August 14, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fairfax County's bioscience incubator lands first three client companies

BioAccelerator creates life science momentum in northern Virginia

Fairfax County, Virginia— Fairfax County's bioscience incubator has signed up its first three client companies. The incubator, called the BioAccelerator, will open in September in Springfield.

The BioAccelerator is a project of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). The FCEDA hired ANGLE Technology Group to develop and manage the incubator, which works with early-stage companies. The BioAccelerator is designed to house 10-12 client companies. ANGLE Technology also will work with “virtual” clients who participate in the business development program but do not take space in the BioAccelerator.

Two of the companies announced today will take space in the BioAccelerator. They are:

• HealthRx Corporation ( www.HealthRx.com ).
  HealthRx is developing software that can predict heart attacks sooner by using advanced data mining techniques to analyze electrocardiograms.
  
• Digital Reasoning Systems ( www.digitalreasoning.com ).
  Digital Reasoning Systems has developed analytical software that allows healthcare practitioners to share real-time drug interaction and toxicity information with pharmaceutical companies.

The third company announced today will be a virtual client:

• OriGenel Inc. ( www.origenel.com ).
  OriGenel works in outsourcing and managing international biotech and bioinformatics research and development projects. The company also is creating databases to provide faster, more accurate diagnosis of diseases in select populations.

Target companies for the BioAccelerator will be early-stage domestic or internationally based companies. One of the first international client companies will be a British bioscience company that wins a U.K./U.S. incubator competition organized by the FCEDA. The winner of the competition will be awarded a year's free space in the BioAccelerator. Five companies entered the competition, and a winner will be announced this fall.

The BioAccelerator is close to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station and the Northern Virginia Community College medical education campus under construction. The center will serve as a catalyst for growth of the bioinformatics and biotechnology industry in Fairfax County and northern Virginia, create a new employment base for the Springfield community, and further diversify the Fairfax County economic base, said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the FCEDA.

“Ten years from now I hope we can look back and see that these companies were pioneers of a growing bioscience center,” Gordon said.