Laidlaw Venture Partners Portfolio Companies Respond to the Call to Action in the Fight Against COVID-19

NEW YORK, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, with new information on the extent of the pandemic emerging daily. Designated a global emergency by the World Health Organization, the outbreak has had far-reaching effects, especially in medicine and education.

Laidlaw Venture Partners portfolio companies are responding to this global threat with potentially life-saving vaccines and innovative solutions and services that support patients, providers, researchers, students, and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Founders across the Laidlaw Venture Partner's portfolio are moving quickly in the development of vaccines designed to protect patients at risk of COVID-19 infection as well as to AI-driven solutions that improve clinical decision-making. As the spread of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the global education system, Laidlaw Venture Partners companies are also helping learning institutions of all sizes transition to online education and training to ensure efforts are not disrupted. 

Matthew Eitner, Chief Executive Officer, Laidlaw & Company (UK), Ltd., said: "As fast as the COVID-19 crisis is unfolding, we are proud that our companies and partners are responding with thoughtful, targeted and potentially life-saving solutions and offerings during this time. By definition, there is no universal playbook for the pandemic. The outbreak affects every facet of our lives and our companies are working together to bring needed solutions to the public, while at the same time offering guidance and online learning services to ensure students' education is not disrupted. We are proud and humbled by the work our companies are undertaking and look forward to working closely in service of those affected by the pandemic."

As the world continues to cope with this devastating pandemic, Laidlaw Venture Partners will continue to support the initiatives of these companies and pursue opportunities to drive awareness and solutions to any obstacles.

The following Laidlaw Venture Partners companies are collaborating with the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC)  of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to develop a new vaccine to aid during the pandemic:

• Voltron Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiary HaloVax™ are developing a new vaccine designed to protect patients at risk of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, leveraging the Self-Assembling Vaccine (SAV) platform developed by the VIC and licensed exclusively to Voltron.
  
  
• HaloVax is spearheading development, in conjunction with Hoth Therapeutics, Inc., another LVP supported biotechnology company.
  
  
• Pat Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Voltron Therapeutics, said: "This is a global pandemic, which requires partnerships and the strength of the leading minds in this space. We endeavor to be a part of the solution to develop a vaccine to bring the spread of COVID-19 to a halt. I am extremely proud of the research and execution of the Voltron vaccine portfolio and we are confident that the tireless innovation and partnerships developed could lead to accessible treatment and relief to those affected during this moment in history."
  
  
• Robb Knie, Chief Executive Officer, Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. continued: "Today's pandemic is truly a moment where innovation through our collective unity will hopefully bring a discovery to halt the spread of COVID-19.  Biotechnology has had an extraordinary impact on health care during the past thirty years and we continue our belief that nothing is impossible, and no malady should be a death sentence for any citizen. Public, private and government investment will give pioneers the tools needed to mobilize research and development that will generate novel treatments and vaccines."

The following Laidlaw Venture Partners companies are serving the public during the pandemic with offerings across education, clinical decision-making and mental health treatment:

• Amesite is an artificial intelligence (AI) driven software company providing fully managed, customized, online learning ecosystems for the enterprise and higher education. Amesite is helping higher education institutions and K-12 schools transition to online learning infrastructure with fresh and always-updated content during the pandemic. Amesite is also providing free training portals to companies producing goods and services (hospital administration training, ventilators, and face mask development and deployment) to fight COVID-19.

• Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, Chief Executive Officer, Amesite, said: "The coronavirus pandemic isn't just changing how we live, it is also changing how we learn. More than 300 million students worldwide are currently not attending school physically, and hospitals and healthcare facilities are finding themselves unprepared to meet the needs of the growing number of patients affected by the pandemic. Amesite is proud to offer assistance by providing help to all those affected by this crisis to transition quickly and easily to an online learning platform that will help students continue learning and essential workers and aid providers to be trained on COVID-19 protocols."

• PD Theranostics, Inc. is providing AI-driven tools to improve clinical decision-making that may be helpful in treating the chronic sequela of severe COVID-19 infection.

• Matthew P. Duffy, Director, PD Theranostics, said: "Our goal is to design and deploy decision-support tools using AI capabilities to potentially identify clinical coronavirus severity and or sequala. This is particularly important in a novel and accelerating outbreak when critical care resources and hospital beds are limited, and clinicians are forced to make difficult decisions without past specific experience.  Further, the long-term impact of severe coronavirus disease is, as yet, unknown, but could be very serious."

• Relmada Therapeutics, previously a Laidlaw Venture Partners company, addresses areas of highly unmet needs in depression, chronic nervous system (CNS), and ophthalmological disorders. In addition to treating CNS, Relmada is developing products to support mental health functionality exacerbated by the current pandemic. 
  
  
• Dr. Sergio Traversa, Chief Executive Officer, Relmada Therapeutics said: "The pandemic has put an incredible amount of strain on our physical as well as mental well-being leading to increased levels of fear and anxiety. Just as we are moving rapidly to safeguard our physical health, we must act with equal urgency to preserve our mental health and make solutions readily available to those affected."

About Laidlaw & Company
Laidlaw & Company is a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm offering personalized investment advice and skillful execution to private institutions, public institutions, and high net worth individual investors.

Laidlaw & Company (U.K.) Ltd., a broker-dealer registered with FINRA in the United States, clears on a fully-disclosed basis through INTL FCStone Financial Inc., a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Laidlaw & Company International Limited, is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.

Laidlaw Wealth Management is an affiliate of, and Laidlaw Venture Partners is a DBA, of Laidlaw & Company.

For more information, please visit: https://laidlawltd.com/

For disclosure purposes, please note – Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. ("Laidlaw") does and seeks to do business with companies covered in this article. As a result, investors should be aware that Laidlaw may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this information. In addition, Laidlaw has received compensation from Amesite, Voltron Therapeutic ("Voltron"), PD Theranostics ("PDTX") and Hoth Therapeutics ("HOTH") for investment banking services in the past 12 months and expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from these companies in the next three months. Laidlaw and/or its affiliated investment advisor and/or associated persons of Laidlaw maintain a position in Hoth of more than 1% of the outstanding equity securities. Laidlaw and/or its affiliated investment advisor and/or associated persons of Laidlaw & Co (UK) Ltd. are founders of Voltron and PDTX and continue to be affiliated with each of these companies. Lastly, please note that Patrick Gallagher, CEO of Voltron and Matthew Duffy, CEO of PDTX are Registered Representatives of Laidlaw. Investors should consider this article as only a single factor in making their investment decision.

SOURCE Laidlaw Venture Partners