September 20, 2023
Oklahoma's film and tv industry continues to grow. And now Prairie Surf Studios is expanding it's services with the launch of Prairie Surf Creative; the goal is to amplify Oklahoma's creative voices.
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October 23, 2023
For two decades, Rachel Cannon lived a life in Los Angeles that many would envy. But in 2020, she decided to return to her native Oklahoma with the idea of traveling back and forth for work, using her home state as a hub. Then, plot twist on top of plot twist, she hit upon a crazy idea: Why not turn Oklahoma City’s convention center, which was being replaced by a new facility, into a full-service film and TV production complex?
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January 23, 2024
TARA Mind, a public benefit corporation focused on creating access to safe and effective ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) as a covered benefit for employees, announced today that the Company has raised $8 million, led by Satori Neuro. Additional investors participating in the oversubscribed round were Echo Investment Capital, Crumpton Ventures, Empath Ventures, and Blake Mykoskie: Founder of TOMS.
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October 17, 2023
Nucleus RadioPharma, the world’s first fully integrated development, manufacturing, and supply chain organization for radiopharmaceuticals has announced an oversubscribed $56 million Series A funding round led by Eclipse and GE HealthCare with participation from Echo Global, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Granger Management, Mayo Clinic, Mercy Health, and University of Missouri. With this round of funding, Nucleus RadioPharma will establish multiple new manufacturing facilities around the country, including Rochester, Minnesota, near Mayo Clinic, and build novel technology for the development, manufacturing, and distribution of radiopharmaceuticals.
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February 21, 2024
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. today announced a strategic agreement with Wheeler Bio, Inc., an antibody contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on preclinical and early clinical supply of recombinant proteins, providing clients access to Wheeler’s Portable CMC® (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) platform. This new alliance provides early-stage biotechnology companies a unique solution to rapidly transition from pre-clinical activities to first-in-human clinical trials. Combining Charles River’s industry-leading experience in antibody discovery services, safety, and analytics with Wheeler’s Portable CMC® platform will accelerate therapeutic discovery to IND submission timelines.
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June 6, 2023
The costs, in both money and time, behind building, operating, and maintaining a safety testing facility can be a distraction that prevents therapeutic manufacturers from their mission of bringing safe, effective treatments to patients in a timely manner. That’s why Wheeler Bio chose to partner with Charles River and the RightSource℠ team. It’s more than just outsourcing for your safety testing – it’s a GMP lab-in-a-box that provides a scalable, easily reproducible alternative to the current industry approach to biopharmaceutical testing.
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October 5, 2023
By partnering uniquely with venture capital, Wheeler helps to ease the translational process from discovery to clinic for clients in biologics innovation. Founded by Dr. Jesse McCool, Christian Kanady of Echo, and Errik Anderson of Alloy Therapeutics and 82VS in 2021, the first-in-class CDMO was designed to provide accelerative development services to biotech startups and emerging biopharma innovators at a fair price.
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October 5, 2023
Wheeler Bio, a contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO, for next-generation protein therapeutics, will begin production for customers next month in the 35,000-square-foot Ziggurat building in downtown Oklahoma City. CEO Jesse McCool launched the company close to three years ago with the intention of filling a gap that exists between drug discovery and scale-up manufacturing of small-molecule biologic drugs used for cancer and autoimmune conditions.
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July 25, 2023
Local biotech startup Wheeler Bio is poised to start manufacturing batches of molecules this fall, after settling into what it calls the facility of the future.
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April 13, 2023
Wheeler Bio, a CDMO specializing in therapeutic antibodies, has closed its Series A funding round, co-led by Charles River Laboratories and Echo. The firm's Portable CMC is an open-source middleware that enhances the gene-to-IND supply chain, delivering speed, efficiency, predictability, and freedom to operate. The firm intends to complete a 500L scale CGMP cell banking and drug substance manufacturing facility in Oklahoma City, with the first batches of production set to commence in Q3 2023. The new facility will utilize integrated tools and technologies like Solentim, Ambr Microbioreactors, and DynaDrive Single-Use Bioreactors.
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April 5, 2023
Deka Biosciences has announced the dosing of the first subject in a Phase 1 clinical trial of DK210 (EGFR), a novel cytokine therapy for cancer and inflammatory diseases. The trial aims to evaluate the safety, potential efficacy, and biomarker responses of the therapy in patients with advanced solid cancer(s) expressing epidermal growth factor receptors. DK210 (EGFR) is the first of several DiakinesTM developed by Deka, which involves coupling two cytokines onto a single targeting system for enhanced precision and efficacy. The self-administered treatment is expected to provide patients with greater comfort and convenience.
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January 30, 2023
Deka Biosciences ("Deka"), a biotech company focused on developing novel cytokine therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its review of the investigational new drug (IND) application for DK210 (EGFR) and concluded that Deka may proceed with a Phase 1 clinical trial in the United States.
