SAN ANTONIO (June 15) — Each month, some of San Antonio’s leading bioscience CEOs gather—not to pitch investors or announce breakthroughs, but to solve the real challenges of building companies. Behind closed doors, these peer-driven discussions are helping accelerate growth across one of the nation’s fastest-emerging medical innovation hubs. Given the participants’ medical mission, one might expect these meetings to take place at the South Texas Medical Center.
Instead, they are held in a somewhat unexpected setting: San Antonio’s near east side, where the city’s growing medical and bioscience ecosystem is helping fuel a broader renaissance, with economic development agency VelocityTX leading the charge.
From its state-of-the-art Innovation Center at the newly redeveloped Merchants Ice campus, VelocityTX seeks to leverage San Antonio’s bioscience industry to promote sustainable economic growth—and the CEO Roundtable program is just one of the ways it is helping drive that momentum.
Launched in 2021, CEO Roundtable brings together founders and chief executives from some of San Antonio’s most promising bioscience companies in an intimate setting where participants engage in candid, peer-driven discussions designed to address real-time leadership challenges while fostering deeper collaboration across the ecosystem.
The program is led by VelocityTX Chief Innovation Officer Jeremy Nelson, PhD and local medtech entrepreneur Dr. Gabriele Niederauer. Nelson, who joined VelocityTX in December, brings more than 20 years of experience aligning scientific discovery with operational needs across the Department of Defense, academia, and industry. As Chief Innovation Officer, he leads innovation strategy, strengthens defense and federal partnerships, and expands pathways to commercialization, helping position San Antonio as a national hub for military medicine and bioscience innovation.
Dr. Niederauer, recently appointed VelocityTX Entrepreneur-in-Residence, is also the CEO & Co-Founder of Freyya, a women’s health medtech company developing a novel, data-driven solution for pelvic floor rehabilitation. A serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits, she brings deep expertise in product development, regulatory strategy, and commercialization to founders in the program.
“San Antonio’s bioscience sector is growing not just because of individual company success, but because of a willingness to collaborate,” said Nelson. “These roundtables create a trusted space where leaders can be vulnerable, share lessons learned, and ultimately move faster together.”
Participating companies represent a broad cross-section of the region’s innovation landscape:
Cohort 1
- J4 Biologics (Joe Mims, CEO): J4 Biologics is a San Antonio–based company that processes amniotic membrane allografts for robotic GI and gynecologic surgeries. The company also produces an acellular dermal matrix to support breast reconstruction after mastectomy.
- TheLabCafé.com (J. Randolph Harig, COO): The Lab Café is a Direct-to-consumer Self-Pay online lab testing service that allows individuals to order affordable health and STD tests, visit a certified local testing center, and receive private results in 24 hours without using insurance.
- Orthios Innovations (Keith Peeples, Board Member): Orthios Innovations is a medical device company behind Weight Bear, a hands-free simulated weight-bearing device for foot and ankle surgery and imaging.
- Prytime Medical Devices (David Spencer, CEO): Prytime Medical Devices manufactures a balloon occlusion device designed to temporarily stop internal bleeding and stabilize patients experiencing life-threatening hemorrhage.
- Seno Medical (Tom Umbel), CEO: Seno Medical developed the Imagio® Breast Imaging System, which combines opto-acoustic and ultrasound imaging with AI-based decision support to help assess whether breast masses are benign or malignant.
Cohort 2
- AlexiGen (Jacob Chandler, CEO): AlexiGen manufactures biologic products for many surgical specialties, wound care, and sports medicine, with a focus on unique innovative tissue-based solutions and customer service.
- Biomedical Development Corporation (Gregg Siegel, CEO): Biomedical R&D and GMP manufacturing company with more than 60 NIH SBIR/STTR awards. BDC develops and commercializes patented health and wellness products, including skincare and oral care offerings, and is developing a digital therapeutic for opioid use disorder.
- Gap-Flex (Manuel Torres, CEO): GAP-FLEX is a medical device company focused on improving post-operative knee rehabilitation through a patented, gravity-assisted therapy system designed to restore range of motion efficiently and with high patient compliance. The company is now entering full commercialization following successful reimbursement approval.
- iGenomeDx (Niti Vanee, CEO): iGenomeDx is a CLIA-certified molecular diagnostics laboratory specializing in pharmacogenomics, infectious disease, genetic risk assessment, and toxicology testing, dedicated to enabling faster, more precise clinical decision-making and improved patient outcomes.
- Novothelium (Lauren Cornell, CEO): Novothelium develops donor-derived regenerative nipple-areolar grafts for breast reconstruction after mastectomy.
For many participants, the program stands apart from traditional leadership initiatives.
“I have participated in several leadership groups and the VelocityTX CEO roundtable stands out among the crowd. It has been deeply impactful because it brings scientific strategy and business leadership together in a way most programs don’t,” said Lauren Cornell, CEO of Novothelium. “Combined with a strong, well-rounded cohort, it’s sharpened how I think and operate as a founder.”
As San Antonio continues to invest in its bioscience/medtech ecosystem, initiatives like the CEO Roundtable are helping transform the region from an emerging hub into a nationally recognized center for medical innovation—driven not just by individual success, but by a culture of collaboration.