Florida High Tech
October 28th, 2020
“ Protean BioDiagnostics – an emerging company with the mindset and vision of a long-established powerhouse – under the leadership of president, CEO and co-founder, Tony Magliocco, M.D., is working to help cancer patients, particularly in underserved communities, navigate their journey to recovery by providing oncologists and pathologists with access to diagnostic advancements needed to deliver the best possible modern treatments. As the company continues to grow, it’s seeking driven, innovative professionals to join the team and advance its mission of creating and deploying premier diagnostic tools to support the treatment of cancer patients from all backgrounds and walks of life.
While cancer treatments continue to advance at incredible speed, those suffering are faced with accessibility-centric barriers to care. As Magliocco pointed out, over the last 10 years there’s been an explosion in new treatments and high-quality diagnostics, but only 5-10% of patients have access to those innovations. As oncology advancements are – in early stages of public application and clinician trials – primarily available at top-tier medical centers, the majority of patients don’t have access to newly developed advancements within their community cancer centers. There is a clear need to tackle this disparity – and the team at Protean BioDiagnostics is approaching the challenge head-on.
Since the company’s founding in 2017, Magliocco and his team have continually sought out new and improved ways to accelerate development and deployment of new methodologies for personalized oncology testing and treatment. The company has been backed by unique resources and support offered by The Corridor region’s incubator networks since inception, starting at the University of South Florida’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator and, most recently, relocating to the University of Central Florida (UCF) Life Sciences Incubator at Lake Nona.
With Biosafety Level II wet lab equipment – technology that would present a significant investment barrier for emerging companies – access to university researchers, business optimization counsel, entrepreneurial support and more, the life sciences incubator presented Protean BioDiagnostics with an opportunity to drive growth like never before. From Tampa to Central Florida, the company’s unwavering position within The Corridor region has opened doors to collaboration, proximity and partnership – main pillars of The Corridor Council that lay the foundation for new and existing companies to flourish.
“The location of the facility was of particular interest – it’s in Lake Nona Medical City, directly adjacent to the UCF College of Medicine, the Orlando VA Medical Center, a leading pediatric hospital and an international airport,” explained Magliocco. “From a logistics point of view, it checks all the boxes.”