The University of Arizona has opened its new biotech-focused business incubator in Oro Valley, with a UA technology spinoff as its first tenant.
The UA Center for Innovation at Oro Valley occupies 4,000 square feet in a new building at 1800 E. Innovation Park Drive.
Venture West Group, developer of Oro Valley’s Innovation Park, broke ground on the building last fall after a fundraising effort spearheaded by the Oro Valley Innovation Labs, a nonprofit started in 2015 by a consortium of biotech, academic and government entities including the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona (BioSA).
The new building features office, lab and meeting space for up to eight companies, and has 2,000 square feet of additional space for expansion.
The University of Arizona Then and Now. Black and white photos from the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen archives paired with a color photo of the way the scene looks today. Produced by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
The center’s first tenant is TheraCea Pharma, a UA drug technology spinoff that in early November was named winner of a “sponsored launch” competition for a slot in the incubator sponsored by BioSA.
The startup was awarded entry into the UACI program for a year starting Dec. 15. The UACI program provides office and lab space, mentoring, funding opportunities, prototyping and marketing and business support. The award package also includes $5,000 cash, for a total award value of $15,000.
TheraCea Pharma develops diagnostic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents for the detection of cancer, cardiology, neurology and infectious diseases.
The company’s technology platform is a new chemical process enabling efficient, quick and high yield preparation of diagnostic agents, developed at the UA and licensed to TheraCea through Tech Launch Arizona.
TheraCea is led by co-founder and CEO Iman Daryaei, who got his doctorate in biological chemistry from the UA in 2016; co-founder and chief business development officer Justin Jeffery; and Chief Technology Officer Arthur Shaw, a Ph.D. medicinal chemist who was a principal at Icagen in Oro Valley.
The founders worked with Tech Launch Arizona and developed their business through the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.
Photos: Explore public art on the University of Arizona campus
Watch: University of Arizona Art Walk
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A pedestrian walks past an art piece titled “Those Who Gave their Lives” at the Student Union Memorial Center, 1209 E. University Blvd, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. on May 19, 2020. Those Who Gave Their Lives was created by Philips Sanderso.
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The sun casts a light on one of the original bells salvaged from the USS Arizona in its belfry at The Student Union Memorial Center, 1209 E. University Blvd, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. on May 24, 2020.
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University of Arizona art walk: USS Arizona Mall Memorial
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A pedestrian walks by The University of Arizona’s Kathleen “Rocky” LaRose Legacy Lane in front of The Jim Click Hall of Champions, 1766 E. University Blvd., at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. on May 20, 2020. Kathleen “Rocky” LaRose Legacy Lane was created in 2001 to honor former Arizona Athletics administrator Kathleen “Rocky” LaRose and wildcat fans, according to the UA Wildcat Club website.
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A pedestrian walks his dog by “The Wildcat Family” statue in front of the University of Arizona Administration building, 1200 E. University Blvd., Tucson, Ariz. on May 24, 2020. The Wildcat Family sculpture was created by Nicholas Wilson.
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University of Arizona art walk: USS Arizona
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People walk by the USS Arizona Tile Piece in front of the Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd., in Tucson, Ariz. on May 19, 2020. The USS Arizona Title Piece, created by Susan Gamble, has roughly 1,500 military-style identification tags dedicated to sailors who were aboard the USS Arizona in December of 1941.
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Light shines on a reflective sculpture titled “Reflexivity” in front of The University of Arizona Stevie Eller Dance Theater, 1727 E. University Blvd., in Tucson, Ariz. on May 20, 2020. Reflexivity was created by Dennis Jones.
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A pedestrian walks by the Wildcats statue in front of The Jim Click Hall of Champions, 1766 E. University Blvd.
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