News

Money may not make the world go round, but it does keep companies innovating. The Small Business & Technology Development Center has made formal a longstanding relationship with BBCetc., an Ann Arbor-based development consulting company with a specialty in helping businesses secure federal grant funding for commercialization and growth.

The partnership will utilize BBCetc.’s extensive background in federal research grant proposals with the SBTDC’s statewide organization and presence to assist companies with writing proposals specifically for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer federal research grants.

by Joseph P. Allen and Diane Palmintera

The Final ReportOn May 20, 2013, the White House Lab-To-Market Inter-Agency Summit was held in Washington, D.C. The Summit was organized by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Institutes of Health’s Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The purpose of the meeting was extraordinary: asking national experts outside of the federal agency system to recommend ways to increase the return-on-investment for the $140 billion annual taxpayer expenditure on federally-funded research and development.

The format for the meeting also was unusual. Research agencies nominated 20 national experts experienced in various phases of technology commercialization to participate in the Summit. The Administration placed no preconditions or limitations on the expert Panel and asked it to focus on “transformative” ideas. We were privileged to be asked to serve as the Summit’s co-chairs.

The Administration requested that the Panel address several overarching questions:

• How can agencies better align themselves to more effectively promote the commercial development of their research;
• How can effective metrics for various stages of these efforts be developed; and
• How can we better leverage multi-agency resources to enhance the public’s return-on-investment through the commercialization of more federally-funded technologies?
  

GlaxoSmithKline’s new $50 million venture capital fund will be based out of the One Broadway building in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, inside an office of SR One, the drug giant’s corporate VC arm, a GSK spokesperson said.

The 16-floor One Broadway building also houses the Cambridge Innovation Center startup offices across a number of its floors, as well as venture capital firms Charles River Ventures and Highland Capital Partners.

About one year ago GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) set up a division to study the electrical impulses along the peripheral nervous system and develop technologies to read, change, or manipulate these impulses to treat acute and chronic diseases. Now it’s launched a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in companies with pioneering technology in this emerging field of bioelectronics, according to a company statement.

The Action Potential Venture Capital fund, which will be based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, takes its name from the electrical signals that pass along the nerves in the body. Problems with the patterns of these impulses are associated with a broad range of diseases.

Proof of Concept grants are intended to enhance the commercial viability of health-related technologies or concepts developed by non-profit organizations or enhance the competitiveness of early-stage companies for private equity investment. The maximum award is $250,000 in total costs.

Submission and review process:

• Three cycles of pre-proposal review, proposal review, and awards by the LSDF Board of Trustees through August 2014. Up to 32 pre-proposals will be reviewed per cycle. 
• Pre-proposals are reviewed every four months and require a presentation and interview. 
• Invited proposals are due one month after pre-proposal reviews and reviewed the following month. Proposal reviews require a presentation and interview. 
• Awards are made one month after proposal reviews. 
• If a pre-proposal results in an invitation to submit a proposal, that invitation is valid only for the proposal deadline immediately following the pre-proposal review.

When PharmAthene Inc. merges with Seattle-based Theraclone Sciences Inc., it will become part of a company that has the kind of deal with Big Pharma any drug discovery firm would envy.

Theraclone has a multimillion dollar research and development deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. that could be worth as much as $632 million in license, royalty and other payments to the combined company. Theraclone and PharmAthene are entering into an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will trade publicly.

The Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination (OTAC) in the Division of Extramural Research Activities (DERA), NHLBI is seeking outstanding candidates for the Business Development Specialist (Health Scientist Administrator) position. The OTAC is charged with accelerating the translation of basic discoveries and innovations into new diagnostics, devices, and therapeutics, and facilitating the development of new technologies via Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initiatives. The Office facilitates identification of emerging areas of translational opportunities and provides functional integration by developing interdependent teams that leverage resources and intellect across the NHLBI, and with other NIH Institutes, agencies, and organizations. The OTAC enhances communication and coordination between existing programs, develops and coordinates strategic initiatives and Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), and identifies and capitalizes on synergies to meet and enhance program goals. For more information about the OTAC, please visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/dera/otac.

The Business Development Specialist will be responsible for the evaluation of the scientific and technological novelty, business opportunity potential and commercialization merits for research projects in the NHLBI SBIR/STTR portfolio as well as other initiatives in the OTAC.  Responsibilities of the position include activities such as portfolio management assistance; drafting solicitations; evaluating the effectiveness of short and long-term SBIR projects, providing advice to the OTAC Director and NHLBI senior-level scientists regarding strategic SBIR technology development; establishing internal and external contacts to foster the development of programs and identification of opportunities for SBIR technology research support and collaboration; facilitating scientific collaborations between NHLBI, NIH, DHHS and other Federal agencies, industry and the private sector; and building public-private partnerships to ensure best practices and exchange information.

Leggett Joins O’Malley/Brown Administration in Announcing $630 Million Investment in County’s Transportation Network; Governor Also Announces Additional $400 Million for Construction of Purple Line for Montgomery and Prince George’s

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett today joined Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown during their announcement that Montgomery County will be receiving $628 million in transportation investments and an additional $400 million for construction of the Purple Line that will benefit both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Brown also announced that the Purple Line will be built as a public-private partnership under HB 560, the law he championed to attract private investment for new infrastructure in Maryland.

It isn’t just the volume of IPOs this summer that makes this window a victory for hibernating private biotechs and their VC backers, it’s the details of the offerings in terms of price, performance, and type of biotech making the leap onto the public stage. For the last five years we have not seen average offering prices land above expectations, but 2013 is breaking that trend. Price performance is also impressive, with a number of IPOs hovering near 2x the offering price. Rounding out these two positives for valuation is the return of the formerly taboo Phase I and Pre-Clinical IPOs – a qualitative signal of strength.