Posts Tagged ‘Biotech’
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
 ATLANTA - Venture Atlanta has named the companies selected to present at its conference on October 12-13, 2010 at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. The 20 companies selected to present cover a wide variety of industries including Internet and enterprise software, healthcare IT, clean tech, wireless, e-payments, and even electric vehicles.
Ashish Mistry, Venture Atlanta board member and managing partner at BLH Venture Partners, said, “This year’s presenting companies underscore our State’s diversity in high-growth sectors in addition to our depth in management talent.”
In addition to the 20 presenting companies announced, an additional 25 companies will be invited to participate in Venture Atlanta’s early-stage showcase, being held on Tuesday October 12, 2010. The early-stage showcase offers a unique, one-on-one opportunity for investors to interact with 25 additional entrepreneurs and seed-stage companies prior to Venture Atlanta’s main event.
For more information see: Venture Atlanta
The companies selected to present at the 2010 conference are:
Port Network
Scoutmob
Smartsoft Mobile Solutions
Solidfire
The Rubicon Group
Toomah
Twitpay
Wavee US LLC
WellCentive
Wheego
Tags: Biotech, Georgia, Internet, IT, Venture Atlanta selects 2010 presenting companies
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing | Comments Off
Friday, September 17th, 2010
 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a $51 million contract to Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., of Rockville, MD, for the development of a new anthrax vaccine using the protective antigen to stimulate a protective immune response that neutralizes the anthrax toxins.
Anthrax preparedness remains one of BARDA’s top priorities. This contract builds on HHS investments in antibiotics, antitoxins, and vaccine development for anthrax. It highlights the department’s commitment to develop a next-generation, recombinant anthrax vaccine. Consistent with the recent HHS medical countermeasure review, this program enhances the pipeline of potential products and increases the overall chances of success of developing a new vaccine.
In the first two years of the contract, Emergent will develop the final vaccine formulation and test its stability. HHS can extend the contract annually for up to three years to support scale-up and optimization for large-scale manufacturing and additional animal studies needed to apply for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the vaccine. If the government extends the contract for all three years, the total five-year contract value could be $186.6 million.
This advanced research and development contract was awarded using a flexible federal government contracting tool known as a Broad Agency Announcement. This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA-BARDA-09-34) provides a way to identify innovative and promising technologies for advanced development across the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear research areas of interest.
The current research areas of interest include vaccines, antitoxins, therapeutics, antimicrobial drugs, radiological/nuclear threat countermeasures, chemical threat countermeasures, and clinical diagnostic tools.
BARDA, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive integrated portfolio approach to the advanced research and development, stockpile acquisition, innovation, and manufacturing of the vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products for public health medical emergencies including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases.
The medical countermeasure review
Tags: anthrax contract, Biotech, Emergent Biosolutions, Pharma
Posted in Government/Defense, Maryland, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
 Garheng Kong DURHAM, NC – Garheng Kong of Durham-based venture capital firm Intersouth Partners, one of the best known VCs in the Southeast, is leaving the firm to join a California venture capital firm. Kong, who focused on biotechnology, has been a familiar face at Southeast venture capital events and biotechnology conferences for a decade.
Intersouth said Richard Kent, previously a venture partner with the firm, has been named a general partner.
Kong joined Intersouth part-time in 2000, while finishing his graduate degrees at Duke University. He joined the firm full-time in 2001. He leaves to join another venture capital firm in California.
“Garheng has been a key member of our team for the last decade. He joined us while he was still in graduate schoool and we’ve had the opportunity to watch his career develop over that period of time,” said Dennis Dougherty, general partner with Intersouth.
We’ve turned to Kong for insight into the biotechnology field many times over the last decade. He was always patient in walking us through the details of a new biotech firm’s approach.
Intersouth’s Communications Director Suzanne Cantando tells us the move back to California “Is a unique opportunity for him to return home where his family lives.” She adds that Kong will disclose the name of the firm he is joining at a later time.
Kent, a board certified internist in cardiology, joined Intersouth in 2008 after having served as the President and CEO of Serenex, an Intersouth-backed drug discovery company that was acquired by Pfizer in April 2008. He previously spent 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry, starting his post-medical career as a clinical researcher at Burroughs Wellcome and ultimately becoming the vice president of Medical Affairs and chief medical officer at GlaxoSmithKline.
