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Specter Proposes Cures Acceleration Network

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 [...]

Venture Capitalists, Entrepreneurs Call on Congress to Save SBIR

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 [...]

SBIR Can Be Key to Accessing Financing in a Troubled Economy

With Congress knee-deep in legislation to help stimulate the economy and arguing over the budget, things are starting to heat up for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) as well. The current credit crunch has made obtaining funding for biomedical research even tougher. Researchers are facing unprecedented challenges. Unfortunately for some in biotech, slow cash flow [...]

Guest Blogger: Afif Ghannoum, BioVenits Consulting

Today we have a guest blogger.  Welcome Afif Ghannoum!
In these trying economic times, biotech entrepreneurs are being put to the test to not only raise capital, but just to survive. Start-ups that a year or two ago would have been flush with capital from several sources, have been forced to closely monitor their burn rates [...]

Sign the SBIR Reauthorization Bill Petition

Small businesses in Oklahoma have created a petition to encourage members of the Senate to remove the “hold” from this bill and to bring it to a vote.
From the Petition:
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is currently threatened by legislative efforts in the United States Senate. A draft Senate Bill that reauthorizes the SBIR [...]

PAN and Others Request Action from Congress

The Parkinson’s Action Network sent this to us for our blog:
The Parkinson’s Action Network and RetireSafe, along with 58 other organizations sent a letter to Congress urging them to take action on the SBIR Reauthorization Act this Congressional session. The Parkinson’s Action Network recognizes the unique needs of small biotechnology companies and that shrinking the [...]

SBIR, Patent Baristas and Seeking Cures

Welcome Back Senators! We hope you enjoyed your recess.
There is buzz that SBIR may make it on to the Senate calendar this session, but we do not have a definite date just yet. Stay tuned!
This act will increase access to early-stage funding for treatments and cures for debilitating diseases. With so many new treatments [...]

Boston Globe discusses SBIR

On August 22, The Boston Globe ran an editorial discussing the SBIR bill created by Senator Kennedy, stating:

Kennedy and Rudman created the program because the work of small companies was often considered too risky and too preliminary to attract venture capital money. Supporters of the program fear that the House bill will dampen the kind [...]

Kansas City craves innovation

Stories are appearing nationally that highlight the importance of SBIR funding in partnership with venture capital dollars on local economies. These investment capital/government funding partnerships can foster growth in the biotech industry. This is the best way to ensure that our scientists are able to develop cutting-edge treatments and therapies and bring them to the [...]

Who Benefits from SBIR

In St. Louis, another small biotech firm is contemplating what steps to take if the SBIR bill is not renewed soon. Currently, Kereos Inc., a 15-employee company studying promising new methods of detecting and treating cancer is excluded from the SBIR program. This piece in Sunday’s St. Louis Post Dispatch illustrates the struggles that many [...]