnology groups, academic and research institutions, and related organizations across the United States and in 30+ countries. The organization supports CBSA through Policy + Advocacy leadership, business savings programs, and the Coalition of State Bioscience Associations.

Legislators of the Year
Senator Chris Hansen, Senate District 31 (Arapahoe and Denver), Senator Jim Smallwood, Senate District 4 (Douglas County), Representative Shannon Bird, House District 35 (Adams County), and House Minority Leader Representative Hugh McKean, House District 51 (Larimer County) champion issues critical to life sciences at the State Capitol.

Deal of the Year
Edgewise Therapeutics, a Boulder-based clinical stage company is developing transformative therapies for serious musculoskeletal diseases, raised $202 million in an initial public offering in March of 2021.

Institute Leadership Award
Joanne (Jo) Rupprecht, Interim Director of Research Integrity and Compliance Office and Manager of Regulatory Affairs at CSU also serves as an adjunct professor for Biomedical Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Medical Campus. She collaborates with the Institute to cultivate the future life sciences workforce.

Impact Award
Katie Woslager partnered with CBSA to advance the life sciences ecosystem and provide funding opportunities for Colorado’s Advanced Industries in her previous role at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT).

Chairman’s Award
AGC Biologics, a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), that has invested in Colorado with major facilities in Boulder and Longmont.

The event featured panel discussions with leaders of Colorado’s most notable IPOs, innovation leaders from Colorado’s academic institutions and recent spinouts discussing innovations coming out of the pandemic, and leaders discussing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts underway at Colorado companies.

Innovation Showcase
GelSana Founder and CEO, Melissa Krebs, Ph.D. accepted a $7,500 cash prize awarded by a panel of experts following a pitch competition. Leaders from LaPorte Immunotherapeutics and LumenAstra were also selected to present.

CBSA thanks event sponsors: Amgen, Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Cooley, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, CU Innovations, Venture Partners at CU Boulder,  Dorsey, Essent Biologics, EY, Fitzsimons Innovation Community, Fisher Scientific, GRAIL, Higginbotham,  Plante Moran, ScienceWorks, Sheridan Ross, SomaLogic, and Wilson Sonsini.

About Colorado BioScience Association
Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) creates co-opportunity for the Colorado life sciences community. CBSA champions a collaborative life sciences ecosystem and advocates for a supportive business climate. From concept to commercialization, member companies and organizations drive global health innovations, products and services that improve and save lives. The association leads Capital and Growth, Education and Networking, Policy and Advocacy, and Workforce Cultivation to make its members stronger, together. Learn more: cobioscience.com

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Media Contact
Sheliah Reynolds
Primavera Group for Colorado BioScience Association
(720) 289-4739
sheliah@theprimaveragroup.comCategories: CBSA News