Intersouth Partners is one of the most active and experienced early-stage venture funds in the country, having invested in almost 100 private companies over the last two decades. Founded in 1985, Intersouth Partners manages more than $780 million in seven venture capital limited partnerships, making it the largest venture capital fund in North Carolina and one of the largest in the Southeast.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, Dennis Dougherty, Durham, Garheng Kong, Intersouth Partners, NC, Richard Kent, Suzanne Cantando
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, People | Comments Off
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
 WINSTON-SALEM, NC – As fat summer tomatoes dangle in profusion from vines in gardens and farms across the country, researchers at Wake Forest University are looking for a way to make future harvests hold up better against drought or lack of nutrients.
But the tomatoes these researchers study, with names like Never Ripe and Green Ripe, are mutants that will never achieve that wonderful red that makes a perfect summer meal for many foodies.
That’s because Gloria K. Muday, Ph.D., a biology professor at Wake Forest, isn’t after a better fruit, at least not yet. She’s after a better root system.”If we can encourage tomato plants to form deeper root systems, those plants will be able to take in more water and pick up food more effectively,” Muday said.
And that could mean a more reliable harvest for farmers and backyard gardeners alike.
Key to ripening
The key, Muday said, is the relationship between the hormones auxin, a root growth stimulator, and ethylene, which is critical for the ripening of tomatoes, but which also influences the growth promoting effects of auxin.
Muday and her colleagues have discovered that ethylene also alters the development of root systems in tomatoes.
In research appearing in The Plant Journal, a peer-reviewed publication, Muday found that, in mutant tomatoes, ethylene limited lateral root growth; lateral roots form horizontally off the primary root to better anchor the plant in the soil. However, ethylene appeared to encourage root growth along stems and branches.
Pinpointing why ethylene has this effect can help plant biologists devise a plan for breeding or engineering tomato plants that grow more extensive root systems that can thrive despite dry conditions or lack of nutrients.
For the next step in this line of research, Muday is looking at other substances, including flavonoids, and how they influence hormones that stimulate root growth in tomatoes.
But for these experiments, she can savor the deeper colors of summer-ripe tomatoes, many of them heirloom varieties.
“There are all sorts of heirloom tomatoes – brown, purple, black – and we’re growing them now,” Muday said. “We’ll see how many of these compounds they make and how that effects the root development.”
The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tags: Biotech, mutant tomatoes key to tougher crops, Wake Forest Unversity
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, University Tech | Comments Off
Monday, August 30th, 2010
 BALTIMORE, MD – Gliknik, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, has raised $1.9 million of a targeted $4 million equity round that includes warrants and options, according to a regulatory filing.
The company disclosed in June that Maryland Health Care Product Development Corp. (MHCPDC) had invested an undisclosed amount in the company and said it would invest an additional amount of equity this summer.
The MHCPDC is a non-profit venture investment organization and a supporting organization of the Tech Council of Maryland.
The company also raised a $3.6 million round in Janurary.
The company evolved from research by Dr. Scott Strome professor of Otorhinolarynogology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
The company was founded by David S. Block, CEO and president, who was previously a senior executive at DuPont Merck and was COO of Celera Genomics. A serial entrepreneur, he also previously founded Ruxton Pharmaceuticals in 2004, a venture-backed startup.
Gliknik disclosed the funding in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, autoimmune diseases, Baltimore, Biotech, cancer treatment, financing, GA, Gliknik, immune system modulation, MD
Posted in Georgia, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
 TAMPA, FL – Oragenics Inc. (OTCBB:ORNI) has closed on a $2 million equity and debt round, according to a regulatory filing. The company has developed an oral treatment that could prevent tooth cavities for a lifetime, an antibiotic effective against resistant bacteria, and other innovative products.
Koski Family Limited Partnership is the company’s main investor.
Oragenics, which disclosed the financing in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of oral health, antibiotics and general health.
Founded in 1996, it has R&D facilities in Alachua, FL and is headquartered in Tampa.
It sells products based onits ProBiora technology and has a number of others in development.
The company’s Web site outlines the following company history:
Dr. Jeffery Hillman began his basic research into the concept of replacement therapy for preventing dental caries or cavities in the late 1970’s at the Forsyth Institute in Boston. He transferred his research to the University of Florida College of Dentistry in 1992.
There, he continued to pursue the development of a genetically engineered strain of Streptococcus mutans that could help prevent cavities by replacing the body’s natural caries-causing strains of S. mutans.
