Issue 3  Volume 3 December 19, 2006

 

Bullish on Biotech

 

Richmond biotech start-ups are attracting venture capital from Silicon Valley, validating the region's emergence as an up-and-coming biotech center.

 

 

by Peter Galuszka

 

Like the life processes it seeks to understand and harness, the biotechnology industry grows in fits and starts. The late 1990s were boom years for biotech as venture capitalists funneled billions of dollars into the sector, but they were followed by several years of retrenchment. Now biotech appears to be in vogue again -- and Greater Richmond's life sciences sector is a beneficiary.

 

BioTech Center and BioTech One

Three Richmond firms snared a total of $28 million in venture capital funding this year. Leading the local list of VC funding are CellPoint Diagnostics and its sister firm Living Microsystems, which won $26 million in finance rounds this fall

between the two of them. Another firm, Vital Sensors Inc., is being awarded $2 million in venture capital funding.

 

The come-back in VC funding highlights the fact that Greater Richmond's biotech sector, once confined mainly to academic research at Virginia Commonwealth University and a handful of corporate labs, has reached the stage of development where it is spitting out new businesses and is attracting national notice. Richmond still may be a relatively small player in the national biotech scene, but it's growing, says David Lohr, executive director at the Virginia Biosciences Development Center. “I have a very bullish opinion on what [the venture funding] means.” 

 

All three companies that snagged VC financing this year are housed in the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in downtown Richmond, a sprawling complex of private life sciences operations and government labs. One of the park's missions is to incubate firms in early stages of development just like Living MicroSystems, CellPoint and Vital Sensors.

 

Biotech/life sciences companies in the Greater Richmond region managed to attract $36 million in venture funding in 2000. Following the bust of the national high-tech market, such funding in the area dropped to $3.2 million in 2002, according to figures from the National Venture Capital Association. More.

Mike Grisham faced a choice in 2001: Virginia or Massachusetts.

Considering he had licensed technology from researchers in the Boston area, it would make sense to open a new company in Beantown, considered one of the top regions for scientific study.

But his wife had family in Virginia.

Plus, Grisham jokes, it cost less to rent an office in Richmond than it did a parking space in Boston.

"One of the reasons we started the company in Richmond was the economic benefits," said Grisham, president and chief executive of Living MicroSystems Inc., which is developing a blood test for genetic abnormalities in unborn babies.

Living MicroSystems has chosen to make its home among the handful of private and public entities at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, a 34-acre campus north of Broad Street with nearly 1.1 million square feet of office and lab space -- about the size of Short Pump Town Center. More.

Stem-cell Work at VCU

Scientists are hoping to learn to control functioning.

by A.J. Hostetler

Times-Dispatch Writer

 

Virginia Commonwealth University scientists plan to "pop the hood" of human embryonic stem cells to understand how to control the function of the high-performance cells.

 

Although relatively little is known about how to control stem cells' incredible capability to develop into all the cells of the body, scientists are racing to use them to treat numerous diseases, such as diabetes and Parkinson's, or restore motor function.

 

Dr. Michael Peters, a stem cell researcher, in his lab at VCU. BOB BROWN, TIMES-DISPATCH

VCU plans on a different approach, said chemical engineer Michael "Pete" Peters, one that examines stem cells' "engines" to delve into how they work and how they can be coaxed into maturing into a specific type of adult cell.

 

"Our approach has been to try to understand" issues of cell function and control "before we jump ahead into therapeutic applications," Peters said. "Nonetheless ... there's merit in both worlds."

 

Stem-cell research is part of the shift in VCU's chemical engineering department to expand its focus as the chemical and life-science engineering department.

 

"The change at VCU reflects a broader alliance between the school of engineering and the life and health sciences," said VCU Vice Provost for Life Sciences Thomas Huff. More.

Insmed Gets Used to Biotech

by Jeffrey Kelley

Geoffrey Allan has seen failure. He's witnessing success. And he's closely monitoring an uncertain future. 

"It's all about building a company, taking the risk and living through all of those hardships where you wonder where the next paycheck is coming from - and staying with the game," said Allan, chairman and chief executive of Henrico County-based biotechnology company Insmed Inc. "Insmed and its employees have been through those battles."

