It's not very often, I think, that you see higher ed officials put pride and bureaucracy to the side to work together on a project that is beneficial to students and the community.

In this case, I'm talking about the Life Sciences Institute, which opened its doors at the University of Maryland's BioPark on the west side of Baltimore.

The LSI is run by the Baltimore City Community College, though its new home is in the University of Maryland Baltimore's research park.

UMB wants to make the BioPark a "one-stop shop" for the biotech industry. Bringing in a program such as BCCC's LSI that could train a workforce of biotech workers was instrumental to UMB's long-term goal of offering it all -- from startup companies to research labs to students in training -- under one large roof.

On a recent tour, I saw earnest students working in labs and sitting in lectures in classrooms on the floor of the LSI.

There are jobs to be had in this field, and companies and research facilities are constantly soaking up trained and competent workers in the region, I was told by the LSI's director, Dr. Kathleen Kennedy Norris.

For more, check out my story today on the program and some of the people in it.

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BioTech
        

Today, I wrote about BioMarker Strategies: how they got their start and how well they've been doing recently.

I love telling startup stories because it allows me to get close to people's hopes and dreams, and I see the passion that drives them forward each and everyday. (That's one reason I started the "Startup Tuesday" feature here on BaltTech.)

I saw this entrepreneurial spirit in CEO Karen Olson (middle front) and president Scott Allocco (right), when I met with them on Monday. They posed in a photo I took with three other researchers.

It's no small feat that they attracted the attention of Baltimore's Abell Foundation, which made a significant investment in their company recently.  

BioMarker wants to build a faster test for diagnosing cancerous tumors. Their test would take hours instead of weeks, and guide doctors on the best type of drug therapy to use for each patient. Pretty cool stuff.

Do you know a startup that's been doing well lately? Drop a note in the comments below!

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BioTech, Startups
        

You may recall the scene in The Empire Strikes Back (still my favorite Star Wars film), where Luke lost part of his arm in a duel with Darth Vader -- only to have it later replaced with a cool prosthetic. (Left, photo of the movie prop at a Star Wars show in Portland, OR, by The Kozy Shack via Flickr.com) 

Ah, Hollywood.

But you may not know that the federal government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (aka DARPA) has been funding the real-life development of next-generation prosthetics that one day will make the Luke arm a reality.

Ah, DARPA.

What's cool about this project is that part of it is being developed right here in Maryland, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel (of course it is.)

An article today in TechNewsWorld recaps the progress of the project, quoting Stuart Harshbarger, biomedicine team leader at Hopkins's APL and project manager for the DARPA effort.

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Big Ideas, BioTech
        

Last week here, I wrote about a rush of small Maryland start-up biotech companies to get in line for a generous state tax credit that was available for investors in the nascent industry. ("Maryland biotech companies crazy for tax credits!")

An Italian biotech consultant saw my post and was shocked -- shocked! -- by what we were doing here in Baltimore, Md. She wanted to know more. (She shot me an email. You'll see it below.)

To quickly recap: biotech companies started lining up Friday morning at the University of Maryland's BioPark in Baltimore to wait in line. The tax credits are doled out by the state every year on a first-come/first-served basis. Last I heard yesterday, 17 companies had stationed representatives in line, in an auditorium at the BioPark, to camp out for five days -- just so they could submit their applications for the tax credit this morning at 9 a.m. (I'm still waiting for the final headcount on how many submitted today.)

Several of the company reps I interviewed lauded the state for offering big tax breaks to drive investment in biotech here. One company, Noxilizer, told me how they were able to attract investors who live in other states, because of the tax credit. Few states have anything like this "Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit" program to kickstart the biotech industry, they told me.

About $36 million has gone into funding biotech startups over the past three years -- with half of it tax-free for investors, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

What's happening in the state's biotech industry will eventually come under more scrutiny in the future (Gov. O'Malley has a Bio202 initiative to build up the industry over the next 10 years), as the public, politicians and business leaders will expect concrete results after all this investment, including new job creation and blockbuster products. (Mary Spiro ponders this future in her post on Maryland biotech's "boom or bust.")

Now, for the email from Valeria Spagnoli, a self-described biotech consultant in Italy who wants some more insight from biotech companies in Maryland on how they're going about getting funding from the state. Who wants to help her with her questions?

Hi,

Thank you so much for your kind reply!
Have a nice day!
Valeria

P.S. to Valeria: As my full story points out, there's only a limited pool of money -- $6 million this year -- so once it runs out, no one can get more funding. Each investor is entitled up to $250,000 in tax credits and no company can claim more than 15 percent of the total tax credit pool of $6 million. That said, there are some other nuances that maybe others closer to the process can jump in and explain for all of us.

(Published June 1, 2009)

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BioTech, Entrepreneurs & Risk Takers, Startups, Venture Cap
        

UPDATE: Here's my full story online. 

Dateline: University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore.

Maybe we should call this MarylandBiotechapalooza?! Or is this a reality-TV show just waiting to be made?

Here's the scene: Five days of start-up biotech companies. Together in one room. Vying for a piece of $6 million in tax credits.

Starting July 1st, the state of Maryland is opening up their Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credits program to applicants.

Last year, companies that wanted a piece of the tax-credit pie started lining up the day before, and camped out on a Baltimore street for the night.

This year, they started lining up TODAY -- that's FIVE days ahead of the program's opening for this year.

Right now, I'm in a conference room at the University of Maryland's BioPark in downtown Baltimore, where a bunch of start-up biotech execs are hanging out.

They started lining up at 10 a.m. There's coffee, soda and pizza in a room with a bunch of tables and chairs. And people are hunkering down for the long haul.

Most will cover the five-day wait in shifts, getting co-workers and others to spell them.

 So what is this all about? One word: Money.

Here are the basics: Since 2006, Maryland's been handing out a 50 percent tax credit to investors who pump money into start-up biotech companies. You can get up to a $250K credit. And one company can have up to 15 percent of the pool of tax credit money applied to them, according to state law. Here's the catch: the tax credits are given to investors on a "first come, first serve" basis, per state law -- and these little companies go wait in line for their investors.

The state tax-credit pool of money this year is $6 million. So, potentially, one or a few of these start-ups could entice investors to pump up to $1.8 million into their companies, with half being returned to investors via a refund. (Out-of-state investors can get this credit, too.) That seems like a pretty good proposition, especially in this economy. The state Department of Business and Economic Development will start accepting applications July 1, at 9 a.m.

I think everybody here was pretty surprised to see each other lining up so early. But you know who got here first? Scott Allocco, president of Baltimore-based BioMarker Strategies LLC, at 10 a.m. today.

Once people saw Scott lining up, others followed. (That's BioMarker CEO Karen Olson taking over for Scott late in the day today.) Nice job, Steve. 

I'll have a story in tomorrow's paper about what's going on here. In the meantime, I'm hoping some of the biotech companies in the room keep us updated on how they're faring this weekend. Drop us a line. We're hoping the vibe is more Woodstock than Big Brother (you know, that reality TV show.)

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: BioTech
        

Just got the news that Maryland's Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) awarded $599,934 in funding through a partnership through Fort Detrick (under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command) and the Frederick County Office of Economic Development.

Check out the jump to find the list of companies -- each of which received a $50,000 infusion over the past year -- and a description of what they're developing. It's an interesting mix of work.

Continue reading "Maryland's latest funding for military/biotech-related companies" »

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BioTech, Government Tech, Research