Tech Launch Arizona has crossed the milestone of 100 spinouts in its portfolio after achieving a new annual record in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the tech transfer office of University of Arizona, has crossed the 100-spinout mark after launching a record 19 new businesses during 2019-2020 fiscal year, compared with 11 year-on-year.
The TTO filed 347 patents, up from 341 year-on-year, and issued 87 patents, compared with 56 in 2018-19.
Licensing and option agreements amounted to 95 in the reporting period, almost static year-on-year.
Douglas Hockstad, assistant vice-president of TLA, said newly-founded spinouts typically accounted for no more than 20% of overall licensing agreements.
Hockstad added: “However, [spinouts] are often the most highly recognised measure of success. There are many other measures on which we continue to focus to ensure that all the innovations we see in a year have the opportunity to have impact.
“This accomplishment is the result of strategic collaborations between inventors and the right mentors, experienced entrepreneurs and other community collaborators.”
The 19 spinouts in TLA’s 2019-2020 cohort were identified as:

  • Metal extraction technology developer Auxilium Technology;
  • Cancer Cures Worldwide, creators of a combination cancer treatment leveraging low-dose chemotherapy and stem cell fusion;
  • CMLaser Technology, which is working on supercontinuum lasers to use as ballistic missile defences in air vehicles such as military aircraft;
  • CThru Lasers, whose laser technologies are billed as offering cost and productivity gains on existing approaches;
  • Deuve Photonics, creators of deep-ultraviolet technology for applications across sectors such as defence, mining and semiconductors;
  • ElectroSonix, which hopes to commercialise image-guided ultrasound therapy for cardiac indications using acoustoelectric technology;
  • Fontana Systems, a developer of cost-effective and high-performance thermostats and monitors;
  • Gen3, developers of concentrated photovoltaic technology;
  • GenetiRate2, which has devised a method for measuring skeletal muscle and metabolic rates to improve feed efficiency of production animals;
  • Grafite Logic, providers of a nanoarchitecture for preparing graphite electrodes and electrolytes for high-performance battery storage applications;
  • Hipokratiz, a spinout formed to build software that helps medical practices reduce missed patient appointments using principles of system thinking;
  • MediCarbone, creators of a noninvasive approach for bone fracture treatment that relies on carbon fibre reinforcement;
  • Pierce Allen Pharmaceuticals, a drug developer focused on mental health;
  • QScint Imaging Solutions, which is working on single-particle quantitative digital autoradiography for alpha-emitting isotopes;
  • SaiOx, a spinout that proposes to utilise the breathing gas heliox as a treatment for patients experiencing breathing difficulty;
  • SibylSoft, which is working on a system for automatically managing security risks to information systems;
  • TheraCea Pharma, developers of radiolabelling technology for biomolecular agents based on the radioisotope fluorine-18;
  • ThrooHealth, creators of a healthcare management platform that applies virtual reality and big data analytics; and
  • Wavelength Unlimited Technologies, which aims to mature a tunable pulsed laser product for medical, commercial and military applications.