‘Hardest deal is always the first one’ — Partnership adapts Motega Health tech for animal use
January 25, 2019 | Austin Barnes
A new licensing deal with Simini Technologies has unleashed disruptive potential for Lawrence-built Motega Health, the company announced Thursday.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Simini and their team and are excited by the energy and creative thinking they are bringing to the commercial process in veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Blake Hawley, founder and CEO of Motega Health –– a biopharmaceutical and food tech company.
“The hardest deal is always the first one, just like getting that first investor. As we demonstrate traction, we show value. We increase our revenue and our long term value skyrockets –– something every investor wants,” Hawley said of the partnership, which marks the company’s first major pharmaceutical pairing –– a connection made possible through St. Louis’ Shear Kershman Laboratories, he added.
As part of the agreement, Motega Health will provide Simini Technologies –– a pharmaceutical company that licenses veterinary rights to human health drug candidates and then develops products for use in animals –– with a license that allows them to research, develop, and commercialize Motega Health’s novel therapies for animals, he said.
Simini Technologies will also assume any further research opportunities and commercial activities, Hawley further explained of the partnership.
“Long term investment allows us to dramatically accelerate our studies and market our products for licensing,” Hawley said of the opportunity to work with Simini Technologies during the early stage phase of Motega Health –– founded in 2018.
Read more about Motega Health in the news here.
“We have been able to demonstrate oral mucosal absorption with drugs and compounds previously thought impossible,” Hawley said in explanation of what drew the company’s together. “This is ground-breaking and has literally hundreds of applications.”
Disrupting the health space one innovation at a time, Motega Health is enabling drug companies to eliminate injections, pills, and tablets. A process that could align the company for exponential growth, Hawley said.
Such growth could include significant investments in the company from Kansas City investors, Hawley revealed.
“We just started our cap raise in November and have had some recent great meetings in KC, which have led to more meetings and warm introductions [with potential investors.]”
Between the company’s deal with Simini Technologies and the potential weight of a first round capital raise, Hawley is eager to see how Motega Health can evolve in the startup space, he said.
Featured Business

2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Sips on the shelf: Whiskey inventory app pours order into collectors’ private honey holes
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. WICHITA — Whiskey connoisseurs can now take their collections digital, shared Dave Cunningham, an enthusiast whose new app tracks the high-value, sought-after liquor. In February, Cunningham — with the help…
KC-baked snack cracker startup tastes new markets, opportunities fueled by regenerative agriculture
SAN ANTONIO — Five years after the company experienced crunch time in the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator, Cheddies Crackers has expanded its line of high-protein, low-carb cheddar crackers into more than 2,500 retailers nationwide, said Francisco Pergola. RELATED: Say ‘cheese,’ KC! Cheddies arrive in Hy-Vee stores after Sprint Accelerator Pergola — who co-founded the San…
Shop Local KC moving its flagship maker store to Brookside, expects flower business to bloom
Shop Local KC is closing its flagship Midtown location as it prepares to open a new storefront in Brookside Sept. 1, according to owner Katie Mabry Van Dieren. The retail gift and flower shop plans to depart its original location at 3630 Main St. as the building developer, Exact Partners, seeks to use the space…
Investor returns to Kansas City with a message for his fellow VCs: It’s time to get your hands dirty
Traveling across the United States to listen and learn from various entrepreneurial ecosystems gave Nassir Criss the knowledge to be a better venture capitalist, he said. After nearly a year — and visiting more than a dozen cities — Criss has returned to Kansas City to share and apply what he experienced. “I realized that…
