December 2009
BIOTECH PARK NEWS
Park Tenant, EnzySurge, Secures $2.5M in Private Capital
EnzySurge Ltd. (EnzySurge), a provider of innovative solutions for advanced chronic wound management, announced today that it successfully completed its latest round of funding of $2.5 million. The round was led by Eli Gilboa, CPA, of Gilboa & Licht, who serves as the company’s active chairman at a company valuation of $18.5 million. To date, the company has raised a total $10 million.
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Dominion GreenTech Incubator Opening Featured on YouTube
Dominion Resources announced a GreenTech Incubator to be opened in early 2010. The Incubator is a partnership with The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, Hanover County and the Town of Ashland. This video highlights the grand opening of the facility.
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Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator Will Lead Way to Sustainable Energy, Create Jobs
The Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator will help lead the way to a sustainable energy future and create jobs, Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dominion, said at the center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This work is very important to Dominion,” said Farrell. “Finding better energy alternatives is not an option for us. It is a priority. If a new technology has potential, it has Dominion’s interest. If we can marry new technologies for energy efficiency and generation to job creation, we will have achieved something important.”
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State Officials Discuss Life Science Policies at the Biotech Park
More than 140 bioscience leaders from across the Commonwealth of Virginia participated in the 2009 Virginia Bioscience Business Roundtable on December 17 at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in Richmond. The half-day conference was focused on the unique role the public sector plays in the development, growth and success of the life science industry. More than twenty speakers from government, industry, academia and economic development addressed topics such as technology-based economic development, the affect of healthcare reform on the bioscience industry and best practices for state-based bioscience public policy.
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The Park and Intelliject Featured on NPR for Sanofi Aventis Deal
David R. Lohr, Vice President of Business Development of Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, and Spencer Williamson, CEO of Intelliject, Inc., were featured on NPR on December 1, 2009 to discuss Intelliject’s new deal with sanofi-aventis U.S. and their history with the Park. Intelliject, Inc. recently announced an exclusive license with sanofi-aventis U.S. for a novel epinephrine auto-injector, in the U.S. and Canada territory. Under the license, sanofi-aventis U.S. will be responsible for manufacturing and commercialization. Intelliject will be responsible for the on-going development and for obtaining U.S. regulatory approval and has retained certain co-promotion rights in the territory.
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AWARDS, HONORS and GRANTS
Researcher honored by American Association for the Advancement of Science for Research, Educational Outreach and Professional Work
Alison Baski, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of the Department of Physics at Virginia Commonwealth University, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her research on the physics of semiconductors, dedication to teaching science and service to her institution and greater community.
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VCU Massey Cancer Center Researcher Receives National Cancer Institute Funding to Develop New Leukemia Treatment
An internationally renowned researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, Steven Grant, M.D., received a $1.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to partially fund a Phase I clinical trial for patients with acute forms of leukemia. The study will use two novel, targeted agents, belinostat and bortezomib, in combination. The goal is to develop a new therapeutic approach for treating acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemias; blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia; and myelodysplastic syndrome.
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VCU Massey Cancer Center Researchers Awarded Nearly $4 Million in Stimulus Funding from the National Institutes of Health
Twelve faculty researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center received nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funding from the National Institutes of Health for 13 research projects. The grants vary in size from $99,993 to $591,990 for a wide variety of projects ranging from clinical trials for leukemia to pre-clinical studies on a gene therapy for pancreatic cancer. Funding is from the American Recovery and Revitalization Act, federal legislation designed to stimulate the economy.
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NEWS and RESEARCH
VCU Medical Center Team Implants 25th Total Artificial Heart
The Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center has reached a milestone in artificial heart implant technology – transforming the life of its 25th patient – and the surgeon who launched the program at the VCU Medical Center says future patients can look forward to going home sooner. In the little more than three years since a cardiac surgery team at VCU performed the first artificial heart implant on the East Coast, the Pauley Heart Center has seen an 85-percent survival rate among patients who undergo the “bridge-to-transplant” procedure, and a more than 95 percent survival rate among those who are then transplanted with donor hearts.
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VCU Selected by Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Participate in National Science Education Experiment
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance has chosen Virginia Commonwealth University as one of 12 institutions to participate in a nationwide genomics research course for freshmen who will have the unique opportunity to engage in hands-on research. The project, the National Genomics Research Initiative, is a two-part, yearlong research course designed to enable students to contribute to a nationwide research study and to help prepare them for careers in science.
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