Currently in clinical trials, Oragenics’ patented SMaRT Replacement Therapy is a painless, one-time, five-minute treatment that has the potential to offer lifelong protection against tooth decay. Applied topically to the teeth with a swab, the therapy can be administered by dentists in the office or in the field.
During his work with S. mutans, Dr. Hillman discovered MU 1140, or a mutacin, a powerful lantibiotic that is produced by the bacterium in tiny amounts. This new broad-spectrum antibiotic has demonstrated activity against Gram-positive bacteria responsible for a variety of clinically important diseases, such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), VRE (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis) and both growing and non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells.
Under the research leadership of Dr. Hillman, the company is also developing two proprietary platforms for the identification of genetic targets that can be used in diagnostic tests as well as in vaccines and therapeutics.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: anitbiotics, Biotech, diagnostics, Dr. Jeffrey HIllman, financing, Florida, Oragenics, preventive cavity treatment
Posted in Florida, Money | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
 RALEIGH, NC – Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a method for predicting the ways nanoparticles will interact with biological systems – including the human body. Their work could have implications for improved human and environmental safety in the handling of nanomaterials, as well as applications for drug delivery.
The researchers wanted to create a method for the biological characterization of nanoparticles – a screening tool that would allow other scientists to see how various nanoparticles might react when inside the body.
“We wanted to find a good, biologically relevant way to determine how nanomaterials react with cells,” Dr. Jim Riviere says. “When a nanomaterial enters the human body, it immediately binds to various proteins and amino acids. The molecules a particle binds with will determine where it will go.”
This binding process also affects the particle’s behavior inside the body. According to Monteiro-Riviere, the amino acids and proteins that coat a nanoparticle change its shape and surface properties, potentially enhancing or reducing characteristics like toxicity or, in medical applications, the particle’s ability to deliver drugs to targeted cells.
Fingerprinting a nanoparticle
To create their screening tool, the team utilized a series of chemicals to probe the surfaces of various nanoparticles, using techniques previously developed by Dr. Xin-RuiXia.
A nanoparticle’s size and surface characteristics determine the kinds of materials with which it will bond. Once the size and surface characteristics are known, the researchers can then create “fingerprints” that identify the ways that a particular particle will interact with biological molecules.
These fingerprints allow them to predict how that nanoparticle might behave once inside the body.
The study results appear in the Aug. 15 online edition of Nature Nanotechnology.
“This information will allow us to predict where a particular nanomaterial will end up in the human body, and whether or not it will be taken up by certain cells,” Riviere adds. “That in turn will give us a better idea of which nanoparticles may be useful for drug delivery, and which ones may be hazardous to humans or the environment.”
NC State researchers Riviere, Burroughs Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and director of the university’s Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics, Dr. Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, professor of investigative dermatology and toxicology, and Xia, research assistant professor of pharmacology, conducted the study.
Tags: Biotech, nanotechnology, NC, NC State University, Raleigh
Posted in Carolinas, Nanotech, North Carolina, University Tech | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Vaccine developer Medicago USA has won a $21 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant to develop a 90,000 square foot facility in Research Triangle Park to make vaccines from tobacco plants and virus-like-particles (VLPs). The $42 million project will demonstrate the company’s ability to make 10 million doses of flu vaccine a month.
Eventually, the project will create hundreds of jobs.
This DARPA project is an accelerated and integrated effort to deliver effective production of pandemic influenza in the United States. The Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals (AMP) program seeks to identify new ways to produce large amounts of high quality vaccine protein in less than 3 months in response to emerging and novel biologic threats.
Current methods of making flu vaccine from eggs is time-consuming and must be started well in advance of the flu season with researchers essentially guessing which strains will be active.
Rapid production possible
During the recent H1N1 influenza outbreak, Medicago’s rapid plant-based VLP vaccine technology was able to successfully develop a vaccine candidate in less than a month after identifying the H1N1 strain and is therefore one of the few technologies that can provide a solution in the case of a pandemic.
Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago, said, “This DARPA funding is also perfectly in line with our development plan for both our pandemic and seasonal influenza products as we will now have a US facility ready to participate in the $7 billion pandemic and seasonal influenza markets.
In addition, our U.S. facility will provide us enhanced access to the various grant programs in the U.S.A. and we will be ready to take part in these additional funding opportunities.”