Geoffrey Allan, chairman and CEO of Insmed Inc. P. KEVIN MORLEY, TIMES-DISPATCH

The positive outcome has been the Dec. 12 federal approval of Insmed's lead drug, iPlex. Success has also come at the cost of a failed product line and an overhanging patent-infringement case that threatens production and sales

of the drug - and revenue the treatment could bring.

Insmed's drug treats children who suffer from a rare but severe growth disorder.

But the company's tale isn't complete until introducing its competitor, Tercica Inc., a Brisbane, Calif., firm that makes and sells a drug similar to iPlex, called Increlex. More.

News

Business

PARI to Develop Heliox Drug Delivery Systems. PARI, a developer of aerosol delivery systems, and BOC, a global provider of medical gases, have signed an agreement to study the effects of gas-enabled drug delivery systems using Heliox – an oxygen- helium mixture that is lighter than air that makes it easier for patients with compromised lung function to breathe. (June 6, 2006) More.

Insmed Lines up Manufacturer. Insmed Incorporated has struck a deal with Phyton Biotech, Inc., of East Windsor, N.J., in which Phyton will utilize its cell-fermentation technology to manufacture Insmed's IPLEX compound. Said Insmed CEO Geoffrey Allan: "If this cutting edge technology proves successful with our product, we believe it will give Insmed a long-term competitive advantage over companies utilizing older technologies." (July 31, 2006) More.

Insmed Loses Patent Case. Insmed, Inc., has been found by a California jury to have infringed on patents held by Genentech, Inc. and Tercica, Inc. The jury awarded damages of $7.5 million as an upfront payment and a royalty of 15 percent for sales below $100 million and 20% for sales above $100 million. The company is reviewing the decision and assessing options, including post-trial motions and an appeal. (Dec. 6, 2006) More. 

Tissue Technologies Gets Nod from FDA. Tissue Technologies, a tenant of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, has won initial approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its first product, a dressing used to treat chronic wounds. The dressing is different from typical gauze bandages in its ability to interact with proteases, enzymes that are found in chronic wounds at high concentrations. (July 21, 2006) More.

CBI Partners with Aussie Biotech Services Firm. Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. has signed a strategic alliance with PharmAust, Ltd., an Australian based biotech services company, to co-market services to the life sciences industry. The agreement will enable solutions to be developed on the demanding time scales required by clients in the life sciences Industry. (July 7, 2006) More.

CBI to Acquire Peptide Business. Commonwealth Bio- technologies, Inc., a life sciences contract research organization, has executed a stock purchase agreement to acquire Mimotopes Pty Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, for 2,150,000 shares of stock. Mimotopes focuses on research grade peptides and peptide therapeutics, a market estimated to grow at 40 percent per year over the next several years. (Nov. 27, 2006) More.

Research

VCU Finds New Sickle-Cell Treatment. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have developed a unique anti-sickling agent that may one day be effective in treating sickle cell disease, a painful and debilitating genetic blood disorder that affects 80,000 Americans. “This molecule, 5-HMF, is the most promising molecule to treat sickle cell anemia to come from our research group in more than 30 years," said lead researcher Donald Abraham. (Nov. 7, 2006) More.

VCU Devises Potential Asthma Treatment. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified how a bioactive molecule involved with allergy, inflammation and cancer is transported out of mast cells. The work opens up a new approach to treating asthma, which affects about 15 million Americans. (Oct. 17, 2006) More.

Life For Kids New Park Tenant. Life For Kids, developer of a watch-like device that measures a child’s physical activity, has opened shop at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. Time spent in physical activity can be transferred to an electricity control unit, which can shut off electricity to the TV, computer or video game if the child has been too inactive. (Oct. 16, 2006) More.

VCU Profs Research Drug for Multiple Sclerosis. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a unique mechanism of action of a new drug that shows great promise for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. (Oct. 11, 2006) More.

VCU Invents New Blood Pressure Monitor. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center have developed and patented a new, noninvasive means of measuring blood pressure inside the heart. The technique determines the central venous pressure by monitoring blood volume changes in the arm in response to externally applied circumferential pressure to the brachial vein. (Sept. 18, 2006) More.

New Procedures Blocks Abnormal Heart Rhthyms. Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center doctors are performing a new procedure that may eliminate atrial fibrillation, a common rhythm abnormality in the heart and a major cause of stroke. (July 17, 2006) More.