NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Becton Dickinson and Breakout Labs today announced a strategic relationship in which BD will provide funding and guidance to selected start-ups in Breakout's portfolio.
Breakout, a philanthropic fund for early-stage science and technology firms, is a program of the Thiel Foundation.
BD will periodically review Breakout's portfolio for firms that are developing technologies relevant to BD's medical and life science business segments. Those selected by BD will receive up to $25,000 in funding, as well as a business mentor to provide guidance and connections, the partners said.
CytoVale has received a grant for an undisclosed amount in a pilot run of the partnership. Also, Andrea Liebmann-Vinson at BD's Corporate Innovation Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, will provide expertise to CytoVale in technical evaluations, as well as in regulatory, reimbursement, and manufacturing operations.
CytoVale was founded in 2013 to commercialize technology developed at the University of California, Los Angeles. Its platform is based on microfluidic technologies for high-throughput single-cell analysis and is being used in a range of clinical diagnostic applications, BD and Breakout said.