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Mass Medical Angels

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 [...]

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 [...]

The Politics of Science

Buried somewhere in the middle of Friday’s first Presidential debate, Democrat Barack Obama states that:

“The third thing we have to do is we’ve got to make sure that we’re competing in education. We’ve got to invest in science and technology. China had a space launch and a space walk. We’ve got to make [...]

Massachusetts Understands SBIR Benefits

Massachusetts, a state with a large emerging biotechnology company sector, continues to discuss the Small Business Innovation Research Program and who is in and who is out. With the current state of the economy, the U.S. should be working harder than ever to form successful public/private partnerships that will encourage growth and stability in the [...]

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 [...]

More from Maryland

Both Forbes and East Coast Blogging mentions that people can now apply for the $6 million in biotechnology tax credits in Maryland. They didn’t discuss how enthusiastic the Maryland Biotech community is over this new plan.

There is a lot of growing excitement over Governor O’Malley’s BIO 2020 Initiative. Today, the Baltimore [...]

Biotechnology, a Massachusetts Force

Recently, there was an interesting study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the New England Healthcare Institute, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Xconomy and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative on the Massachusetts Life Sciences Super Cluster, showing the value of a strong science sector economically.   This Super Cluster includes Universities, teaching hospitals, biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies.  Software, [...]

Who is Short-Sighted?

A post on SBIRGA asked the question, “Just how short-sighted is the VC community?”  The post discussed a recent analysis by the State Science and Technology Institute (May 28th Digest) of a study conducted by Pricewatershouse’s MoneyTree Report that indicates venture capital companies are making more investments in later stage companies and fewer investments in [...]

In which we respond to California Biotech Law Blog

California Biotech Law Blog posted a summary of recent House hearings on reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR).

In the world of biotechnology, the principle at stake is the United States’s claim to be an innovation engine in the global economy. Our members and their scientists are developing disease treatments and cures at a rapid rate, but because these cutting-edge treatments are so new, it takes 10-15 years before they reach the market. In the meantime, they thrive on traditional venture capital and the government’s version of VC: the SBIR program.

If Congress wants to perpetuate the image – and reality – of the US as the center of innovation, they must adapt the criteria for SBIR grants to match the reality for these budding treatments and burgeoning companies.