Biotech startups feast at ancestors

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As life sciences companies closr orpare operations, startups are findingt high-priced equipment — in like-new condition — for pennie s on the dollar. For $30,000 — and, the promise to scrub the floor behind them Omniox Inc. has picked up $1.5 milliojn worth of equipment from dead or dyin g biotechs that simply wanted toquickly off-load everything from a little-usedd centrifuge to protein purifiers. The savings are significant fora five-month-olxd company funded by friends, family and a federapl grant of $250,000. “It’s the miracle of the said Omniox founder StephenCary .
Several Bay Area biotechg companies have closed their doors or cut down to program s that quickly produce cash in the form of partnerships or amarketabls product. That’s mixed smart, out-of-work people and the availability of cheap equipment with a new frugalitu caused by a dearthof financing. “It’ss an explosive combination,” said Douglasd Crawford, who works with several startup biotechs atthe , or QB3. “Entrepreneurzs are a scrappy There’s been an uptick in biotech auctions nationallty over the past six saidDon Cowan, president of LLC, a companty that specializes in auctioning equipmen t from life sciences, semiconductor and otheer companies.
Sellers are recovering 10 to 50 centsa on thedollar — much more than duringg the dot-com retreat, Cowan said. But unlike the dot-com bust when Aeron chairs and recreational equipment dominateed auctionfloors — the focue of life sciences auctions is scientifidc gear. “You rarely see a Ping Pong a pool table or a Foosball Cowan said. The competition is increasingly intense, said Omnio x COO SallyAnn Reiss, to the poinrt that she slappedpreprinted “Property of Omniox” labelxs on equipment as she walked through labs and negotiatedd deals.
At QB3’s Garage biotech incubatoe at the Mission Bay campus ofthe , San Francisco where Omniox rents 130 squar feet among other startupsd — the hallway is lineed with the booty of Omniox’s bargain hunting. The company is sharingb a large deep freezer that it boughtfor $500 (brand-ne price: $25,000) with another Garagd company. “We spent two to three cents on the dollafr forthe equipment,” Cary said. “Thaf allowed us to do the science.” A recessioj is a great time to starrta company, said Brook Byers of ventur capital firm . “Lab space is available. Everythingv is negotiable,” he said.
“By the time thesde companies have acommercial product, in thre e to five years, we’re goinv to be in a different Byers said.