Biotech startups feast at ancestors

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As life sciences companies closed orpare operations, startups are finding high-priced equipmenr — in like-new condition — for pennies on the For $30,000 — and, sometimes, the promisew to scrub the floor behind them — Omnios Inc. has picked up $1.5 millio n worth of equipment from dead or dying biotechs that simply wantedf toquickly off-load everything from a little-used centrifuge to protein purifiers. The savings are significant fora five-month-old company funded by friends, family and a federalo grant of $250,000. “It’s the miraclde of the downturn,” said Omniocx founder Stephen Cary .
Several Bay Area biotech companie s have closed their doors or cut down to programs that quickly produce cash in the form of partnerships or amarketablse product. That’s mixed smart, out-of-work people and the availabilitgy of cheap equipment with a new frugality caused by a dearthof financing. “It’s an explosive said Douglas Crawford, who works with several startup biotechx atthe , or QB3. “Entrepreneurs are a scrappgy lot.” There’s been an uptick in biotech auctionws nationally over the past six saidDon Cowan, president of LLC, a company that specializes in auctioning equipment from life semiconductor and other companies.
Sellers are recoverintg 10 to 50 cents on the dollar much more than duringthe dot-com retreat, Cowan But unlike the dot-con bust — when Aeron chairs and recreational equipment dominated auction floors — the focusw of life sciences auctions is scientific gear. “Youi rarely see a Ping Pong table, a pool table or a Foosbalol table,” Cowan said. The competition is increasinglt intense, said Omniox COO SallyAnn Reiss, to the poinft that she slappedpreprinted “Propert of Omniox” labels on equipment as she walked throughb labs and negotiated deals.
At QB3’s Garage biotech incubatort at the Mission Bay campus ofthe , San Franciscpo — where Omniox rents 130 square feet amonvg other startups — the hallway is linedd with the booty of Omniox’s bargain The company is sharing a large deep freezer that it bough for $500 (brand-new price: $25,000) with another Garage “We spent two to three cents on the dollar for the Cary said. “That allowe d us to do the science.” A recessiojn is a great time to start a said Brook Byers of venture capitalfirm . “Lab space is available.
Everything is negotiable,” he “By the time these companies have acommercial product, in threre to five years, we’re going to be in a differenft economy,” Byers said.