The Business of a Biotech Scientist
A local Reno biotech scientist, Aaron Bonk, has spent the last four months building a device that mixes biological samples in his upstairs spare bedroom.
So far he created 242 different versions of the device. He is the founder and CEO of Zeitigen, a biotech startup business, while also currently a CEO at Clickbio, which produces high-quality labware solutions in the heart of downtown Reno. Bonk has an impressive collection of specialized skills in lab automation, robotics, molecular biology, biotechnology, sales support, and many more. In addition to his life of science, Bonk also plays Hockey on a Reno adult community team.
The Zeitigen Myxx device would be used by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for mixing samples and reagents, “it enables a scientist to perform the mixing process in an automated fashion, freeing them up to do data analysis or planning new experiments,” Bonk explains. There is a rotating platform where a deep well plate holding samples would be placed on and mixed gently, but thoroughly, mimicking advanced hand-held mixing, while speeding up the lab process. Functioning like a glass of wine, moving the sample up and down the sides of the vials in a wave-like motion.
This device could be integrated into a larger automated robotic system to process samples and perform biochemical cell-based analysis. Additionally, it will also be used as a stand-alone tool to mix samples in a semi-automated process.
Bonk mainly works on this project at his home, but he also collaborates with ClickBio as needed. With this being one of several biotechnology devices he has created, there are difficulties in living off of one’s own scientific creations. A difficulty is the unknown of problems that may come up during the development process. This is why Bonk never focuses on one certain idea, but has other projects going on as well to increase the likelihood of success. There is also a race to get your idea done and out there because, “someone is going to come up with a better idea. This is the better idea right now. A couple years from now there’s going to be an even better idea. Maybe it’s mine, but it probably won’t be, so you have to make the most with the time that you have,” Bonk elaborates.
The Zeitigen Myxx would be Bonk’s third patented device. His latest creation was called the Heater Shaker Magnet. It used large tubes and shook with an orbit, which was the only shaking option available previously, and had a heater with a magnet that would engage at the appropriate time based on the programming. When he was in the market research phase for this device, Bonk visited a Pfizer location running a big shaker. This shaker had a robotic arm that would pick up a tube, and if it didn’t move perfectly, the tubes would tip over. The machine would not register the lopsided tubes, and start anyway, creating a murder scene in the lab.
Bonk has created this new mixer after seeing a real necessity for a smarter and more gentle device. A few years ago, he participated in a national science foundation for entrepreneurs. As part of this process, he talked to 30 people at biotech and pharmaceutical companies to research what they needed in lab advancement. All of them said they are moving toward high volume applications now and the current lab wear and devices are not completely available as much as they need. After considerable market research, Bonk knew there was a necessity for a smarter and gentler mixing device.
While taking the feedback of needing an easily accessible mixer device, Bonk was inspired by a Tesla advertisement. He saw a story about the Tesla truck, where the idea was to make it as simple as possible. The basic principle was to minimize machining and decrease the production of anything too complex, making the Truck very easy to mass produce. Applying this idea of mass production feasibility, Bonk got to work on inventing a more efficient mixer.
The original design started off as a very different instrument, a simple device for 50mL tubes. During the design process, he realized more plates were being used than tubes in lab automation. So, he pivoted his design, applying the tube concept to a plate version. It was a challenge shifting away from the tube product that was almost finished and moving to the current plate device. Market forces did justify this transition as being the right move.
Compared to other mixing devices on the market now, Aaron’s is smaller, less expensive, easier to integrate into a robotic process, and gentler on the cells and reagents. Devices being used now vibrate the contents using an increased orbit size, making machines bigger and clumsier. A new priority in recent machines hitting the market is treating the cells gently, which tends to produce a very large body, the size of a garage freezer chest, and is still too aggressive for the shaking of sensitive substances.
Instead of using the fast orbiting movement, Bonk created a slower gentler process that still mixes everything really well. Comparing his device to others, “You can have gentle shaking, but with that there might be incomplete mixing. This device is gentle and provides really good mixing,” Bonk explains. This need for gentleness is because some cells can grow in any condition, but others won’t react well and have heightened sensitivity, hence the disagreement with aggressive shaking.
The plan for distribution of the Zeitigen Myxx is direct issuing at the start and through ClickBio. To gain buyer and company interest in the device, Bonk will sell directly and through distributors which creates word of mouth attention. Conferences and conventions are an important part of marketing and sales strategies. Bonk prefers to attend national conferences to draw recognition from the country-wide and international attendees.
Bonk has 15 years of sales experience, providing him with the skills to sell the device. He knows how to listen and understand client’s needs and instill a viable path for expansion as needed. An estimation of the initial development costs is around $150,000. If the device is mass-produced, an accepted target price would be about three times the cost to build, so the sales price could be around $450,000.
The next milestone is to release this product and gather additional customer input to see what could be better, changed, or modified to make it more useful. Bonk’s next device he will be creating is a machine which will directly print on polypropylene tubes and plates or other lab wear, “that one I am really excited about because currently there is no good process to do on-demand printing on many materials that are used in the lab,” he shares.
The reason for lab printing is to put information on the materials. It could be used to print a barcode, an identifier for a specific patient, or a label for a sample. The way it is done now is to handstick a label on the tube, and the equipment for that is very expensive. This system will eliminate the need for labels and allow people to print the information they need directly on the specific sample, saving time for the scientist by not having to do an extra step of sticking on the label by hand.
Bonk tends to make his scientific creations to cost less, be more accessible for mass production, and easier to operate than what is currently available. He tries his hardest to make the next best thing in biotech lab automation.
