b'PROOV: NURTURING FERTILITY Joey Azofeifa,Every year, about eight million Americansbeit could rip $7 billion of costs outWITH BETTER TESTINGArpeggio Biosciencesgo to hospital emergency roomsof our healthcare system, because you founder and CEOcomplaining of chest pains. A recentare sending these people home sooner,Amy Beckley, Ph.D., struggled to get study found that about 87% of theseBrava CEO Byron Hewett said. pregnant. That experience gave birth to patients are not suffering from a hearta hormone therapy business that is now attack, but about 4.2 millionor aboutThe Advanced Industries Accelerator Granthelping thousands of womenand an 53%that are admitted wait on testwill help Brava bring its troponin test toAdvanced Industries Accelerator Grant is results. That delay leads to overcrowdedmarket sooner. Without it, the companynurturing that business.emergency departments, higher medicalwould have had to raise funding to hire a costs and increased patient stress. protein scientist and a director of cardiacInfertility is a condition Beckley knows all assay development to oversee the lengthytoo well. After a stressful and expensive ACCELERATING Enter Brava, which has developed aU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)round of in vitro fertilization, she gave high-sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn) proteinapproval process. With the grant, Bravabirth to a healthy son. But for her second INNOVATION: marker test that can produce resultscan add these positions now, and itspregnancy, she tapped her Ph.D. in within 15 minutes. Armed with this test,troponin test could be available in hospitalPharmacology and research skills to track emergency departments could diagnoseemergency departments in 2022.her hormone levels. She found she had heart attacks more quickly and sendlow levels of progesterone, which can low-risk patients home earlier.Hewett gives back to the community bylead to infertility and pregnancy loss.serving as a reviewer for the AdvancedWith the help of a relatively inexpensive What this means to the U.S. healthcareIndustries Accelerator Grant program. Hisprescription hormone supplement, she system is that we believe that if this iscompany merged with MBio Diagnosticsdelivered a healthy daughterand in theTHE STORIES BEHIND THE NUMBERS adopted widelyand we think it shouldin July 2020.WRITTEN BY KAREN BROWNFORinnovative products to improve healthcare on a global basis The Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program,creation and innovation in Colorados seven designated more than 14 years, Colorados state-funded Advanced Industries Acceleratorall making for a strong argument to continue the program wellrun by the state Office of Economic Development andAdvanced Industries. Grant Program has been a wellspringinto the future. International Trade (OEDIT), provides critical, early-stage for life sciences innovation and economic growth. SinceIn 2020, CBSA mobilized our ecosystems support and funding for promising life sciences companies. Coloradoled a successful effort on behalf of the states Advanced its inception, the grant program, run by the state Office ofBRAVA DIAGNOSTICS: TAKING EMERGENCYBioScience Association advocates tirelessly to support andIndustries to preserve partial program funding during Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), hasROOM TESTING TO HEART grow this program. Its a cornerstone of Capital + Growthsevere budget shortfalls due to COVID-19. created 975 life sciences jobs, 81 companies and close to $1for life sciences in Colorado.billion in additional investments.Brava Diagnostics (Boulder) believes its cardiac test now inColorados Advanced Industries anchor our economy, development can reduce the time it takes to diagnose heartCBSA supported the creation of the original Biosciencedriving nearly 30% of the states total wage earnings and Behind these numbers, there are equally compelling storiesattacksand its banking on its $250,000 Advanced IndustriesDiscovery Evaluation Grant Program (BDEGP) in 2006 and30% of total sales revenue. CBSA looks forward to working worked with legislators to expand state-funded grants inwith the General Assembly to restore and grow funding to be found in the startups themselves. These early-stageAccelerator Grant to make the test available to emergency2013 based on their success. Now known as the Advancedfor the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program, a ventures have made medical breakthroughs and designedroom doctors more quickly. Industries Accelerator Grant Program, it supports jobproven job-creator for Colorado. 12BIOSCIENCECOLORADO//2020-2021 BIOSCIENCECOLORADO//2020-202113'