Xena Ventures CEO Tammy Lee Launches Cool Therapy Company With First Product: Onyx Ortho

March 13  

MINNEAPOLIS – March 12, 2020 – After successfully securing financing in January, Xena Ventures’ Founder and CEO Tammy Lee founded Xena Cool, a manufacturing company and plant in Red Wing. The company employs 10 and is currently selling its first line of FDA-registered Class I medical devices as Onyx Ortho.

Onyx Ortho’s launch products include wearable cool therapy knee, shoulder and back/hip devices designed for active use and mobility. Unlike ice or other gel packs, the cool therapy wraps are form-fitting and may be worn directly on the skin. The devices feature phase change materials specifically formulated to 58 degrees Fahrenheit for safe, effective pain relief and injury repair.  

“From Red Wing Shoes to Riedell Skates, Red Wing is known for manufacturing high-quality, wearables for work, sport and play, and so, we made the decision to locate our plant near the people we wanted to hire,” said Lee. Onyx Ortho is the first of many medtech products that Xena Cool will manufacture at its Red Wing plant, a location chosen for its skilled workforce.

“With the Red Wing team in place, we were able to lease a building on Feb. 1, acquire equipment to set up a whole new manufacturing operation and have products for sale six-weeks later,” said Lee. Additionally, Xena Cool will begin manufacturing a second line of health and medical products that will be announced and ready for sale in April.

About Xena Ventures

Xena Ventures provides financing to acquire intellectual property or enter into licensing agreements for medical, health and wellness products. 

Principals Lee and Dr. Mitchell Abrahamsen, Ph.D., have proven track records of commercializing medical technologies that were novel or best-in-class but had underperformed in the marketplace due to lack of funding, marketing or management expertise.  

While Lee was CEO of Recombinetics and Abrahamsen was its chief commercial and scientific officer, they raised a $34 million Series A round to take the nine-year old startup’s gene-editing technologies from its labs and farms into commercial partnerships with premier medical partners and global animal agriculture genetics companies.  Xena Ventures is now deploying that same strategy through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Xena Cool and Xena Red.

“The Xena Ventures model makes it possible to acquire, recapitalize and relaunch existing medical technologies; grow revenues; and quickly achieve profitability by recruiting experienced management and manufacturing teams,” said Lee.

About Onyx Ortho PCM

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About Tammy Lee

Prior to founding Xena Ventures, where she is now CEO of Xena Cool, a cool therapy medical device company, Lee served as CEO of Recombinetics and successfully raised a $34 million Series A round for the bio tech startup. Earlier, Lee held senior executive positions at Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Carlson Companies.  

Lee serves on the Board of Utepils Brewing Company, where she is also an owner. 

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