Virginia BioTechnology Research Park Companies Receive Over $1.3 Million In Federal Grants
For Immediate Release
November 4, 2010
Richmond, VA- Four companies and one graduate company of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park were awarded more than $1.3 million in federal tax credits and grants yesterday as part of the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Tax Credit Program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Institutes of Health. The tenant and graduate companies awarded were Ceres Nanosciences; GPB Scientific, LLC; Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. ; Intelliject Inc. ; and Molecules for Health, Inc.
“We are pleased to see companies that are located in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, or were started in the Park, receiving these awards,” said Robert T. Skunda, President and CEO of the Park. “These Awards will help these companies fund additional research, driving toward new therapies and discoveries, as well as adding jobs which will further build our biotech cluster in Greater Richmond”.
The announcement of the awards was made on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 in Washington, D.C. by Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius who were also joined by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to announce the recipients of the $1 billion in new therapeutic discovery project credits.
“The Therapeutic Discovery Credit provides America’s most advanced, cutting-edge companies critical resources to invest in research, purchase new equipment and to hire more people,” said Mark A. Herzog, executive director of the Virginia Biotechnology Association (VaBIO). “Virginia bioscience companies focusing on new cures and therapies to help solve the most challenging unmet medical needs are benefiting greatly from this program.”
The therapeutic discovery project program is targeted to projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies, address unmet medical needs, reduce the long-term growth of health care costs, or advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years. The allocation of the credit also reflects which projects show the greatest potential to create and sustain high-quality, high-paying jobs in the United States and to advance our competitiveness in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences. Today, the biotechnology industry employs 1.3 million workers, and the industry continues to be a key growth engine for the economy.
The credit covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying biomedical research and is only available to firms with fewer than 250 employees. To provide an immediate boost to U.S. biomedical research and the small businesses that conduct it, the credit is effective for investments made in 2009 and 2010. Firms could opt to receive a grant instead of a tax credit, so start-ups that are not yet profitable can benefit as well.
In Virginia, a total of 57 projects at 45 companies will receive over $11 million in funding through the program. Several companies were awarded for multiple projects, including Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. who was awarded two grants. The clinical diagnostic laboratory based in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park was awarded a quarter of a million each for “High Density Lipoprotein Associated Apolipoprotein E Quantitation” as well as for “Vitamin and Mineral Testing for Nutritional Status”.
Park graduate, Intelliject, Inc., was awarded nearly a quarter million in tax credits for it’s project labeled “Intelliject Auto-Injector for Epinephrine and Other Therapeutic Drugs”. Chris Schools, Chief Financial Officer of Intelliject, Inc. said, “we are pleased that Intelliject’s pioneering work was recognized through what we understand was a very competitive and highly oversubscribed program. The credit will help reduce our taxable income and support our continuing efforts to develop patient-centric drug/device combination products designed to meet the needs of patients in multiple therapeutic areas.”
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), supported by more than 40 state bioscience affiliate organizations, was instrumental in advocating for the program and is now encouraging policy-makers to renew the program for another year. Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of BIO said, “We now call on Congress and the Administration to work together to extend and expand the Therapeutic Discovery Project to support continued American innovation and accelerate the development of life-saving cures.”
Contact
Courtney L. Skunda
Marketing and Communications Manager
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: 804-827-2137
Email: cskunda@vabiotech.com
