Category: Finance
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FDA Grant Funds Georgetown University Regulatory Center [Updated]
Update, 26 October 2011: A similar center of excellence will be established at University of Maryland in College Park, also funded by a $1 million FDA grant. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. will establish a Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), with initial funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The…
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Fund to Back Independent, Early Stage Science Companies
Entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel has started Breakout Labs, a funding source to help independent scientists and early-stage companies develop their most radical ideas. Thiel announced Breakout Labs last night at a meeting of Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students in California. Thiel aims to provide financing for visionaries whose ideas are too ahead of…
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Contract Awarded to Test Nerve-Agent Protection Drug
An NIH program to develop countermeasures against chemical weapons has awarded a contract to a University of Colorado researcher to evaluate a commercial drug’s ability to protect against nerve agents. The $736,000 contract from NIH’s Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Research Network to Manisha Patel (pictured left), at University of Colorado’s School of Pharmacy in…
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U.S. Venture Investments Up in Q3, Science Companies Mixed
Dow Jones VentureSource reports that venture capital (VC) investment in the U.S. rose in the third quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, including the number and size of deals and investment volume. Among science-based companies, medical device and energy companies gained in investment deals and volume. Among biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the number of deals…
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NSF Grant to Fund Savannah River Water Quality Monitors
Clemson University in South Carolina says it received a grant to develop a computerized water-quality technology for the entire length of the Savannah River. The four-year grant, exceeding $3 million, is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Computer and Network Systems. The system is expected to cover a network of buoys (pictured left)…
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Investment Fund to Back Health Cost-Cutting Technologies
The West Health Investment Fund, an angel capital enterprise in San Diego, unveiled its first set of investments and plans to support other entrepreneurs developing health care technologies and services designed to lower the cost of health care. Gary and Mary West, who established the fund, expect to invest $100 million in early-stage companies. The…
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ARPA-E Grant Funds Development of Univ. Oil Plant Research
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. in Davis, California has received a $950,000 grant to develop technology that helps plants produce high levels of oil in their leaves and stems. That technology is based on research conducted at nearby University of California – Davis. Vegetable oil is the most concentrated source of energy made by plants, but is…
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Diagnostics Start-Up Closes $33.5M Early-Stage Financing
Foundation Medicine Inc., a developer of cancer genome diagnostics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has expanded its early stage financing to $33.5 million, adding new venture investors. The additional financing is expected to help the company continue its research work on cancer diagnostic tests. The new funding from Google Ventures and venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield…
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Institute to Open Innovation Process, Boost Funding Odds
The Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis plans to adopt practices from the business world to conduct more innovative medical research and improve the odds of getting their studies funded. The institute, on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine and focuses on medical informatics, aging,…
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Venture Firm Raises $440 Million for Life Sciences
Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital (VC) company in Menlo Park, California says it has completed raising funds for its next round of investments in life sciences companies. The fund, Sofinnova Venture Partners VIII, has collected or has commitments totaling $440 million. Sofinnova says it plans to invest the funds primarily in later stage health care…