SoCalBio Investor Conference Kicks Off October 1st with Keynote by SetPoint Medical CEO

Now in its 27th Year, Conference Returns to Orange County to Spotlight Breakthroughs in Bioscience AI, Diagnostics, Therapeutics, Digital Health, Implantables and Wearables

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio) today announced the agenda, speakers, and presenting companies for its 27th Annual Investor & Partnership Conference, which will be held October 1–2 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach.

Since 1995, SoCalBio has served as the voice and advocate for the bioscience, medical device, and digital health industries across the Greater Los Angeles region. Now in its 27^th year, the Annual Investor & Partnership Conference is the premier showcase for connecting bioscience industry leaders from across Southern California, Canada, and beyond. Key market segments addressed at the Conference range from devices, diagnostics, therapeutics and regenerative medicine to drug delivery, healthcare informatics and AI.

“Each year, the Investor & Partnership Conference highlights the most exciting advances in life sciences, as well as the pathways to bring those innovations to market,” said SoCalBio President & CEO Walid Sabbagh, Jr., PhD. “It is a signature forum for entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, educators, policymakers, and service providers.”

This year, the conference returns to Orange County – a part of greater Los Angeles experiencing significant bioscience industry growth. Orange County is home to world-class R&D, investors and more than 65,000 industry professionals employed at 2,000-plus companies.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

The two-day program will feature sessions addressing critical issues in bioscience innovation and investment.

Dr. Murthy Simhambhatla, CEO of SetPoint Medical, will deliver the keynote address, sharing insights on his leadership of the company and FDA approval for its first-in-class bioelectronic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

Plenary sessions include:

• Demystifying Academic Licensing – Perspectives from UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Caltech, USC and UCLA on navigating tech transfer and partnerships.
• AI in Patient Care – How artificial intelligence is transforming diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and recovery, and what it means for adoption and trust.
• Workforce Summit – Panels on “Pathways and Pipelines to Successful Employment” and “Meeting the Needs of Industry in Workforce Development.”
  

PRESENTING COMPANIES:

Twenty carefully selected emerging companies will showcase innovations with the potential to transform healthcare and sustainability. Highlights include:

• AmplifiDx – Molecular point-of-care platform for rapid infectious disease testing.
• Arc Medical – Clinical-stage device technology to prevent post-surgical adhesions.
• ASiMA Health – Single blood test for early, accurate, and accessible cancer detection.
• Aufero Medical – First device to actively enhance catheter stability in cardiac ablation.
• Avesta76 Therapeutics – Novel cancer therapy demonstrating complete tumor elimination in preclinical models.
• Cern Corp – Non-drug treatment for vaginosis using low-level microbicidal light and photosensitizer gel.
• DimerX – Affordable, compact digital pathology microscope to modernize workflow.
• Fanous Photonics – Affordable, compact digital pathology microscope to replace slow, error-prone manual workflows.
• HybridBio – Harnessing hybrid neutrophils for a novel approach to immunotherapy.
• ILYA Pharma AB – Local-acting immunotherapies targeting multidrug-resistant pathogens.
• Innovotex – Clinically de-risked drug delivery platform for resistant tumors.
• Northern Vascular Systems – Light-activated liquid embolic platform for novel embolization.
• Olive Bio – Scalable, cost-effective bioplastics manufacturing to combat pollution.
• Persperion Diagnostics – Sweat-based glucose monitoring that is painless, simple, and affordable.
• Pretika MedTech – Connected wound care management devices with digital health integration.
• Sonaro AI – Accessible 3D diagnostic ultrasound for vascular disease.
• Surgical Reality – 3D surgical imaging platform for pre- and intra-operative insights.
• Sylamore Bio – Therapeutics targeting the CNS and other hard-to-treat tissues.
• Trialynx – AI-driven clinical trial platform transforming siloed, error-prone processes.
• Viridian Biometals – Sustainable refining of critical metals for the energy transition.

Los Angeles-based venture capital firms Vida Ventures, OCV and Wavemaker360 will be in attendance.

The full Conference agenda and information about presenting companies, speakers and attendee registration is available at https://socalbio.org/events/socalbio-27th-annual-conference/.

SoCalBio acknowledges the support of conference sponsors, including Avantor, Canada, Perkins Coie, CBIZ and RKS Designs.

About SoCalBio:
SoCalBio is a nonprofit, member-supported trade association that promotes bioscience research, development, manufacturing, job creation and overall economic growth in the Greater Los Angeles region. The Council’s programs help local firms access capital, potential partners, and business support services. The annual SoCalBio Conference has grown to become the region’s premier showcase for emerging life-science companies and technologies. SoCalBio also promotes technology transfer and workforce training while informing policymakers and the public at large about the benefits of the region’s life-science industry. More information about SoCalBio is available at www.socalbio.org.

Contact:
ExcelPR Group (for SoCalBio)
Erik Deutsch
erikd[at]excelpr[dot]com

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