Category: MIT
At two-year mark, state’s Life Sciences Initiative provides strong return on investment
Waltham, MA – The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is providing a $50,000 grant to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative to support an initiative aimed at strengthening the state’s biomanufacturing sector through a Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Roundtable and the development of a comprehensive Biomanufacturing action agenda during the 2010 calendar year. The Biomanufacturing Roundtable includes participation from influential life sciences, biomanufacturing, academic, and government leaders, including Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO, Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister. The Roundtable is co-chaired by Taligen Therapeutics CEO Abbie Celniker, Acceleron Pharma Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Bob Steininger, and former Pfizer Vice President Mickey Koplove.
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center co-sponsors contest and contributes to prize
Cambridge, MA - Aukera Therapeutics has been named the 2010 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition Life Sciences Track Winner. Aukera also won the Audience Choice Award, based on voting by the 1,000 attendees at the Competition’s finale. The company will receive $30,000 in start-up funding from the competition. Also receiving awards were runner-up Invitronix ($5,000) and second runner-up Hydrangle Systems ($3,000). The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with implementing the State’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, contributed $10,000 to support the life sciences track. The Cambridge Innovation Center will be providing the finalists with in-kind support, including workspace.
The Center’s Flagship Investment Program provides working capital to early-stage companies
For Immediate Release: Date: February 24, 2010
Contact: Angus G. McQuilken, MLSC VP for Communications
Phone: (617) 921-7749 Email: amcquilken@masslifesciences.com
Waltham, MA – The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center today approved the launch of the 2010 Accelerator Loan Program, the second year of the Center’s flagship investment program that provides working capital to early-stage life sciences companies. The Center will begin accepting online applications on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 with an application deadline of Wednesday, March 24, 2010. A subsequent round will be conducted in the fall, with application dates to be announced. Applications will be accepted via the Center’s web site at www.masslifescience.com.
The Program has been capitalized with $5.5 million for 2010. This year’s program will offer loans of up to $750,000 per company, an increase from the 2009 maximum loan amount of $500,000. The Program seeks to “de-risk” start-up companies that are in need of financing to serve as flexible working capital or for the purchase of capital assets to help selected companies achieve product development milestones and obtain private investment. In addition, the loan terms will now include a warrant which will give the Center the right to purchase equity in the company at a specific price within a certain time frame.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Tracey Rice
Ligon Discovery
(617) 453-0952
press@ligondiscovery.com
Broad Institute Spinout is Pursuing Drugs for Intractable Disease Targets
The University of Utah operates a 320 Acre research park in Salt Lake City that is home to over 40 companies and close to 70 academic departments. The Park is associated with a number of departments within the university that are focused on creating new businesses based on technology developed at the University.
The University of Utah Office of Technology Venture Development (Tech Ventures) promotes commercial initiatives within the university and supports the Pierre Lessonde Entrepreneur Center, The Technology Commercialization Office and its Venture Bench business accelerator, and The Bureau of Economic Business Research. Tech Ventures just released its 2009 Annual Report detailing the numerous successes of the Tech Ventures program.
Three additional awards brings second round to nearly $2 million
Waltham, MA – The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has completed its second round of New Investigator Matching Grants by awarding $600,000 to three Harvard-affiliated researchers. These grants supplement the $1,380,256 awarded last month to seven other young scientists. The Center’s New Investigator Grants advance the careers of New Investigators who are working on innovative life sciences research at Massachusetts research institutions.
University Park at MIT is located adjacent to the campus of The Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy (MIT). The University Park at MIT is situated on 27 acres and houses more than 1.5 million square feet of research facilities.
In addition to the 10 research and office buildings, The University Park is the Boston extension of Forest City Enterprises. Forest City is know for their ability to integrate mixed use facilities, including: Hotels, Residential units, and commercial amenities.
Last month The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center celebrated it's one year anniversary. On June 16,
the day of the anniversary I caught up with
President and CEO Susan Windham-Bannister and The Center’s VP for Communications Angus McQuilken to talk about this past year and what is planned for next year.
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act,
a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community.
For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
One of the greatest challenges facing the new biotech economy is advancing on the foundation of a solid workforce. One of the strongest supporting factors for developing and enhancing an industrial cluster is the steady production and recruitment of skilled applicants for employment. This issue has become increasingly apparent in today’s economic climate where unemployment is reaching an unprecedented high and many potential employers are unable to fill key positions. Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) has proposed a solution to this dilemma. The Internship Challenge will place 100 local college students with a company or research lab in their field of interest. The intern gets a mentor, and a glimpse of the life of a researcher and the host institution gets not just an open position filled for the summer but the chance to link with a professional for a lifetime. The launch of the first ever Internship Challenge will be held Monday June 1, at 10:00 a.m. located at Nine Cambridge Center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA at The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
When starting a company there are a number of factors to consider including:
• Access to capital.
• Local incentives for industry.
• A community with a trained workforce.
• Space that will meet your company’s requirements.
• A product with a competitive advantage.
The availability of a skilled workforce is right below getting the funds to build your business.
The MLSC’s Internship Challenge is a workforce development program enhancing the ability of job market talent in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is at the top of life science clusters in the world with Institutions such as MIT, Harvard University, University of Massachusetts, Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, and large life science firms such as Genzyme, InVivo Therapuetics, New England Peptides, and New England Biolabs. With so many highpoints in the local economy located in the spectrum of the life sciences, it is critical that Massachusetts ensures a steady output of trained, skilled professionals ready to meet the demands of tomorrow’s economy.
Since the announcement of the Center’s Life Sciences Internship Challenge in March, over 500 applicants have submitted requests for placement in the program. Additionally, more than 70 research institutions and companies have committed involvement in the program. As a result, more than 70 applicants have been placed with mentors for this summer. MLSC is holding a launch event for the Internship Challenge Monday June 1, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge.
The Internship Challenge is open to any student that is a resident of Massachusetts or enrolled full time in a four year college or university located in Massachusetts and majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics. The intern receives a $4,800 stipend for 8 weeks this summer while working with a host company that will provide a dedicated mentor, and meaningful internship opportunity. The need for increased internship opportunities was identified as a key finding in a recent study jointly released by MLSC and The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. It is the hope of the Center that this program will continue to inspire interest in the sciences and attract further industry development in the Massachusetts burgeoning life sciences industry.
The launch event will go from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Remarks will be provided by internship sponsors, including InVivo Therapeutics President & CEO Frank Reynolds, New England Peptide CEO Dave Robinson, NP Medical Inc. President Boris Levin, and Jane Staples, Director of Cooperative Education & Internship Programs at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. An expert panel will then answer questions submitted by the students. This session will be led by MLSC President and CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, with panelists including MLSC Scientific Advisory Board Chairman Harvey Lodish, former Vertex Pharmaceuticals President & CEO and MLSC Board member Joshua Boger, Cytonome Inc. CEO and MLSC Board Member Lydia Villa-Komaroff, and Carmichael Roberts, Partner at North Bridge Venture Partners specializing in investments in the life sciences.
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community.
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a leading, nonprofit research and educational institution that has defined the cutting edge of biomedical science, creating a legacy of research excellence and academic eminence since 1982. Wholly independent in its governance, finances and research programs, Whitehead shares a teaching affiliation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), offering the intellectual, collegial and scientific benefits of a leading research university.
Additional articles on the subject.
*Updated 7/21/09
