Sameeha Sulaiman

uBiome was founded in October 2012 by Jessica Richman and Zachary Apte, two scientists from the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences. It is a privately held, citizen science startup that sequences the human microbiome.

The company's commercial products include:

• SmartGut - a sequencing-based clinical microbiome test, which identifies microbes in the gut for patients with chronic gut conditions such as IBD, IBS, Crohn's Disease, and ulcerative colitis. The test detect both beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms associated with these gut conditions.

• SmartJane - a sequencing based women's health screening test, which genotypes all 19 clinically relevant strains of HPV, identified four common STDs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and mycoplasma genitalium), and surveys more than 20 vaginal microbes associated with bacterial vaginosis and other conditions. However, it does not screen for cancer and is not intended to replace traditional Pap smears or well woman visits.

• SmartFlu - an upper respiratory test that analyzes nasal microbiome when a person experiences cold or flu symptoms. It detects bacteria and viruses associated with health conditions such as, the flu, common cold, and bacterial infections. This product is available by invite-only as of February 2019.

• Explorer - a health and wellness product to understand the role that food and lifestyle can play in wellness.

In September 2018, uBiome announced that it will be supporting drug-discovery efforts using its technology at a new Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters. It also raised $83 million in a Series C round of funding.

Alzheon is a privately held clinical stage, biotechnology company based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It focuses on developing medications by directly addressing the underlying pathology of neurodegenerative disorders.

Founded in 2013, the company's lead product candidate is ALZ-801, a patented, orally administered prodrug of tramiprosate that is designed to inhibit amyloid oligomer formation, a key driver of Alzheimer's disease. The product is intended to focus on patients with mild Alzheimer's with the APOE4 genotype. It has been granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA in October 2017. Phase 3 clinical trials are planned for 2019. Alzheon's product pipeline also has ALZ-1903, a pre-clinical candidate with the potential to inhibit amyloid misfolding.

In April 2018, the company planned an $80 million IPO, but soon withdrew the offer. It re-announced later in August a $40 million IPO. However, that too was withdrawn in January 2019.

In Jan 2017, Synthego had secured $41 million in funding from investors including, Jennifer A. Doudna, 8VC, and Founders Fund. Recently, in October 2018, it raise another $110 million in Series C funding round. The round was led by Founders Fund, with additional investment from existing investors 8VC and Menlo Ventures. Synthego's total funding is about $160 million.

Synthego has disclosed $49.5m in funding by 8VC, Intel Capital, Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, and Jennifer Doudna.

Synthego is a privately held, genome engineering innovation company headquartered in California. It focuses on providing broader access to CRIPR to accelerate basic scientific discovery, research cures for diseases, and develop novel synthetic biology applications through the company's automated, full stack genome engineering platform.

The company's product portfolio is divided into two areas: engineered cells and CRISPR kits. Under the engineered cells, Synthego offers knockout cell pools, knockout cell clone, and advanced cells with the client's custom edits. Under the CRISPR kits, it offers synthetic sgRNA kits, gene knockout kits, CRISPR screening libraries, advanced RNA, and synthetic cr:tracrRNA kits.

In Jan 2017, Synthego had secured $41 million in funding from investors including, Jennifer A. Doudna, 8VC, and Founders Fund. Recently, in October 2018, it raise another $110 million in Series C funding round. The round was led by Founders Fund, with additional investment from existing investors 8VC and Menlo Ventures. Synthego's total funding is about $160 million.

Yield10 Bioscience is a publicly traded, agriculture bioscience company headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts. It focuses on the development of technologies to produce step-change improvements in crop yield for food and feed crops. It aims to do this by improving fundamental elements of plant metabolism through enhanced photosynthetic efficiency and directed carbon utilization.

Originally known as Metabolix, the company was founded in 1992 and was focused on engineering microbes to make proprietary bioplastics and bio-based chemicals. The company's crop science research program was launched in 2002 with the intent to harness the renewable nature of plants to produce renewable bioplastics, chemicals, and bioenergy from agricultural crops. The company was renamed Yield10 Biosciences in 2015 to focus on its current are of expertise.

Yield10's proprietary technologies such as its 'Smart Carbon Grid for Crops' and 'T3' platforms are used to book the carbon dioxide fixation efficiency through photosynthesis as well as its direction to and conversion into plant matter. The company is advancing this and several other yield traits it has developed in key commercial crops such as canola, soybean, rice, wheat, and corn.