BioUtah today applauds the four winning life sciences companies of its Pitch Competition held March 12 during the 2026 Wilson Sonsini Entrepreneur & Investor Life Sciences Summit (E&I Summit), presented by BioUtah and the Brigham Young University (BYU) Technology Transfer Office and College of Life Sciences. The winners were chosen from each of several categories, including therapeutics and pharmaceuticals, medical devices/diagnostics, and digital health and biotechnology.
The category winners of the 2026 Pitch Competition, sponsored by SPARC Health, are:
- Therapeutics and Pharmaceuticals: Azunic AI
- Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group Series A: Purgo Scientific
- Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group: Freyya
- Digital Health and Biotechnology: Intactis Bio
Each of the winning companies received a $4,000 cash prize, along with services from marketing firm Serfwerks, and a one-year membership in BioUtah. On stage to present the awards were Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah; Michael Stark, associate dean for BYU’s College of Life Sciences; Jess Krannich, partner with Wilson Sonsini; and Alex Wallberg with SPARC Health.
“We congratulate this year’s award winners for their cutting-edge innovations, pushing the boundaries of science and technology to advance health,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah. “With so many strong contenders, the judges faced a difficult decision in choosing the winners.”
The competition featured twelve Utah life sciences companies selected from an initial group of more than 40 applicants. Presenters were divided into four groups. Each group was evaluated by a separate panel of expert judges.
The E&I Summit connects Utah's life sciences sector with investors through a full day of specialized programming for entrepreneurs and startups, featuring a pitch competition where local healthcare innovators showcase novel products to industry experts and venture capitalists.
All pitch competition applicants were offered the opportunity to post their information for investors in the virtual pitch hall of the Whova app used by attendees at the Summit. Applicants were also granted complimentary registration for the Summit.
About the Winning Companies
AzunicAI is an animal-free toxicity testing platform designed to revolutionize preclinical drug development by using AI and human organoids.
Purgo Scientific is developing a first-in-class refillable drug delivery device called the Purgo Pouch that sustains local, high-dose antibiotic therapy in surgical sites.
Freyya is a femtech medical device company developing with the first wearable, intra-vaginal biosensor that measures pelvic floor muscle force and intra-abdominal pressure.
Intactis Bio has developed a bio-artificial neural network that combines silicon computers and living neurons to provide scalable, ultra-efficient computation.
