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22 Hartford Business Journal | April 19, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com CaroGen targets breakthrough immunotherapy drug By Norm Bell Special to the Hartford Business Journal I mmunotherapies. Vaccines. We've all had a crash course in these subjects during this year of the pandemic. Now a Farmington startup is taking immunotherapies and vaccines in new directions in the battle against disease — including COVID-19. Bijan Almassian is president and CEO at CaroGen Corp. His small team — five full- time employees and five part- timers — occupies space in UConn Health's Cell and Genome Building on Farmington Avenue. But much of the firm's research is going on in laboratories spread across several universities. CaroGen's lead product is an immunotherapy that targets Hepatitis B, a viral disease that affects the liver and is spread through bodily fluids. While there are Hep B vaccines on the market, the one CaroGen is working on is for treating chronic Hepatitis B, a disease that afflicts 240 million people worldwide. The vaccine is in Phase 1 trials and has attracted a $5 million grant from the National Institutes for Health. Yale University and Albany Medical College are the research partners on the project. CaroGen is also working on immunotherapies for ovarian cancer with researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit and for colorectal cancer with researchers at UConn. Elsewhere, CaroGen is playing a role in the possible development of follow- up vaccines for COVID-19 variants and for Zika virus. The basis of CaroGen's business is an immunotherapy concept developed by Dr. John Rose at Yale. CaroGen holds the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the versatile virus-like vesicle (VLV) platform. "It's a long-term play," explains Almassian. Indeed. Since CaroGen's founding in 2015, it has become a portfolio company of Connecticut Innovations and scored some impressive grants. But it has generated zero dollars of revenue. The business model calls for developing the pure science from proof of concept through the early stages of testing. However, when testing moves to the costly Phase 2 and Phase 3 stage trials, CaroGen would seek to sell the product to a pharmaceutical company with the deep pockets necessary for drug development and marketing. The road to a breakthrough product sale is a rocky one but Almassian sees the challenges clearly. He has experience developing other drugs and remains CEO of Aria Neurosciences in Hamden. The firm is working on pharmaceutical treatments for Alzheimer's disease. One of CaroGen's largest challenges is access to capital. "We wouldn't have survived without Connecticut Innovations," he said. Still, he is frustrated by CaroGen's inability to tap Connecticut's private investor community. At one low point, Almassian flew to China and raised $1 million. He contrasts that to the zero dollars he's raised from investors within his home state. Grants and research partners have bridged the gap so far. But CaroGen's breakthrough moment isn't here yet. Almassian, an immigrant from Iran who holds a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from MIT, remains confident. "I'm building a company for the long haul," he explains. Cloud 9 Online's app provides healing through meditation By Norm Bell Special to the Hartford Business Journal T he connection between meditation and health dates back centuries. But popular acceptance in this country has been slowed by doubts around "non- scientific" Eastern medical practices and images of New Age incense and crystals. For the past six years, Cloud 9 Online has been working to gain a solid foothold for meditation within the often-byzantine system of American health care. The Hartford startup's concept is a white label personalized meditation therapy program delivered online. The programs are personalized, disease specific and prescribed by physicians. Progress has come in fits and starts, CEO Delanea Davis explains. She's a co-founder of Cloud 9, along with Henry Edinger, who serves as chief operation and strategy officer. Both come to the business from the insurance industry. Cloud 9 Online went to market in 2015 with a patented app. Its Uhmi online platform offers a variety of free and fee-based programs directly to consumers. In 2017, it added a business-to-consumer app. From the start, the commitment has been to expert sources, high-quality writing and studio-quality audio. Davis points to a collaboration with Hartford HealthCare on clinical trials as a clear sign the firm is on the right path. A year ago, Hartford HealthCare offered a free trial of Cloud 9 Online to its employees as part of the system's employee assistance program. And employees embraced the meditation programs. That's the kind of model Cloud 9 has been shopping to other healthcare providers and Davis says she's in the late stages of negotiation for deals that will move the firm toward profitability. Revenues were under $50,000 in 2020. A significant breakthrough came this year when Cloud 9 Online was cleared to directly bill a client's insurance carrier. The library of topics has grown as Cloud 9 moved to serve various potential markets. Hartford HealthCare wanted to offer meditations specifically designed for those suffering from back pain or neck pain, neuropathy and migraines, for example. Another line of meditations was designed to help those fighting opioid addiction. And a line of meditations has been crafted for veterans battling PTSD. Bright & Early Learning Centers has deployed Cloud 9 meditations for pupils at its five sites across Connecticut. The overall feel of the words and music is described as light, whimsical, childlike and positive. The goals are improving children's attention spans and cognitive awareness. Cloud 9 Online raised about $1 million in initial capital from "friends and family," Davis said. Connecticut Innovations also was an early investor. A staff of about 25 is on board and Davis hopes to grow that to 45 to 50 this year by bolstering the sales effort. The absence of marketing dollars has slowed growth, Davis said. The key to funding the expansion of the marketing effort is closing one of the pending enterprise deals. The medical and economic case for meditation is its ability to reduce stress. According to Cloud 9's website, stress is estimated to be the underlying cause of 80% of doctor visits. Studies done at the University of Montreal and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that meditation was 25% more effective than drugs in reducing pain. At a Glance Company: CaroGen Corp. | Industry: Bioscience Top Executive: Bijan Almassian, President & CEO HQ: 400 Farmington Ave., Farmington No. of Employees: 10 Company Website: https://carog | Phone Number: 203-815-5782 At a Glance Company: Cloud 9 Online | Industry: Health care Top Executive: Delanea Davis, CEO & Founder HQ: 20 Church St., Hartford No. of Employees: 21 Company Website: C9OHealth.com | Phone number: 860-268-9906 Tech 25 Bijan Almassian Delanea Davis CaroGen CEO Bijan Almassian (right) and researchers working out of their Farmington lab. A view of Cloud 9 Online's meditation app. HBJ FILE PHOTO PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED