Category: Finance

  • University to Build Toxic Gas Sensor for Firefighters

    Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a portable sensor that alerts firefighters to the presence of toxic gases in burning buildings. The $1 million award will support the work of researchers in WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments. The project…

  • Start-Up Gets Army Brain Injury Field Diagnostics Contract

    BrainScope Company Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland received a U.S. Army contract to develop a medical device to diagnose traumatic brain injuries in the field using smartphone-enabled technology. The $2.67 million contract with the four year-old company runs for two years. The award funds development of a device to help in the triage of patients in…

  • Study to Genetically Alter Algae for Faster Biofuel Output

    Biochemists and engineers at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station are researching the genetic characteristics of algae to produce a type of the organism that can quickly make fuel-grade oil in commercial quantities. The project that includes collaborators from Cornell University and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is funded by a $2 million…

  • Project to Study Light-Enabled Quantum Dot Circuits

    Researchers at Tampere University of Technology in Finland are developing a new process for designing and fabricating logic circuits that consume no current and can be read and written with light. The four-year, €1.6 million ($US 2.1 million) study is funded by the Academy of Finland, the country’s main science agency. The project draws on…

  • Drug Discovery Company Lands Venture Funds, Licensing Deal

    Vascular Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug discovery company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, secured $16 million in series A funds, the first round of financing after start-up. The company, a developer of drugs to treat complications of diabetes, also signed a licensing agreement for its lead compound with Janssen Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson.…

  • Early-Stage Biomedical Accelerator Gains $21M Initial Funding

    BioMotiv, a Cleveland company supporting early-stage medical research for commercial development into therapies, secured $21 million in its first financing round. The funds are being provided by BioMotiv’s founding investors, University Hospitals health care system in northeast Ohio and the Harrington Family of Hudson, Ohio, a supporter of translational biomedical research. The company provides financing…

  • University Consortium to Research Nanotech Health Monitors

    North Carolina State University in Raleigh will lead a group of universities in the U.S., Australia, and Asia to develop self-powered health monitoring sensors and devices. Some 30 industry partners are expected to join the five-year, $18.5 million consortium, known as the Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST), and funded…

  • Biopharma Start-Up Secures $27 Million in Venture Funding

    Aerpio Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company in Cincinnati, closed a $27 million series A financing deal, the first round of funding after initial start-up. The round was led by Novartis BioVentures with Venture Investors LLC, Triathlon Medical Ventures, Kearny Venture Partners, Athenian Venture Partners, and AgeChem Venture Fund. The company began in January 2012 as a…

  • University to Develop, Commercialize HIV/AIDS Nanomedicines

    Researchers at University of Liverpool in the U.K. are developing nanoscale therapies to treat HIV and AIDS, and collaborating with a company to take the drugs to market. The project is funded by a £1.65 million ($US 2.61 million) grant from the U.K.’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The aim of the project is…

  • Janssen Licenses Biotech’s Antibody for Multiple Myeloma

    Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a division of Johnson & Johnson in Horsham, Pennsylvania, agreed to license a cancer drug targeting multiple myeloma made by biotechnology company Genmab A/S in Copenhagen, Denmark. The agreement has a total potential value of $1.1 billion from upfront, milestone, and royalty payments, as well as an equity investment in Genmab. The…