Last year was the year of awards, growth and hire for ApoLife. The riverfront-based start-up plans to spend 2011 capitalizing on that progress and with more growth and hires.
ApoLife, an early stage bio-tech company, was the Emerging Bioscience Showcase winner at the
MichBio Expo last year and a semifinalist at the
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. ApoLife also added to its staff in 2010, growing from two full-time and one part-time person to three full-time and three part-time workers today that split time between its office in
Stroh River Place and its laboratory space at the
Michigan Life Science & Innovation Center in Plymouth
"We're actually looking to add people soon," says Nalini Motwani, president & owner of
ApoLife. "These are scientists. One of the scientists we're looking to add is a former Pfizer scientist."
Making all of that possible was double-digit revenue growth. ApoLife's revenue jumped 50 percent in 2010 and it expects to growth another 30-40 percent this year. It also plans to do its first marketing push this year to help bump up the demand for its pharmaceutical research services.
"The more we do the better off we are," Motwani says.
ApoLife has developed a proprietary yeast production platform, which has application in the accelerated development of monoclonal antibodies during drug discovery and cost effective manufacturing. ApoLife's business strategy is to develop biogeneric and proprietary antibodies and proteins for cancer and infectious disease therapy through corporate partnerships and licensing arrangements. The 12-year-old firm plans to continue to develop similar platforms with the end goal of becoming acquired by a larger pharmaceutical firm.
Source: Nalini Motwani, president & owner of ApoLife
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at
SEMichiganStartup.com.
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