Life science start-up companies, event sponsors, researchers and educators received $3.58 million in loans and grants from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center during the final quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30.
The awards, in 14 programs, went to successful applicants across the state to support life science entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and education.
In total, NCBiotech provided 151 awards during fiscal 2013, worth more than $10.7 million. That compared to 127 awards the previous year, valued at just over $8.6 million.
NCBiotech has been awarding this type of funding since it was established in 1984. Such awards have helped North Carolina become the nation’s third-largest biotech cluster. There are now more than 500 life-science companies in the state, with more than 58,000 employees and an average salary exceeding $78,000.
The loans and grants from NCBiotech include:
$200,000 for Company Inception Loans
Four companies each received a $50,000 loan.
Chapel Hill-based agricultural biotechnology company Nova Synthetix will use the loan to help position it for additional financing. Its first product will be a castor variety from which the ricin seed toxin has been eliminated, enabling North American cultivation and increased production worldwide.
T3D Therapeutics, based in Research Triangle Park, is a startup company that is developing a transformational new therapy to treat Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system disorders. The company will use the funds to establish company operations and position the company for Series A financing.
bioMASON, which received temporary office space from NCBiotech before moving into RTP’s First Flight Venture Center, uses microorganisms to produce better, cleaner, and more cost effective cement-based building materials. The company will use Company Inception Loan funds for business development activities, prototype development and manufacturing scale-up.
BaseTrace, also based in RTP, is developing DNA tracers to monitor the underground flow of hydraulic fracturing fluid. The company will use the loan to continue development of its technology and to position itself to raise additional private funds.
$647,428 for Small Business Research Loans
Novocor Medical Systems (Chapel Hill) received a $75,000 loan to continue prototype development and to engage with potential customers for its portable device for inducing hypothermia in cardiac arrest patients.
Novametics (Durham) received $72,950 to develop blood coagulation assay kits based on proprietary technology licensed from UNC-Chapel Hill. Funds will be used for clinical testing of the company's two lead diagnostic products.
Oncotide Pharmaceuticals (RTP) received $250,000 to fund preclinical development of its lead compound, a new class of anti-cancer drugs targeting blood-based and solid cancers.
Physcient (Durham) received $249,478 to conduct advanced prototype development of its Differential Dissector, a handheld instrument for blunt dissection for use in a variety of open and endoscopic procedures.
$250,000 for a Strategic Growth Loan
BioKier, based in Chapel Hill, is developing novel therapeutic products for treating type 2 diabetes. The company will use its loan for a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of its lead product in diabetes patients.
$50,000 for a Technology Enhancement Grant
Henry Berger, Ph.D., of Duke University, received this grant to further develop a diagnostic device containing multiple chambers that can be simultaneously seeded with different human cell types to mimic various human organ systems. The funding supports proof-of-principle studies on using the system for drug toxicity testing, as required by several companies with potential interest in licensing the technology.
$495,930 for Biotechnology Research Grants
Dianne Walters, at East Carolina University, received $100,000 for a study that will use inhalation exposure of Carbon nanotubes (CNT) to determine appropriate mouse models and identify susceptibility genes involved in CNT-induced lung disease that may be investigated as therapeutic targets.
Jiahua (Jay) Xie, at North Carolina Central University, was awarded $99,560 for a project aimed at establishing a stable plant-based platform for expressing humanized glycoproteins that can be used as therapeutics. This project is expected to lead to an alternative and inexpensive way to produce humanized therapeutics.
Dennis LaJeunesse, at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, received $100,000 to identify and develop biologically-inspired nanotextured surfaces that prevent fungal adhesion, growth, and/or differentiation. The intent is to augment current drug/fungicide treatments and develop non-chemical methods of fungal control.
Maxwell Scott, at North Carolina State University, received $99,870 to develop an engineered strain of Spotted Wing Drosophila, a serious pest of berries that has recently invaded North Carolina and other states. Current control methods using synthetic insecticides are of limited effectiveness. Scott and his team propose to develop an engineered strain of SWD that could be used for genetic suppression of SWD populations in the field.
John Wiley, at ECU, received $96,500 to investigate ways to change tumor cells so that they show a foreign, non-human molecule called alphaGal on their surface. This surface molecule will enable the tumor cells to be detected and destroyed by the patient's own immune responses as a new type of cancer immunotherapy.
$600,000 for Collaborative Funding Grants
NCBiotech’s Collaborative Funding Grant program supports university-company partnerships that advance a company’s technology to the marketplace. Six of the grants were awarded, each for $100,000. They include:
John Michael Ramsey, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will work in partnership with Becton Dickinson and Company to develop a microfluidic device that uses enhanced capillary electrophoresis, a separation technique, to determine the levels of HbA1c, a form of hemoglobin that acts as a long-term indicator of blood glucose levels. This new point of care device provides rapid feedback for the diagnosis or follow-on care of diabetes and could help reduce the health care costs associated with the disease.
Joshua Grieger, also at UNC-Chapel Hill, will work on a project to support the development of a gene therapy program for Hemophilia A. University investigators, working in partnership with Asklepios Biopharmaceuticals, propose to generate and optimize various adeno-associated virus vectors that will safely deliver the therapeutic gene.
