Safis in the News

IU Tech Center Graduating, Adding Companies

Gerry Dick, Host Inside INdiana Business

In the world of technology-based incubators, graduating companies and attracting new ideas to replace them are what keeps the doors open and the adrenalin flowing. And on both counts, Indiana University's Emerging Technologies Center seems to be pumping on all cylinders.

The IUETC has just graduated its 5th company and is this month welcoming two new high tech companies. "There is no question that it shows people that the process works, it shows people that there is a support infrastructure here to help people willing to take the risk and become entrepreneurs," said Mark Long, IUETC's chief executive officer.

The incubator's latest graduate is Safis Solutions, LLC, a company that provides a broad range of services to biotechnology and medical device manufacturers in search of U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals. Safis has grown from one to nearly 30 employees and is now in new digs at the Marrott Business Center on Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis, where it has doubled the size of its office space.

"IUETC really opened doors for us in the life sciences industry", says Ping Poulsen, the company's CEO. "The marketing and sales power of IUETC brings credibility and opened us up to new companies."

As Safis begins life on its own, the center is welcoming two new companies, both based on Indiana University technology. ImmuneWorks, which recently named health industry veteran Wade Lange as its CEO, is working on pharmaceuticals aimed at preventing the rejection of lung transplants. Meantime, PharmicoPhotonics is an emerging company developing a test to detect potential kidney failure early enough to prevent the need for dialysis.

And that�s not all. Long says two additional companies are in the process of potential moves to the tech center, including an Australian start up. "It shows that we're not only getting a statewide name or even a national name, but now we have international recognition," said Long., who adds that delegations from Russia and Israel have toured the facility in recent weeks.

The new additions bring to 26 the number of companies at IUETC, which boasts a 97% success rate. Long says since its creation four years ago the center has been responsible for the creation of 366 jobs at an average annual salary of $61,000.