October 2, 2024 – Jacksonville, Florida and Stanford, California – Kirchner Group today announced the successful completion of its engagement with LymphAxis, Inc. LymphAxis is an early-stage medical device company that facilitates lymphocyte isolation by tapping directly into the lymphatic system through the thoracic duct for CAR-T cell harvesting and other applications.
As an adjunct to their Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) support for biomedical startups, the National Institutes of Health provides the opportunity for their awardees to receive specialized Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) to complement their in-house expertise. It was through this TABA program that LymphAxis and Kirchner Group began working together. The selection was facilitated by Guidehouse, a consulting company that administered the TABA vendor process on behalf of NIH.
“Of the very qualified groups participating as TABA providers this year, Kirchner Group was easily the most qualified given their breath of experience, especially in the CAR-T space,” said Matthew Callaghan MD, Chief Scientific Officer of LymphAxis, Inc.
Kirchner assisted the company with enterprise development services including evaluating product development, marketing strategies and potential partnerships. Throughout the engagement evaluations were gathered from medical device companies, academic medical centers active in CAR-T procedures, medical centers seeking entry into the space, distribution specialists and CAR-T production companies. In addition, Kirchner provided technical advice from the perspective of an interventionalist and expert in the CAR-T space and facilitated a better understanding of the eventual customer base as well as steps to commercial profitability. Kirchner completed a SWOT analysis and provided recommendations to LymphAxis as to its go-forward plan and commercialization path.
“Our ability to assist early-stage companies by providing them with access to industry leading experts is unique for a boutique group,” stated Blair Kirchner, Managing Director, Kirchner Group. “We work tirelessly to provide meaningful value to our clients and push ourselves extraordinary hard to deliver on what we promise and more. We believe this is why we have such a strong track record during our 40 years of supporting companies throughout their lifecycle – from startup to exit.”
Both parties expect to continue their work together as part of an ongoing advisory relationship.