Hundreds of jobs coming
“It’s vitally important to our Homeland Security that we have a robust domestic vaccine supply, and this facility will add to our production capacity helping mitigate future threats,” said Congressman David Price.
“Medicago’s facility will ultimately bring hundreds of good paying jobs to the region, and DARPA’s investment in this project is another significant contribution to local recovery efforts. This is a welcome confirmation that the Triangle continues to lead the way delivering innovative high-tech products and creating the jobs that will power a 21st Century economy.”
Rep. Price is the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
Medicago USA Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebec-based Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG).
The strategic collaboration is a $42 million project in which DARPA contributes $21 million, Medicago $7.5 million and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (‘Alexandria’) $13.5 million.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is the largest owner and leading provider of high-quality environmentally sustainable real estate, technical infrastructure, and services to the broad and diverse life science industry focused in the leading life science clusters
Tags: Biotech, DARPA grant, flu, jobs, NC, Pharma, Research Triangle Park, vaccines
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, North Carolina, TechJobs | Comments Off
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
 Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), seen here on the membranes of pain-sensing neurons (yellow), enduringly suppresses chronic pain. PAP could potentially provide long-lasting pain relief when administered before injury or inflammation, such as before surgery. (Photo: Mark Zylka) CHAPEL HILL, NC – Here’s good news for chronic pain sufferers. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found a way to halt chronic pain by stealing a key molecule from a major pain pathway. The finding may dramatically reduce chronic pain in many surgical patients.
An enzyme, prostatic acid phosphatase, or PAP, the researchers found, blocks pain in animal models by siphoning off a molecule called PIP2—a critical component of the chemical cascade behind chronic pain.
What’s more, PAP appears to keep on blocking pain symptoms long after it is injected.
“If you inject PAP before nerve injury or before causing inflammation, PAP has a very long-lasting effect on the pain sensitization that follows,” said Mark Zylka, lead researcher. “It has the potential to block or dramatically reduce pain, possibly in surgical settings.”
Millions suffer chronic pain
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. This long-lasting pain is caused by a series of events along nerve cell membranes that make neurons hypersensitive. Injecting excess PAP into the system triggers a parallel series of reactions that makes it harder for this pain cascade to fire.
“Essentially PAP robs the cell of PIP2 so pro-pain pathways can’t signal as effectively,” explained Zylka. The team conducted their research using cell cultures and mice.
Using PAP to deplete PIP2 represents a promising new approach to treating chronic pain. “This is something people haven’t really focused on yet,” Zylka said. “We’re going right to the source of these pathways.”
In previous studies using mice, the team found that injecting PAP after an injury reduces sensitivity to both heat (like touching a hot burner) and mechanical sensitization (like the pain from brushing sunburned skin) for three days.
Patients undergoing major surgery occasionally receive pain relievers through spinal injections just before the surgery begins. This study suggests that injecting PAP along with those other pain relievers might reduce patients’ need for analgesics like opiates in the days following surgery. Future studies with patients will be needed to verify these possibilities.
“Ultimately, we’re very interested in other pain-related mechanisms that regulate PIP2 levels in cells. Any one of those mechanisms could be targeted for the treatment of chronic pain,” Zylka said. Such research could provide new drugs for patients who already have chronic pain.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, chronic pain, NC, Pharma, UNC Chapel Hill, University research
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, University Tech | Comments Off
Friday, July 30th, 2010
 ATLANTA – Axion BioSystems Inc., a company developing cellular analysis technology, has raised $$2.1 million, the bulk of a $$2.5 million mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
Axion Biosystems specializes in neural interfacing technologies with wide applications in research, clinical, and drug discovery markets.
A graduate of Georgia Tech’s Venture Lab, the company raised $1 million in 2009, although other reports set the total at $2 million.
Its proprietary technology simultaneously stimulates and records live neural tissue—an industry first—and includes low-power chips that service thousands of channels. It allows researchers to test potential new drug candidates in a culture disk, using Axion’s electronics to record the cellular response to the drug.
While current development is focused on pharmaceutical drug screening, ongoing development will result in devices in the medical arena.
Axion Biosystems is located in the ATDC Biosciences center in downtown Atlanta, where it makes use of state-of-the art facilities including the NanoTechnology Research Center and the Laboratory for Neuroengineering.
The company disclosed the current raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tags: Atlanta, Axion BioSystems, Biotech, drug development, financing
Posted in Georgia, Money | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
 RICHMOND, VA – Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. (CBI, CBTE.OB) has named Richard J. Freer, Ph.D. CEO.
