Posted on January 20, 2010 by nicoleatbio
Bonnie Erbe’s “To The Contrary” program on PBS will be airing a three-part series on genetic technologies and their impact in diagnosing rare disease, beginning this week. The series will describe the evolution of DNA sequencing and show how DNA may be an effective tool in understanding diseases. Part 1 of the series begins Jan. 22-24; Part 2, February 19-21; and Part 3, March 26-28.
The first segment is set at Baylor Medical School, and profiles Dr. James Lupski and Dr. Richard Gibbs, who have published extensive research into Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a commonly inherited neurological disorder. This program was made possible by a grant from the Life Technologies Foundation, in partnership with Children’s Rare Disease Network. After the series airs, free copies of the show will be made available on DVD by request through the Children’s Rare Disease Network at www.crdn.org.
Filed under: Finding Cures | Tagged: biotech, biotechnology | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 6, 2010 by TKtraveler
We are looking for biotech humanitarians for our annual Biotech Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes an everyday hero who has helped to heal, fuel or feed the planet through their work in biotechnology. Know someone that you feel should be recognized for their good works? Nominate someone at www.iambiotech.org/award through January 31, 2010.
2009 Biotech Humanitarian Dr. Jay Keasling, was nominated by a colleague at the University of California at Berkley. Just think, you or your colleague could be the next honoree.
The Biotech Humanitarian Award and the $10,000 prize will be bestowed on the Honoree during the 2010 BIO International Convention in Chicago, Illinois, May 3-6, 2010.
Filed under: 2010 BIO International Convention, Award, BIO, Finding Cures | Tagged: BIO, biotech, biotechnology, Innovation | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 1, 2009 by TKtraveler
When Congress returns next week, reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program will be one of the many decisions policymakers need to address. BioWorld Today explored the VC loophole in a story today (“Squabbling Over VC Loophole Leaves SBIR Program in Limbo”). The article fairly presents both sides of the argument regarding whether majority VC-backed firms should have limited eligibility for the program.
All small, innovative companies should have the opportunity to compete for these grants, and awards should be based on the best science not financial structure regardless of their funding sources. The spirit of the program is to provide funding for companies working on innovative cures and treatments for life threatening diseases. By allowing more biotech start-ups to continue their important work in research and development will lead to significant medical advancements that can save and improve lives, and sustain our country’s position as the global leader in biotech innovation.
The SBIR grant program has been beneficial in promoting innovation in the past, and without the program, many early stage ideas would never have gotten off the ground (as the article points out). And obviously, we agree.
Kudos to BioWorld on such a fair and timely article.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 26, 2009 by nicoleatbio
Posted on June 5, 2009 by cartier@bio
The National Institutes of Health unveiled two new grant programs this week for small research companies that will be supported by stimulus funds provided to the NIH under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. “These new programs will help provide much-needed resources to biotech companies, who are at the cusp of many medical breakthroughs and advancements,” BIO Executive Vice President for Emerging Companies and Business Development Alan Eisenberg said in a recent statement.
“Many emerging biotech companies are struggling to raise the necessary capital to continue their groundbreaking research due to the economic crisis. As a direct result of this difficult environment, many small companies are being forced to leave promising research projects on the shelves and layoff researchers.”
According to GenomeWeb, the grants will amount to at least $5 million.
“The goal is to fund projects that aim to “generate high impact results,” NIH said in a funding announcement, and innovative research tools, techniques, devices, inventions, or methodologies that will improve public health, as well as create value and contribute to economic stimulus.”
Applications are due September 1, with anticipated start dates in April 2010.
Filed under: BIO, Uncategorized | Tagged: BIO, financing, NIH, Small Business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 13, 2009 by cartier@bio
Is your life sciences company led by women?
Springboard Enterprises is looking for women-led science companies to present at AllThingsLifeSciences 2009 — a venture forum showcasing early and later stage biotech, medical device, health care IT, products & services and other life science companies.
