Center of Population

New York’s Celmatix takes the numbers to fertility

Those who can, do. Those who can’t do, teach. And those who can’t teach, teach gym. It’s an old saw, but it betrays a truth – sometimes the line between academia and real life is massive.

New York-based Celmatix is part of the the city’s thriving biotech scene – using genomics and data to help women conceive. But for cofounder and CEO Piraye Beim, the leap from bioscience Ph.D. to businesswoman wasn’t quite so simple.

“It was a very steep learning curve getting into the business world,” Beim told us. “When I first heard ‘P and L’ I thought it was ‘PNL’ – there was a lot I really did not understand. But when I got over the intimidation factor, I was able to draw from my experience, because professors are actually very entrepreneurial. They have to start a lab from scratch, and find advisors and mentors.”

After a crash course at an entrepreneur’s bootcamp at SUNY Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology, Celmatix launched its first clinical study in 2012. The company currently has commitments from seven major fertility clinics across the United States and is in conversations with three more.

“We’ve been extremely lucky with our hires,” Beim said. “That extra element of having a mission-driven company – knowing this could radically change women’s health – is a big help.”

 A team of 18 people, Celmatix is looking to hire developers, a product manager, and data scientist. Get all the details here.

 Now go forth (and get learning).

Nitty Gritty

70: Age of the oldest-known woman to give birth, in 2008

99: Age of Sarah, when she gave birth to Isaac, in the Bible

6/11/2009: Date 16 and Pregnant debuted on MTV