He replaces Dr. Bill Guo who has served as Acting CEO since January of 2009.
Dr. Freer, one of the founders of the company, has served at various times as its chair, director of compliance, and most recently as COO. In addition to his new position as CEO, Dr. Freer sits on the board.
“These are difficult times for the company but I look forward to working with the Board to restore shareholder value to the best of my ability,” said Dr. Freer. The company was delisted from Nasdaq in 2009 for failing to maintain minimum stockholders’ equity of $2.5 million and not meeting other requirements.
CBI offers cutting-edge research and development products and services to the global life sciences industry. CBI now operates solely through Mimotopes Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, a peptide and discovery chemistry business.
Tags: Biotech, CEO, Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Richard J. Frer, Virginia
Posted in People, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Bricknell Biotech Inc. has raised nearly $6.2 million in equity, according to a regulatory filing.
Principals named in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission include:
Reginald Hardy, founder and president of Concordia Pharmaceuticals, a Fort Lauderdale, FL-based anti-cancer biopharmaceuticals company; Charles Betlach, a director of Concordia and Palo Alto, CA-based biopharmaceutical firm Acorn Biomedical; Gerard Coombs; Richard Bulman Jr., general counsel for Acorn; and Andrew Sklawer; and George Abercrombie, president and CEO of Roche Laboratories Inc., ; Dennison Veru; Bradley Goldman; and Glenn Prestwich, all directors.
The company does not currently have a Web site.
Reports say it develops dermatology products. We’ll be calling the company to see if we can confirm that and provide additional details.
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, Bricknell Biotech, financing, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Roche
Posted in Florida, Money | Comments Off
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
 ATLANTA – Southeast BIO (SEBIO) has selected ten semifinalists in its fourth annual BIO/Plan Competition.
Launched in 2007, the BIO/Plan Competition is a program developed to promote the creation of new life science companies based in the Southeast.
The ten semifinalists were selected from nearly forty total applications. The applicant pool included applications from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
They represent a wide range of technologies including small molecule therapeutics, biologics, diagnostics, and medical devices. Five of the semifinalists selected are from Georgia, three are from Florida, one is from South Carolina, and one is from Virginia.
The technologies emerged from some of the region’s finest research institutions, including Emory University, Florida International University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Medical College of Georgia, Morehouse School of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Florida, University of Georgia, and University of Virginia.
“Despite the funding crunch, the level of scientific innovation at universities and startup companies remains extremely impressive as seen from the BIO/Plan applications, and this bodes well for an outburst of valuable commercial opportunities that will attract investment dollars from firms like ours,” said Carlos Parajon, managing partner, Harbor Island Equity Partners .
“This quality of research and innovation leads to investment and growth, which in turn creates more innovation and positive economic outcomes for the region.”
Each semifinalist is now paired with a small mentoring team and beginning the mentorship phase of the Competition. Each mentoring team includes three or four experienced professionals from active venture funds or angel groups, biotech entrepreneurs and managers, and service providers with relevant start-up expertise.
The mentoring teams directly interact with the semifinalists over a period of 4 months focusing on the strategic development of the business concept and commercial opportunity.
The teams are also supported with additional resources including development plan templates and guidelines, regulatory consultants, and presentation guidelines and examples. The ultimate goal of the mentoring process is the creation of an executable development strategy and associated written plan. This rigorous mentorship process is the cornerstone of the Competition.
“Every year, our companies brag about SEBIO’s process and the terrific advice they get from the BIO/Plan mentors,” notes Susan Shows, Senior Vice President, Georgia Research Alliance. “This coaching and the visibility to investors is extremely valuable to the region’s early stage companies.”
Following the mentoring process, each of the semifinalists will submit their written development plan to a panel of judges. Four finalists will then be selected to present at the Twelfth Annual SEBIO Investor Forum, November 3-4, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia. The finalists will present to the full conference audience, which includes more than 400 industry leaders from across the region, and over 100 investors from the Southeast and around the world.
The finalists will be awarded face-to-face, private meetings with top investors in the region at which time they can more fully promote their investment opportunity and development plan. One Southeast BIO/Plan Competition winner will be announced and recognized in a special ceremony at the Investor Forum.
More information about the BIO/Plan Competition, the SEBIO Investor Forum, and sponsorship opportunities can be found on the SEBIO website, www.sebio.org.
