By William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

Two companies took home a combined $150,000 Thursday in the finale pitch competition for Alabama Launchpad in Montgomery.

Huntsville-based Acclinate Genetics won $50,000 in the concept stage, while Birmingham’s CerFlux took the $100,000 seed stage prize. Both companies gave their pitch before a four-judge panel.

Acclinate Genetics is working to increase the diversity of participants in clinical trials. Company founder Del Smith created Acclinate to address the lack of minority participation, which results in problems in drug efficacy for minority populations. The company also looks to capitalize on the FDA’s current national focus on the issue.

CerFlux offers personalized medicine solutions to identify the most effective cancer therapeutics for patients. CerFlux had previously won the concept stage prize during Alabama Launchpad in 2019. CEO Karim Budhwani is a visiting scientist at UAB.

Alabama Launchpad, a program of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, is the state’s most active early seed funding source. To date, it has funded 92 startups, invested $5.5 million with a post money valuation of more than $325 million.

“It’s wonderful to see two life sciences companies win Alabama Launchpad,” EDPA President Steve Spencer. “It’s a strong indicator of the strength of this growing industry in the state, and all of the finalists competing exemplify Alabama’s diverse vertical sectors.”

Originally published by AL.com.