According to Venture-Catalyst Springboard Enterprises, it is
“the go-to organization for information about and support for emerging growth ventures led by women. Springboard has become a central player in the infrastructure that fosters women’s entrepreneurship with the goal of connecting women entrepreneurs and investors nationally and globally.”
Springboard companies have received over $4 billion in financing.
The deadline for applications is June 1, 2009. Please visit www.springboardenterprises.org for more information.
Filed under: venture capital | Tagged: VC | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 27, 2009 by cartier@bio
A two-time cancer survivor and a perennial Republican swing voter, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), urged the creation of the Cures Acceleration Network, a new agency to provide grants to help biotech companies develop new treatments, reports Reuters and The Boston Globe:
I believe that we can live not only longer lives, but healthier lives, by harnessing and applying the genius of our biomedical research community and getting about the task of accelerating cures
Specter said in remarks prepared for a Chicago speech to physicians and researchers.
Specter acknowledges that many biotech companies are having a hard time raising cash for research and development and have had to shelve promising lines of research.
Agree or disagree with Senator Specter, one thing is certain: These difficult times call for creative measures to ensure that biotech’s benefits continue to reach the public.
Filed under: Congress, Finding Cures, In the News, Uncategorized | Tagged: Cures Acceleration Network, Specter | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 24, 2009 by cartier@bio
Josh Green, general partner at MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and three entrepreneurs visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify before the House Small Business Committee about the need to reauthorize the SBIR program.
The Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch blog reported,
“Companies receiving venture funding may have other innovation in the pipeline worth pursuing,” Green told the committee Wednesday. ”It’s for these projects that companies would apply for SBIR grants. Businesses must continue to innovate and the current SBA interpretation forces companies into an uncomfortable dilemma for worthy new projects. This scenario results in small businesses at best delaying important discovery projects and at worst abandoning this important work altogether.”
According to Venture Capital Dispatch, Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) asked Rachel King, chief executive of GlycoMimetics, Inc., if her company would be able to develop new research using SBIR grants that it wouldn’t otherwise be able to develop.
“Absolutely. We have a family of compounds that could be useful in a number of infectious diseases, such as HIV and tuberculosis,” King said. “We can’t focus on that program because we have to focus on our lead program. If we were able to access that funding source then we and other companies would be able to invest in more early stage, very promising research than we can now.”
All committee testimony is available on You Tube, split into 25 videos.
Filed under: Congress, In the News, SBIR, Uncategorized | Tagged: Congress, House Small Business Committee, SBIR, venture capital | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 6, 2009 by cartier@bio
A new regional investor angel fund has sprouted up in the New England area — Mass Medical Angels (MA2) is devoting all of its funds to backing life science startups. The group says its focus is on early stage life science companies looking to raise $250K to $3.0M.
According to the group’s website
Depending on the amount of funding needed, we can fund all or a portion of the round, and will work closely with other angel groups or venture funds in the area to complete the round. We are looking for companies that are extremely capital efficient opportunities where our funds will lead to significant step-ups in valuation to avoid unfavorable future funding rounds.
Mass Medical Angels is looking for a 10x return within 5 years. The group is currently accepting business proposals.
Filed under: SBIR, venture capital | Tagged: biotech, venture capital | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 2, 2009 by cartier@bio
The economic news this week wasn’t all doom and gloom – Google announced Google Ventures, a new venture capital fund that will finance biotechnology start ups, among other things.
According to Google Blog:
At its core, Google Ventures is charged with finding and helping to develop exceptional start-ups. We’ll be focusing on early stage investments across a diverse range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care and, no doubt, other areas we haven’t thought of yet. Central to our effort will be our fellow Googlers, whom we view as a critically important resource to help educate us about potential investments areas and evaluate specific companies.
This new fund falls in line with a survey of investors sponsored by Thomson Reuters and BIO, which found 70 percent of investors expect biotech to outperform the rest of the market this year. According to the survey, 57 percent of investors expect biotech to rebound during this year while another 30 percent expect a rebound in 2010.
Filed under: BIO, In the News, venture capital | Tagged: biotechnology, Google, Innovation, start-up, VC, venture capital | Leave a Comment »
