Clara was founded in 2018 by West and Chief Scientific Officer Mei He, PhD, and is focused on developing exosome purification and isolation kits and reagents. With applications in research, diagnostics, and therapeutics, the company is developing solutions that can be used by the entire biomedical industry to help bring high-quality products to market, West said in a recent interview.

West explained that he is leveraging his biomedical engineering background to build and scale a company that has the potential to affect nearly every aspect of patient care.

Clara leverages exosome isolation technology developed by He at the University of Kansas. She partnered with West to help bring to market the idea of exosome isolation, specifically the ability to isolate pure, specific subtype exosomes.

The company is currently offering early access to its ExoRelease kit for isolation of pure, subtyped exosomes to select customers.

Clara is just one of 10 semifinalists that have the chance to win $200,000 in cash prizes in the BioTools Innovator accelerator contest, with the list of semifinalists released in late July. All semifinalists are assigned a mentor and are completing a curated curriculum designed to help them secure additional funding and bring their companies to the next level. The field will be narrowed to a final four in early October, and those companies will get a chance to present at a live finale on October 14, where the audience will help decide the winner.

Stay tuned and follow along as we get a behind-the-scenes look at these companies as they race toward the finish!

Disclosure note: The BioTools Innovator accelerator contest is sponsored by Research Corporation Technologies and BroadOak Capital Partners, investors in ScienceBoard.net's parent company, Science and Medicine Group.