After going public, SA company charts next course
NOVEMBER 29, 2022
As published in the San Antonio Business Journal
By: W. Scott Bailey – Senior Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Fresh off of filing its first earnings report as a publicly traded company, San Antonio-based bioAffinity Technologies Inc. is now seeking to turn what it believes is promising patented technology into a profitable enterprise.
The Alamo City company will now focus on its home turf, evaluating the commercialization strategy for its core CyPath Lung cancer detection system in advance of plans for a wider market push.
The company reported a net loss of $4.9 million for the third quarter, generating negligible revenue and attributing much of its expenses to ongoing research and development tied to its core technology. While bioAffinity had already cleared a path for commercialization through a licensing agreement with Precision Pathology Services, which is also based in San Antonio, going public may provide some critical additional bandwidth.
Despite the Precision Pathology deal, “there was limited marketing of the product until September’s [initial public offering] made funds available to assemble a marketing team of experts focused on demonstrating its clinical value,” bioAffinity CEO Maria Zannes said.
I reported in early September that the biotech had raised nearly $8 million to support the commercialization of its CyPath Lung technology, a noninvasive, early-stage test to detect cancer and other lung diseases. It’s since raised a similar amount from the exercise of tradable and non-tradable warrants tied to the IPO.
Now, bioAffinity leadership wants to ensure there is an efficient and effective process in place from product ordering to patient reporting as it looks to expand marketing efforts.
“This limited test-market approach allows us to refine future positioning,” Zannes said. “We believe our current efforts will be essential to developing a strategic and cost-effective plan for a robust national rollout.”
Meanwhile, bioAffinity has converted nearly $11 million in convertible debt into stock as a result of the IPO. And its wholly owned subsidiary, OncoSelect, has secured patent protections from China, Mexico and Australia for its initial cancer therapeutic, which could open up opportunities for International expansion.
But bioAffinity’s core focus, at least for now, is CyPath Lung because of the commercial opportunities at stake.
“Advancing CyPath Lung has resulted in discoveries that we believe have strong potential to develop into broad-spectrum cancer therapies,” Zannes said.
