Utah's High Tech 20.

• Author: Florence, Giles H., Jr.

Where fortunes are made or lost in a blink of a nanosecond

Utah has more start-up companies per capita than any other state, and for five years in a row, those startups have been the most successful in the United States according to a report from the National Commission of Entrepreneurship.

Here's a glance at 20 -- both new and not-so-new -- companies worth watching in the biotech and information technology arenas. Many of the companies included have yet to see products hit the street, so their inclusion is based on the uniqueness, savvy management (a board or staff that contains names familiar to Utah investors) or a hot new breakthrough technology coupled with positioning and the right timing to get product to market before the competition.

Each company on this list came to us from other techies, venture capitalists and entrepreneurial observers. These advisors agree that the included companies share common traits vital for success in today's fast-paced economy.

Whether these companies will continue to be successful in the recent downturn of the economy, we don't know. But for now, learning from their failures and enjoying their successes is something to behold.

Biotech Attraction

A renowned research hospital connected to the University of Utah and dynamic entrepreneurial programs at both the U.of U. and Brigham Young University have served as magnets to venture capitalists and biotech innovators.

THE CURE Salt Lake City-based biotech company Salus Therapeutics is developing new drugs that block the messengers in the genes that transmit disease. Defective genes are identified and patented methods (seven exclusive patents and three pending) are used to block or disable disease growth in such devastating conditions as multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and the inflammation and infection from the HIV-1 virus.

LABORATORY ON A CHIP

BioMicro Systems (www.biomicro.com) has created a chip-sized laboratory for testing blood, body fluids and other bio-related material. Its microfluidic technology miniaturizes biological sample processing normally done in test tubes, beakers and other laboratory equipment. This will decrease time and expense for doctors, researchers and the military who would use these products for DNA sample preparation, diagnostic and biochemical analyses, and toxicology. "The current challenge in our economic situation concerns fundraising. With no products on the market until 2002 we are solely reliant on investor financing,"...