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AssureRx Health has appointed two executives to its leadership team.

Stephen A. Stamp will serve as senior vice president and chief financial officer and Jeffrey P. Bush as vice president, payer markets and reimbursement.

The appointments allow the Mason medical informatics business to better reach its goal of becoming a leading pharmacogenomic treatment provider for neuropsychiatric, pain, ADHD and other disorders, said President and CEO James S. Burns.

Stamp previously served as chief operating officer at Newport-based Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and chief financial officer of EZCORP.

Before joining AssureRx, Bush served as senior director of reimbursement strategy and payment policy at Becton, Dickinson and Company, a global medical device and diagnostic system manufacturer.

AssureRx develops diagnostic tests that help physicians prescribe optimal medications for neuropsychiatric patients

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Tags: Tags: add, adhd, assurerx, assurerx health inc, business, chief financial officer, jeffrey bush, mason, stephen stamp, vice president

Josh Pichler reports:

James S. Burns spent the first two years as CEO at AssureRx Health Inc. making sure his medical informatics company lived to fight another day.

A critical $11 million investment in March 2011 by two venture capital firms came only after CincyTech and other investors put together an $800,000 bridge loan that kept the startup going while it sought long-term funding.

The past 15 months have been markedly different for Burns and his team.

On May 30, AssureRx announced $12.5 million in financing led by Four Rivers Group and existing investors Claremont Creek Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

Also in May, AssureRx launched its second product, a personalized medicine test for children and adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

And in February, the company moved from offices in the Columbia Commons business park off Interstate 71 in Mason into 10,000 square feet of space at the Mason Community Center to accommodate its growing number of employees.

As the region works to create an environment that supports and helps startups mature – a priority for business leaders in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky – AssureRx offers a case study for what’s possible.

The company, which was spun out of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 2006, is attracting the necessary talent to grow locally. And it’s now secured two rounds of funding from some of the most respected venture capital firms in the country, all of which are based in California and agreed to let the company stay here.

“These VC firms provide more than money. They provide credibility. They have significant brands and networks in the national startup and venture capital industry,” said David Willbrand, a lawyer at Thompson Hine LLP who represents AssureRx, and whose practice focuses on entrepreneurs, emerging companies, early stage investors and venture capital funds.

“And that is enormously important, because other startups and future startups in this region can point to AssureRx as precedent, as an example that the startup community in this region is vital and viable.”

(more…)

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Tags: Tags: assurerx, assurerx health, business, cincytech, funding, genesightrx, health, james s. burns, mason, neuropsychiatric, venture capital

Laura Baverman reports:

The medical technology startup AssureRx Health has received a $12.5 million investment from existing and new venture capital partners.

The series C funds will help the growing Mason company grow sales of its diagnostic test that helps physicians prescribe optimal medications for neuropsychiatric patients. It also will allow the company to sponsor clinical studies and develop new products.

AssureRx last received funding in January, an $8 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank to help build sales of the initial product called GeneSightRx and finance the launch of several new products.

The company has been cited as a best example of a local startup spawned from cutting-edge research at a local institution, that’s now creating jobs, attracting talent and deploying millions of dollars from highly-sought after venture capital firms.

The company has aggressively gone to market with its tests since March 2011, when it secured $11 million in series B financing from West Coast investors Sequoia Capital and Claremont Creek Ventures, with smaller participation by its local venture partners Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, CincyTech and Allos Ventures.

The new round of funding included all of the previous investors but was led by San Francisco-based Four Rivers Group and included Washington D.C.-based jVen Capital and Alafi Capital of California, all funds focused on growing life science companies.

The technology behind AssureRx was developed in labs at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic. The company was launched in 2006 and received early-stage funding from the hospital, clinic and CincyTech.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: assurerx, assurerx health, business, funding, genesightrx, health, mason, neuropsychiatric, venture capital

The city of Mason has signed on a new tenant and renewed the lease of another at the city’s Municipal Center.

Tech start-ups Storeflix and mDynamik committed to leasing a combined 2,000-square-foot of space in a move expected to generate $15,000 annually in revenue for the city and the creation of 20 new jobs in the next two years.

