Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF) Awards Nearly $2 Million to Bioscience Projects

News provided by

Connecticut Innovations

Aug 05, 2014, 14:00 ET


Rocky Hill, Conn. (PRWEB) August 05, 2014 -- Connecticut Innovations (CI), the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut's innovative, growing companies, today announced that the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF) has awarded nearly $2 million dollars of funding intended to speed commercializable bioscience breakthroughs toward the market.

“The projects that will receive funding demonstrated the potential to develop technologies that could be commercialized and could greatly enhance their respective industries,” said Jeremy Crisp, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Connecticut Innovations. “We were extremely pleased with the high-caliber applicants and look forward to reviewing and evaluating the next round in coming weeks.”

The projects that received funding in the first wave, which vary in description and investment type and are subject to certain conditions, include:

  • Dura Biotech: This project aims to open up a new market segment for transcatheter aortic valve replacement by offering a significantly lower diameter crimped-delivery profile valve. The funding will support valve fabrication and evaluation as well as an animal study. Dura Biotech will receive $400,368 in project funding.
  • Yale (Dr. Demetrios Braddock): This project will conduct a proof-of-concept study validating a novel therapeutic for the treatment of a fatal orphan disease that results in heart failure and cardiac arrest. Patients with the ultra-rare disease are currently without treatment options. Yale will receive $500,000 in project funding.
  • UConn (Dr. Quing Zhu): This project involves the development of a handheld near-infrared imager as an add-on unit to commercial ultrasound systems for use in breast imaging. The device is intended to help predict and assess neoadjuvant chemotherapy response. UConn will receive $500,000 in project funding.
  • CaroGen Corporation: This project focuses on the advancement of a vaccine platform technology, based on a self-replicating virus-like vesicle (VLV) system developed at Yale University School of Medicine. CaroGen’s first product is a therapeutic Hepatitis B vaccine for chronically infected patients. With more than 350 million infected individuals worldwide, Hepatitis B is a global epidemic. The VLV technology has the potential to be broadly applicable to infectious disease and cancer. CaroGen Corporation will receive $500,000 in project funding to support its Hepatitis B vaccine program.

The Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF), legislation signed by Governor Dannel P. Malloy in 2013, seeks to drive innovation in the biosciences throughout Connecticut by providing focused financial assistance to startups, early-stage businesses, non-profits and accredited colleges and universities.

Connecticut Innovations manages the $200 million fund, which will make investments over the next 10 years in the form of grants, equity investments, loans and loan guarantees to foster innovation.

Connecticut-based nonprofit corporations, accredited colleges and universities, and for-profit startup or early-stage businesses working in bioscience, biomedical engineering, health information management, medical care, medical devices, medical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, personalized medicine or other related disciplines are eligible to apply.

For full criteria and guidelines, please visit http://www.ctinnovations.com/cbif. For additional questions regarding the application process, please contact: cbifinfo(at)ctinnovations(dot)com.

About Connecticut Innovations Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut's innovative, growing companies. To maximize the growth potential of each business, CI tailors its solutions and often combines its funds with resources from other financial leaders to provide venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies; flexible loans for established companies with new innovations; grants that support innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. Through all these initiatives, CI has helped bring $4 billion in financing to Connecticut companies. The state’s most active early-stage investor, CI has created more than 26,000 jobs. For more information on CI, please visit http://www.ctinnovations.com.

Lauren Carmody, Connecticut Innovations, +1 860.258.7829, [email protected]