FIRST Diagnostics wins Life Science TN “Venture Forum”
It was another win for FIRST Diagnostics when the Nashville-based start-up captured this year’s “Venture Forum” held in conjunction with Life Science Tennessee’s annual conference.
The company is focused on commercializing a COX-2 cancer diagnostic developed by Vanderbilt University Professor Larry Marnett. The fluorescent dye enables healthcare providers to better pinpoint cancer during an endoscopy.
Earlier this year, FIRST Diagnostics won the “2015 Tech Venture Challenge,” a student competition supported by Vanderbilt’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization and presented by Life Science Tennessee’s Academic Alliance.
“All four of our presenting companies did a fantastic job,” Hunter Rost, a partner in Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis said as he announced the winner. His law firm sponsored the $5,000 prize. Last year’s winner was Knoxville-based Innovasan.