Tags: 2010 business plan competition, Alabama, Biotech, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, SEBIO, South Carolina, Virginia
Posted in Alabama, Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, SEBIO, South Carolina, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
 ATLANTA – InVasc Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat or prevent cardiometabolic disease, plans to raise $12 million, according to a regulatory filing.
The company has raised about $5 million of the total offering, including the $3,150,000 in its first institutional financing from Trois Investments Industriels Internationaux of Luxembourg and two angel investors that we reported earlier this month.
The company also won two SBIR grants totaling $400,000.
Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and dyslipidemia are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
InVasc Therapeutics was founded in 2006 by three leading researchers at Emory University and Ohio State University.
The company plans to file an IND later this year for INV-144 targeting the slowing of the progression of chronic kidney disease in hypertensive diabetic patients.
Its technology may delay the onset of late-stage kidney disease by more than a year, according to reports.
Tags: Atlanta, Biotech, financing, Georgia, kidney disease, Pharma, Trois Investments Internationaux
Posted in Georgia, Money | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
 HERNDON, VA -The Virginia Center for Innovative Technology says its CIT GAP BioLife Fund closed on an investment in an undisclosed amount in Parabon NanoLabs Inc.
The Reston-based nano-pharmaceutical company uses a proprietary combination of innovative software and nanoscale fabrication technologies that speeds up and lowers the cost of drug discovery, especially for treatments for cancerous brain tumors like malignant glioma that took the life of late-Senator Edward Kennedy.
Parabon NanoLabs was a presenting company at the 2010 Southeast Venture Conference. For our profile of the company prior to its appearance at SE Venture see: Parabon NanoLabs successfully targets brain cancer cells.
Announcing the funding, CIT President & CEO Pete Jobse said, “Innovation and innovative entrepreneurs like the team at Parabon NanoLabs will be the keys to reviving our economy and creating sustainable job growth. To succeed, they need access to capital, and that is what our CIT GAP Funds provide.”
Parabon NanoLabs allows scientists to develop novel therapeutics using its proprietary Essemblix Drug Design Platform – a powerful combination of computer-aided design software for designing macromolecules and nanoscale fabrication technology for their production.
This platform gives scientists the ability to design and construct multi-functional macromolecules from simpler subcomponents, replacing the current slow and costly model of “drug discovery” with a new efficient, faster and more affordable “drug design” model that allows for faster treatments.
Dr. Steven Armentrout, Founder and President of Parabon NanoLabs, said, “The newly discovered ability to precisely manipulate matter at the nanoscale is ushering in an era of even greater economic impact: the Nanotechnology Revolution.”
Parabon NanoLabs capitalizes on the commercial opportunities made possible by its technology for creating a new class of designer macromolecules.
These engineered molecular structures — not producible with the traditional methods of pharmacology, chemistry or microelectronics — can be used across a wide spectrum of domains, such as nano-sensors for bioweapons defense; nano-arrays for DNA biometrics; and nano-additives for consumer products.
The CIT GAP BioLife Fund is part of the CIT GAP Funds, seed stage investment programs that leverage public and private investments to launch new high expectation companies.
This is the 38th investment. Since its launch, CIT GAP Funds has invested almost $3.8 million to help create 38 companies that, in turn, were able to attract an additional $51 million in private equity. (For a list of portfolio companies, please go to www.citgapfunds.org/
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, CIT, drug design, financing, nanotechinology, Parabon NanoLabs, Pharma, SEVC, Virginia
Posted in Money, Nanotech, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
 TOWSON, MD -Bringing NASA science down to earth, LeukoDx Inc., a company that is developing a hand held diagnostic device that can rapidly diagnose infections and other conditions, has raised an additional $115,000 in early stage equity. The company disclosed the funding in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
It nabbed $377,000 last fall.
The company evolved from NASA’s need for a hand held diagnostic device for its Mars mission. NASA funded two contracts for a project led by Acaltech scientist and one of LeukkoDx’s founders to develop the technology for the device.
The company’s point-of-care device provides quantitative information about white blood cell count, cell surface markers and plasma protein levels. It can help care providers establish that an infection is bacterial or viral and the extent of the infection.
While the cartridge-based system has many potential applications, LeukoDx focuses on identifying and characterizing infections, HIV progressing and other factors.
