AlphaLab Health Opens Application Window for Next Cohort of Life Sciences Startups

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Press Releases #Innovation

PITTSBURGH - AlphaLab Health, an accelerator program created by Innovation Works and Allegheny Health Network (AHN) for early life sciences startups in the Pittsburgh region, has opened the application window for its fifth cohort of participants.

The three-month program includes clinical and business mentorship, seed investment, education in healthcare economics, and access to an extensive network of investors, entrepreneurs, partners, and vendors. Program participants also receive private office space and biosafety level 1 (BSL-1) laboratories at AHN Suburban, a hospital-turned-innovation campus in Bellevue, Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh is a hub for life sciences research talent and cracked the top-25 list last year, according to CBRE. The 12th annual review of Pittsburgh's tech investment landscape shows that life sciences accounted for 23% of the region's tech investments in 2023 which amounted to $705.13 million, up from only 5% in 2021.

Highmark Health, AHN's parent company and one of the largest integrated payer and provider organizations in the country, combines its nationally recognized clinical expertise with Innovation Works, a leading venture development organization to create AlphaLab Health. This partnership provides participants with the healthcare domain knowledge and clinical access needed to excel in the life sciences technology field.

"AlphaLab Health is committed to strengthening the region's standing as a leading epicenter for life sciences talent, and the first four cohorts of the program show just how successful we can be," said Jeanne Iasella, Managing Director of Life Sciences at Innovation Works. "We look forward to working with a new wave of entrepreneurs and guiding them and their ideas to success in the life sciences market."

Since its inception in 2020, AlphaLab Health has invested in 25 companies, which have secured over $65 million in follow-on funding. Last year's cohort included six companies: D. Sole, Ilant Health, Magnify Bioscience, MetasTx, Resilient LifeScience, and Testa-Seat.

"The companies we've been working with are at the forefront of health innovation, solving real-world issues with brilliant solutions," said Jeffrey Cohen, MD, Chief Physician Executive of Community Health and Innovation for Allegheny Health Network. "Highmark Health and AHN clinicians and administrators are embracing these inventive concepts and are eager to share their clinical and entrepreneurial expertise to help participating companies accelerate their time to market. We view innovation as an integral component of our Living Health model to help us better deliver healthcare to the communities we serve."

Founders can apply here. Learn more about how AlphaLab Health encourages the next wave of life science innovations in the Pittsburgh region.

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About AlphaLab Health:

AlphaLab Health gives life sciences startups a real-world proving ground for their products. Established in 2020 as a collaboration between Innovation Works and Allegheny Health Network, AlphaLab Health equips startups with capital, clinical and business mentorship, private office space, and biosafety level 1 (BSL-1) laboratories. The program combines Innovation Works' proven acceleration model with access to clinicians from Allegheny Health Network to refine products for commercialization and launch. Since its inception, AlphaLab Health has invested in 25 companies, of which our companies have then raised more than $65 million in follow-on funding. Learn more at alphalabhealth.org.

About Innovation Works:

Innovation Works is one of the most active early-stage investors in the country and the most active in Pennsylvania. Since its inception of the seed fund in 1999, Innovation Works has invested in over 760 companies that have gone on to raise $3.3 billion in follow-on funding. Portfolio companies have generated and retained over 20,000 jobs in Pennsylvania. Innovation Works is part of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners network, which has catalyzed economic growth over the last 30 years by providing access to capital and networks that help foster innovation and technology-based economic development in Pennsylvania. Learn more at innovationworks.org.