Here is the latest innovation news from Texas:
—Texas A&M University Thursday opened a national pandemic influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Bryan, TX, the first part of a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, which is a cluster of research and development institutions that the university is currently building. GSK is the largest of the university’s 19 partners in developing the center, which will be one of three tasked with rapidly responding to both outbreaks of naturally occurring infectious diseases and bioterrorism. The other two centers are located in North Carolina—affiliated with Novartis—and one split between Baltimore and Michigan, partnered with Emergent Biosolutions.
—Parents looking for ways to fence off your kids from unacceptable content on tablets and smartphones? Famigo, an Austin, TX-based software company says it has a solution.
—MicroVentures, an online equity crowdfunding program, said this week that since its launch four years ago, companies on its site have raised more than $50 million. Among those clients is Start Houston, a co-working space that is putting together a group of as many as 100 Houston investors who will get first-crack at Houston tech startups featured on the site.
—Ortho Kinematics has raised $3.06 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Austin company provides spine motion analysis and diagnostic services to treat back and neck pain. The company, which was founded in 2006, raised $6.2 million in venture capital in April.
—Encore Vision in Fort Worth, TX, indicated in an SEC filing that it has raised $1.86 million to help develop its liquid therapy to treat presbyopia, or when the eyes have difficulty focusing on up-close objects such as books or during activities like sewing.
—Leading Reach aims to close the loop on one of healthcare’s most inefficient processes: the referral. The Austin software company says it better connects primary care providers with specialists to provide more efficient care.