The disposable cartridge can perform a number of tests using a small quantity of blood and produces results in minutes
Contact Tech Journal South Editor and writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, diagnostic medical device, financing, LeukoDx, Mars Mission, Maryland, NASA
Posted in Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, June 21st, 2010
 WASHINGTON, DC – Despite the economic recession, America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies invested a record $65.3 billion on the research and development of medicines and vaccines in 2009. This represents an increase of more than $1.5 billion in R&D compared to 2008, according to Manufacturing Chemist.
An analysis was conducted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and U.S. life sciences venture capitalist Burrill & Company. PhRMA member companies alone invested $45.8 billion on research and development in 2009, while non-member companies invested approximately $19.5 billion, according to the report.
The research also found that, during the past nine years, U.S. pharmaceutical research companies have consistently invested approximately 18 percent of domestic sales on R&D.
There are currently more than 2,900 medicines in clinical trials or awaiting review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, compared with 2,400 in 2005. The current pipeline includes more than 800 medicines to treat cancer, more than 300 that are specific to rare diseases and more than 300 medicines for heart disease and stroke.
We suspect the amount invested in R&D suggests that companies are trying to build stronger pipelines of new drugs and treatments.
There are two strong reasons for this: older drugs lose patent protection and the U.S. population is aging and a huge market for new treatments for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and many lesser known ailments.
Tags: Biotech, Pharma, R&D, reports
Posted in Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, South Carolina, Studies, surveys, reports, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, June 18th, 2010
 Age-related Macular Degeneration ROANOKE, VA – OcuCure Therapeutics has raised $825,000 of a funding targeted at $5 million, according to a regulatory filing. The company is developing topical eye drops to treat Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Diabetic Retinopathy.
Investors in the company include The Carleton Biomedical Institute, and Newport Assets Inc.
The company previously raised a $1.5 million seed round followed by$881,000 in 2006 and $781,000 in 2007.
The company has an entirely new approach to treating wet AMD. AMD is caused by the formation of abnormal new blood vessels in the eye.
OcuCure’s drug, administered as topical eye drops, stops harmful new blood vessels from forming. Current treatments for AMD are not considered optimal.
The Carleton Institute says research results on OcCucure’s treatment have been very encouraging.
There are more than 200,000 new cases of AMD in the U.S. each year, representing a $1 billion a year market.
Tags: age-related macular degeneration, Biotech, Carleton Biomedical Institute, eye health, financing, OcuCure, Virginia
Posted in Money, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Tranzyme Pharma has inked a deal with Europe’s Norgine B.V. to develop a treatment for diseases affecting gastointestinal track muscles that could be worth up to $158 million. The venture-backed company receives an $8 million up front payment from Norgine and up to $150 million on achieving various milestones.
The compound, Tranzyme’s lead product ghrelin agonist ulimorelin (TZP-101) is in Phase III clinical trials.
The deal comes on the heels of Tranzyme’s deal with Bristo-Myers Squibb in December, potentially worth hundreds of millions.
Transzyme’s venture backers include H.I.G. Ventures, Quaker BioVentures, and Thomas, McNerney & Partners.
Tags: Biotech, development deal, NC, Norgine, Transzyme Pharma
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, June 14th, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – Kryosphere, a company providing cold storage of biomaterials and management of clinical trial samples, is closing a debt and equity financing of more than $750,000 from new and existing angel investors and KeySource Commercial Bank of Durham.
“The financing came together quickly and we were thrilled at the level of interest. In the end we were over-subscribed.” says Eric Hallman, CEO of Kryosphere. “Now we turn our focus to piloting this rocket ship. This financing also addresses the infrastructure requirements for a major biotech client which just signed a five year biomaterials management contract. And we’ll use these funds to tackle our growing customer pipeline.”
The company says it is seeing rapid growth in all three sectors of its business.
The biostorage component allows companies to shed the cost of maintaining infrastructure in-house and achieve the assurance that their samples are in the hands of biomaterials experts.
The moving of samples or entire sample collections requires specialized cold-chain logistical operations, a Kryosphere service unique in this region. Finally, the cold-chain management of clinical samples is now recognized as a critical aspect in optimizing clinical trials.
“It’s the Achilles heel of the entire process,” says Neil Jones, Vice President of Scientific Operations. “Kryosphere gets involved at the clinical sites to assure these valuable samples are handled properly and produce better clinical data.”
Tags: Biotech, Durham, financing, Kryosphere, NC, Pharma
Posted in Carolinas, Money, North Carolina | Comments Off
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