Company plans to launch life sciences start-ups in San Antonio

Led by Mayor Julián Castro, the City of San Antonio was joined today by Governor Rick Perry's Office, County Judge Nelson Wolff, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and InCube Labs Chairman and CEO Mir Imran to announce that InCube Labs plans to establish a branch of its operations in San Antonio. In addition, InCube Labs plans to launch five life science companies in San Antonio over the next five years.

"Landing InCube is great news for San Antonio's growth in the biosciences sector and is the fruit of a new economic development focus on 21st century industries," said Mayor Julián Castro.

InCube Labs is a Silicon Valley-based life sciences research laboratory focused on developing medical breakthroughs that dramatically improve patient outcomes. The organization is led by Imran who has founded more than 20 companies and holds more than 200 patents. Imran has created many innovations that have resulted in new standards of care, including the first FDA-approved Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. Imran and his partners also manage a venture fund, InCube Ventures, which invests in life science companies.

"Our success in attracting world-class companies like InCube Labs to Texas reflects an ongoing effort to create a culture of innovation and expand our life sciences industry," said Governor Rick Perry. "We look forward to many advancements and breakthroughs from InCube's new San Antonio Innovation Center."

As part of the agreement, the City expects that InCube will create at least 50 jobs within the business incubator with salaries ranging from $50,000 to over $200,000. Based on InCube's track record, the City expects that over a ten-year period, InCube companies will create approximately 400 jobs and will collectively spend approximately $100 million.

"An investment in InCube is an investment in creating high performing jobs in San Antonio," said City Manager Sheryl Sculley. "Bringing renowned inventor and innovator, Mir Imran, and his team to San Antonio will be a catalyst to our biotech industry and continue our ongoing efforts to develop local entrepreneurs and startup companies through collaboration with our universities and research institutions."

Under Imran's leadership, InCube actively develops start-up companies, guiding them through scientific and technical development, clinical trials, and early-stage commercialization. Based on InCube's record of success, the InCube Labs companies are expected to accelerate the region's growth and stature in the life sciences industry.

"The State of Texas invests significantly in medical research, and our mission will be to help translate some of that research into commercially successful enterprises that result in new standards of care. With San Antonio's research institutions, City officials and our partners in the business community, San Antonio has a solid foundation to become a preeminent center for life sciences innovation and entrepreneurship," said Mir Imran, InCube Labs' Chairman and CEO.

"InCube brings a fresh approach to economic development for Bexar County - the possibility to create transformational companies working in the new economy," said Judge Nelson Wolff. "InCube's presence really will enhance our existing strengths in the bio-medical and high technology sectors, and Mr. Imran's credibility as an innovator will bring national attention to this region."

The City, County, Texas Research & Technology Foundation (TRTF), the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) are partnering to invest $10 million over the next five years to help fund InCube operations and spur the creation of local life science companies offering high salary biotech and healthcare jobs. InCube also expects to partner with TRTF, UTSA and UTHSCSA to identify and facilitate local technology development opportunities, as well as mentor and foster potential entrepreneurs.

As a key partner in this project, the TRTF intends to lease a facility to house InCube Labs Innovation Center near the Medical Center area.

About InCube Labs
Innovations Transforming Patient Outcomes
Founded in 1995 by Mir Imran, a prolific healthcare entrepreneur, InCube Labs' mission is to create therapeutic innovations that radically improve patient outcomes. Our applied research organization has spun out 12 companies over the past 15 years, addressing markets in cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology and other areas. These ventures are targeting multi-billion dollar opportunities.

InCube's in-house team includes experts from the world's leading pharma, healthcare and medical device companies such as Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Elan Pharma, St. Jude and J&J. Our capabilities include pharmacology and physiology, protein and polymer chemistry, tissue engineering, mechanical engineering and material science, electronics and software, industrial design, clinical development and manufacturing.

Over the years, we have developed a rigorous research translation process that evaluates commercial viability of innovations at each step in development. Key gateways include scientific and business due diligence, clinical milestones and creation of intellectual property. Because InCube is dealing with dramatic rather than incremental shifts in patient outcomes, our clinical path is generally faster than industry average, requiring smaller numbers of patients and well-defined end-points. Once risks are identified and a path to successful commercialization is clear, the InCube team then focuses on company building. InCube is headquartered in San Jose, California and plans to launch InCube's San Antonio Innovation Center in 2010.

Background on Mir Imran, Chairman and CEO
Mir Imran founded InCube Labs to focus on his passion: creating medical solutions that change the standard of care in critical healthcare markets. After attending medical school, Mir began his career as a healthcare entrepreneur in the late 1970's and has founded numerous breakthrough companies since those early days. Over the decades, he has become one of the leading inventors and entrepreneurs in the field. Mir now holds more than 200 issued patents and is perhaps most well known for his pioneering contributions to the first FDA-approved Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. As an entrepreneur, Mir has founded more than 20 life sciences companies; 15 of his companies have seen "liquidity events" (IPO/Acquisition). Mir's expertise spans a wide range of clinical areas from interventional cardiology to chronic pain, obesity and CNS disorders. Mir actively collaborates with the nation's top universities on research and development including Stanford, Rutgers, and Johns Hopkins, among others. Mir also founded InCube Ventures, a life sciences venture fund, where he has led investments in a range of promising ventures. Mir sits on Boards of several life sciences companies. He holds an M.S. in bioengineering and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rutgers. He also attended CMDNJ/Rutgers Medical School.