“Part of our economic development success has been identifying and supporting small entrepreneurial start-ups with excellent potential,” said Mason Mayor David Nichols. “We are excited to continue the momentum and collaboration with mDynamik and StoreFlix as they continue growing and bringing high tech jobs to Mason.”

The city signed a new lease agreement with mDynamik, a mobile and social technology start-up servicing healthcare providers and organizations.  The company expects to launch its core consumer product offering this summer.

Storeflix, which has a patent pending on social media technology for businesses, opened in the old fire department administrative offices at the Mason Municipal Center in late 2010.  The company extended its lease agreement with the city by another 12 months.

City officials say leasing space to businesses in the Mason Municipal Center is a creative way to use existing assets to leverage investment and job creation of high-growth technology companies in the city.

“We believe successfully locating companies like StoreFlix and mDynamik here has a multiplier effect on the city’s ability to accomplish other economic strategies, including attracting a critical mass of more entrepreneur start-ups and greater workforce availability in science and technology fields,” said Michele Blair, Mason’s economic development director.

Since the city signed its first lease agreement with Storeflix, other businesses have taken note of relocating to city-owned properties.

In October, AssureRX announced plans to relocate the growing biotech firm’s headquarters and dry lab to the Mason Community Center.  The 10,000 square-foot facility can accommodate more than 100 employees.

Another bio-health startup, eMerge, also signed a lease for 900 square-feet of space at the Mason Municipal Center.  The company, which specializes in gastroenterology solutions, employs four full-time employees.

The new lease agreements bring business space at Mason’s Municipal Center to full capacity.

“We truly appreciate the City of Mason and their continued support during our start up stage of development. We look forward to creating many new jobs and opportunities for the city and to calling Mason home for many years to come,” said Storeflix CEO and founder, Phil Storage.

“MDynamik is very excited to be working with the City of Mason,” echoed Jeremy Shubert, the company’s co-founder.  “It’s a perfect partnership where Mason wants to help us grow and succeed and, in turn, we want to help Mason continue to be the thriving community it is today.”

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Tags: Tags: assurerx, biotech, business, business suite, david nichols, emerge, jeremy shubert, jobs, lease, lease agreements, mason campus, mason community center, mason municipal center, mdynamik, michele blair, phil storage, storeflix

Mike Boyer reports:

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: assurerx, assurerx health inc, business, claremont creek ventures, depression, financing, funding, genesightrx, genetics, james burns, mason, mason community center, psychiatric disorders, sequioa capital, silicon valley bank, svb financial group

Mason-based AssureRx Health Inc. is announcing major expansion plans this morning with city officials.

The four-year-old biotech company told The Enquirer last month it planned to announce plans to triple its office space by the end of the year.

The company now leases about 3,500 square feet in the Columbia Commons business park off Interstate 71.

City officials and executives from AssureRx will release details at a news conference at the Mason Community Center.

Among the officials expected to participate in the announcement: Mason Mayor Don Prince; Vice Mayor David Nichols; Jim Burns, CEO, AssureRx Health Inc.; and Denyse Ferguson, vice president/economic development, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

The company, which started the year with 13 employees, expects to have more than 40 on staff by year-end as it continues to roll out its GeneSightRx test kit, designed to help psychiatrists find the right drug for patients requiring antidepressant or antipsychotic treatment.

The test uses a cheek swap from the patient to help doctors determine how the patient might respond to specific medications based on his or her genes.

Sales were forecast to top $4 million this year and hit $25 million in three years, but CEO James Burns said the company is ahead of expectations.

It plans to introduce two new products in development in the first half of next year and pursue another round of venture funding in the second half of 2012.

AssureRx, which received $11 million in funding from two nationally known venture capital firms earlier this year, recently hired three executives to flesh out its seven-member senior staff.

(via Cincinnati.com)

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Tags: Tags: assurerx, business, cincinnati usa regional chamber, columbia commons, expand, expansion, genesightrx, mason, mason community center