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V o l . X X I N o. I I Ja N ua r y 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 20 Someone who is researching diabetes, for example, may have studied 96 genes on an array, but may want to look at 50 more. BHB could make a custom array including those extra genes. "It is hard for the big companies to do this custom work," she says. But she wants to broaden the product pipeline beyond the company's current market niche. "BHB could grow to a certain point with our research tools," she says. "My plan is to stabilize sales of existing products and do more customization." Part of her plan to grow the company is to add more products that are part of the workflow per- formed by scientists using BHB's existing products. at could include the reagent chemicals customers add to BHB's primer arrays to prompt the chemical and biological reactions they are studying. "We need to start to grow our product pipeline, and are look- ing at others parts of the process," she says. She hopes the company, which has annual sales of less than $5 million, will turn a profit this year. "But nobody knows our name. We need brand awareness," she says, adding that BHB recently redesigned its website to push more sales and mar- keting. It also is attending trade shows and getting the word out in customer testimonials. To raise BHB's profile, she also is giving tech- nical talks at research institutions, such as the National Cancer Research Institute, and partici- pated in the MTI Tech Walk. Dividing to grow It was difficult for BHB to raise money when it had both the genetics tools and diagnostics businesses, which have very different investment and growth profiles, she says. "Our investors and founders said raising money for diagnostics, which has more risk and reward, is different than selling a tool for research, which has less risk and reward," she says. BHB's investors and founders decided to separate the two businesses, spinning out the diagnostic group into a Hanover, N.H.-based company, Genextropy Inc. Both BHB and Genextropy retain certain rights to e Jackson Laboratory algorithm patents that cover a way to analyze gene expression data from qPCR. Initially, the investors in both companies overlapped, but since last summer, one of BHB's major and found- ing investors, Borealis Ventures of Portsmouth, N.H., put all its money into Genextropy. Borealis worked with e Jackson Laboratory from the start to identify the market opportunity and set up the company. A later investor in BHB, the Maine Venture Fund, kept its investment in both companies, with more in BHB than Genextropy. "We're very happy with what we are seeing now," says John Burns, managing direc- tor of the Maine Venture Fund. "e restructuring was good and smart for BHB and Genextropy." He recalls that "things got off to a tough start," for BHB. About two years after the company started, it signed the distribution deal with Lonza. e deal gave BHB access to a worldwide salesforce, but Burns questions how much incentive the big company had to sell the products, as it also sold other similar products. "It [the deal] wasn't handled well on either side. It was an exclusive deal that unwound in 2013," he says. "It was primarily Lonza's brand. BHB was locked into the relationship for four years, and sales struggled." However, during those years, BHB's scientists came up with interesting findings to predict certain diseases with proprietary tests using e Jackson Laboratories technology, he says. at diagnostic business led to Genextropy being created about three years ago to develop predictive, non-invasive genetic risk-assessment tests for cancers, autoim- mune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and metabolism disorders. "e two businesses were very different," says Burns. "Genextropy takes millions of dollars in investment and years to develop." No new cash was put into BHB during the restructuring, but Yancey-Wrona says the company "We're adding 15 new stores to the route." "Let's get it done." "...as soon as we get the agreements finalized." "Let's work with Perkins." When it comes to understanding the needs of businesses, Perkins Thompson is the region's trusted full-service business law firm that gets it right. Depend on the lawyers of Perkins Thompson to deliver integrity and value. We work hard, treat you with respect, and get the job done – right on schedule! Business Law » Energy & Environmental » Real Estate » Commercial Finance One Canal Plaza • Portland, Maine 04101 • 207.774.2635 www.perkinsthompson.com © 2013 Perkins Thompson, Attorneys & Counselors at Law » C o n t i n u e d f ro m P r e v i o u S Pa G e Bar Harbor Biotechnology inc. 18 River Field Road, Trenton Founded: 2006 (first spinout from The Jackson Laboratory) CEO: Janet Yancey-Wrona Products: Software and systems for genetics research Employees: 5 Annual Sales: Less than $5M Contact: 207-667-7900 info@bhbio.com

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