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June 7, 2021
Prairie Surf Studios has officially launched in downtown Oklahoma City in a converted convention center with five new soundstages and over 1.3 million square feet of production support space.
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July 21, 2021
Alloy Therapeutics and Echo Investment Capital today announced the formation of Wheeler Bio, a new biomanufacturing company built to accelerate the translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical impact. Wheeler’s comprehensive discovery-to-IND programs are designed to provide emerging biopharma companies a faster and more predictable path to the clinic.
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October 21, 2021
Zeno Technologies today unveiled a new cloud-based platform to help energy companies, investors and partners adapt and thrive in the face of new market realities in the Production Era. The energy industry is fundamentally different than it was just a few short years ago, and today’s energy-focused organizations need a set of modern tools to unlock data to inform smarter, faster business decisions. Zeno’s new Energy Operating System provides the clarity to understand and improve business performance, and the insight to decisively assess and pursue new investment opportunities.
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November 16, 2021
Maryland-based biotech company Deka Biosciences ("Deka") today announced that it has successfully closed a USD 20 Million Series A financing with a syndicate of life science investors led by Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer AG, and new investor Lumira Ventures. Additional investors include O-Bio (Echo Investment Capital), Viva BioInnovator, and Alexandria Venture Investments.
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December 7, 2021
Zeno Technologies today unveiled its new Pioneer customer program to partner with trailblazing organizations to help build a more trusted future for the energy industry by enabling smarter decisions through data-driven business insight. The program – specially designed for businesses eager to embrace new technologies – will offer up to 10 companies a curated package of Pioneer benefits, including early access to new product features, enhanced customer support, C-level engagement with Zeno’s leadership team, direct input into product development, and special networking opportunities for virtual & in-person collaboration with fellow energy industry Pioneers.
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January 4, 2022
Wheeler Bio, a biomanufacturing company built to accelerate the translation of therapeutic innovation into clinical impact, announced today the closing of a $14M Seed financing round. The round was co-led by Echo Investment Capital and Alloy Therapeutics, with participation from Floating Point and Presbyterian Health Foundation.
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July 19, 2022
Deka Biosciences announced today that it is breaking ground on a 14,000 square foot office and lab which will house a state of the art Research and Development, Process Development, and Manufacturing facility to further develop their novel cytokine therapies. This will be the first facility to house a dual targeted cytokine development lab in the DC/Maryland/Virginia region and the only company in the US developing a therapeutic of its kind. The new headquarters will be located at 20380 Seneca Meadows Parkway in Germantown, Maryland and Deka anticipates the move to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
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August 10, 2022
Zeno Technologies, a pioneer in helping businesses master the financial performance of their energy assets, has achieved significant traction following the company’s public launch in October 2021. In just nine months since emerging from stealth, Zeno won key client engagements and expanded its product offering to help energy businesses exert better capital discipline to deliver predictable returns to their investors.
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August 30, 2022
After noticing a relative lack of software investment in the oil and gas industry, Zeno Technologies has developed a data aggregation and analytics platform. It helps oil and gas companies analyze multiple operational scenarios through financial modeling with the goal of providing consistent returns to investors.
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September 8, 2022
Deka Biosciences ("Deka"), a biotech company focused on the development of novel cytokine therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases, announced today the appointment of Charlotte Moser, MD, PhD, MSc, MBA as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Deb Kientop, MBA as Vice President, Clinical Operations.
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October 4, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY – Wheeler Bio, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in small batch clinical production of biologics and GMP-grade reagents using their open-source platform, Portable CMC™, today announced the first closing of their Series A financing round. The round was co-led by Charles River Laboratories and Echo Investment Capital with participation from ATUM, Floating Point Advisors, Plains Venture Partners (a subsidiary of i2E), and Pine Ridge Ventures.
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October 21, 2022
Zeno Technologies today unveiled a new cloud-based platform to help energy companies, investors and partners adapt and thrive in the face of new market realities in the Production Era. The energy industry is fundamentally different than it was just a few short years ago, and today’s energy-focused organizations need a set of modern tools to unlock data to inform smarter, faster business decisions. Zeno’s new Energy Operating System provides the clarity to understand and improve business performance, and the insight to decisively assess and pursue new investment opportunities.
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November 1, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY – Echo-backed global production company Prairie Surf Media recently completed work on Season 1 of “Tulsa King,” a crime drama starring Sylvester Stallone. The Paramount+ drama series premiers Nov. 13. Prairie Surf Studios, headquartered in Oklahoma City, features 1.3 million square feet, five soundstages, and access to the world’s most diverse ecoregions. Check out the must-see “Tulsa King” series trailer
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November 3, 2022
Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) Wheeler Bio and CRB – a leading global provider of sustainable engineering, architectural, construction and consulting services to the life sciences industry – today announced the start of construction on a GMP drug substance facility that will support innovators seeking agile, small batch manufacturing services for their clinical trial materials (CTM).
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