Elizabeth Loboa, at NCSU, will assist in developing a novel antimicrobial bandage to promote wound healing. This collaboration with Dow Chemical Company and NC-based LINC will result in commercial development of Silvadur ET into antimicrobial nanofibers optimized to heal wounds.
Sung Woo Kim, also at NCSU, will work on a project that will provide a feeding strategy to increase the use of plant-based feedstuffs in nursery pig diets, thereby reducing the use of animal-based feedstuffs. Enzymes will be used to break down compounds in plant-based feedstuffs that impair digestion and metabolism in nursery pigs. This will lead to a reduction in feed cost and meat safety concerns in pig farming.
Tyre Lanier, at NCSU, will work with Shure Foods to provide data needed to produce products of consistent quality despite variability in properties of incoming crabmeat. Shure Foods has patented technology to produce restructured, raw crabmeat products which can revive the N.C. crab fishery by lowering process costs and improving yields.
Kevin Anderson, also at NCSU, will work on a project to investigate the use of a rapid method for determining calf health based on a blood leukocyte differential. Calves with three common illnesses will be studied to determine if the method can detect ill animals and effectively improve health management of calves.
$12,000 for the Industrial Internship Program
The NCBiotech Industrial Internship Program provides three months of funding for students or recent graduates from North Carolina-based academic programs in business administration or the life sciences. These internships provide real-world work experience for the interns, critical to helping them transition from academia to careers in biotechnology. Each company was awarded $3,000 to help support its internship.
Details on the internships are available on an expanded article on the NCBiotech website. The following companies participated in this program this quarter:
· SciKon Innovation (Chapel Hill)
· The North Carolina Biosciences Organization (RTP
· Shure Foods (Greenville)
· LipoScience (Raleigh)
$98,238 for Summer Biotechnology Workshops for Educators
Details on each of the workshops are available on an expanded article on the NCBiotech website. This summer’s workshops included:
· Dennis Kubasko received $25,220 for the “Introductory Biotechnology Workshop for High School Teachers” at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
· Jennifer Rhode Ward received $24,768 for her “Stem Cells: Their Sources, Therapeutic Uses, and Societal Issues” workshop for high school and college instructors at the University of North Carolina Asheville.
· Jennifer Warner received $16,486 for a “Biotechnology Basics” workshop at UNC Charlotte.
· Jennifer Warner also received $20,295 for a “Microbial Magic” workshop for middle school teachers, held at UNC Charlotte.
· Emily Bloom received $11,469 for her workshop at Campbell University, “Gear Up! The Global Explosion of Antibiotic Resistance, How It Affects Public Health and How We Can Change It.”
$350,000 for a Center of Innovation Planning Grant
The award provides continued Phase II funding for the Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology (COIN). COIN, a valuable innovation management and commercialization agent for the nanobiotechnology community and state, fosters collaboration among universities statewide, creating a “one-stop” resource for industry-academic interactions in nanobiotechnology in North Carolina.
$75,000 for a Regional Development Grant
BioNetwork at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College was awarded this grant to establish the Western North Carolina Craft-Beverage Quality Control Initiative, a suite of affordable analytical services and laboratory resources to support quality control programs in the Western North Carolina craft-beverage industry. This effort represents a unique opportunity to create a regional resource with the potential to benefit all current and future North Carolina breweries.
$200,000 for an Industrial Development Grant
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Victoria Bautch, Ph.D., led a group of scientists awarded this grant for the purchase of a new confocal microscope system, which allows investigators studying the mechanisms of multiple diseases to image live cell and tissue behavior in both normal and diseased cells. This equipment will help researchers understand how cell and tissue behaviors are regulated and coordinated with cell cycle and cell signaling, leading to a better understanding of diseases such as cancer and polycystic kidney disease, and ultimately to the identification of new therapeutic targets.
$560,056 for Multidisciplinary Research Grants
Corbin Jones, of UNC-Chapel Hill, received $260,056 for research aimed at producing software to assemble the large amounts of DNA sequence data produced by high-throughput technology. This software will lead to a deeper understanding of the biology of disease and genetic disorders.
Robert Tarran, also of UNC-Chapel Hill, received $300,000 for the development of novel peptides to treat diseases of salt absorption. As a result of a gene defect, patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have thick mucus in their airways that is hard to clear, leaving their lungs prone to mucus plugging and infections. The thick mucus results from an imbalance in salt and water transport in their lungs. Investigators propose to develop novel peptides that can inhibit excessive salt absorption in CF airways to improve CF mucus hydration and prevent infection.
$15,169 for Biotechnology Event Sponsorships
$30,570 for Biotechnology Meeting Grants
Details on each of the event and meeting grants are available on an expanded article on the NCBiotech website.
NCBiotech is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business, education and strategic policy statewide.
Contact: Jim Shamp, director of public relations, at jim_shamp@ncbiotech.org or 919-541-9366. Visit the Biotechnology Center's website at www.ncbiotech.org.
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