Two ATDC seed funded bioscience companies complete private financings in 2009 and are honored by GABio Industry Association. Iconic Therapeutics and Visioneering Technologies, both ATDC Seed Funded companies, will be presented with a Deal of the Year award. The GaBio Deal of the Year awards recognize life science companies that have completed a significant development milestone, such as raising investment funds, entering into a partnering agreement or securing a government grant or contract.
Iconic Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a drug to treat wet macular degeneration, raised $3.5 million from New Haven, Conn-based Elm Street Ventures. The company has raised $13.8 million since it’s inception in 2003, mostly from angel investors. Iconic, whose technology is based on novel immunoconjugate proteins called “I-cons”, plans to conduct a Phase I trail to show that the compound is safe in humans. The technology was licensed from Yale University.
Visioneering Technologies, an Atlanta based start-up developing technology for correcting presbyopia through contact lenses and other “on eye and in eye” applications, raised $5 million from MB Ventures of Memphis, Tenn., Charter Life Sciences and Life Science Angels, both of Palo Alto, Calif., and from the State of Georgia ATDC Seed Capital Fund. Visioneering’s approach to vision correction utilizes induced aperture optics to improve the optical efficiency of the eye’s vision system. The technology has a number of on eye and in eye applications including contact lenses, LASIK, intraocular lenses and corneal inlays.
The Georgia Bio Annual Awards Dinner will be held Thursday, January 21st, 2010, at The Retreat of Dunwoody. This event recognizes Industry and Community leaders who have made a significant contribution to the Georgia Life Science community. Please see the GABio web site for more details on the Annual Awards Dinner (www.gabio.org).
Four seasoned SBIR/STTR recipients will relay their experiences in obtaining SBIR/STTR funding. On October 21st, the ATDC Brown Bag Panel Discussion will allow you to glean from their knowledge.
Hearing about the SBIR or STTR award process is one thing, but hearing from someone who actually went through the process (and was successful), is even more beneficial. SBIR/STTR Awards can provide your company with up to $850K to conduct research. Why not learn how others have done it and reap valuable knowledge from their experiences? Come hear them relay how they did it, problems they had, and things they wish they had known. Don’t forget to bring your questions too!
Panelists:
Karol Hatzilias is the President, ShapeStart Measurement Systems, Inc. Phase 1 and 2 SBIR grant from the Navy.
Nikil Jayant is a Chaired Professor in the School of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Georgia Tech, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Co-Founder of VQLink. Phase 1 and 2 SBIR grants from NSF.
Ron Garmon is CEO of VueLogic. VuLogic has received Phase 1 and 2 NSF SBIR funding.
Thanh Doanis Vice President of Operations at Vivonetics. SBIR and STTR awards from NIH.
Please note:This is a FREE event (for ATDC Members only), therefore it is a TRUE Brown Bag – meaning, bring your own lunch. If you forget to pack one before you walk out of the house, there are plenty ofgreat restaurants in Tech Squareto patron just before you enter this program.
Waiting for notice of an award can be like watching paint dry. When the funds are critical to your business it is even more painful. We unfortunately have no additional information on the DOE 2009 SBIR Phase II Awards. If you have been notified please let the community know by commenting on this post.
It is always good to see a plan execute as
designed. Over the last year, the
Georgia SBIR Assistance Program has been working with American MagLev Technologies
(AMT) in Marietta, Georgia. AMT was
just wrapping up a Phase I STTR with the Navy when we approached them offering
assistance. AMT had successfully
developed detailed conceptual models of a unique, passive eddy current brake
for catapults on Navy aircraft carriers during the Phase I effort. This braking system would completely replace
the current water-based braking technology and seamlessly fit into the existing
allocated brake spaces. GA SBIR came in
offering assistance in reviewing the Phase II proposal, providing additional
commercialization strategy materials, and providing an introduction to the
Georgia Tech Laboratory for Extreme Tribology for possible partnership. After several meetings, multiple iterations
on the proposal, and time for the Navy to review, AMT just announced that they are
under contract to continue this effort in a Phase II STTR with the Navy. The AMT-GT team will study the tribological
effects associated with the eddy brake, generating new computer models to
illustrate the friction, lubrication and wear issues associated with the
interacting surfaces. Collectively, AMT,
Georgia Tech and CSA Engineering will perform a detailed peer review and an
array of subscale model validation tests, demonstrating the thermal and
mechanical environments of the brake during the launch and recoil strokes, as
well as assessing the overall reliability of the braking system over multiple
launches that are, and are not, within the given maximum end speed
scenarios. The Phase II effort will run
through the spring of 2010, at which time AMT expects to have successfully
completed all the relevant modeling and preparation for building a full-scale
prototype of its proprietary braking system for demonstration at the Navy’s
research facilities in Lakehurst, NJ.
Although not
yet a commercial success, this case is a model example of the types of projects
that GA SBIR seeks to support. The Navy
SBIR/STTR Program is committed to transitioning the successful technologies
from the program into operational systems. We are confident that AMT will be prepared for a Phase IIB, Phase II
Enhancement, or Commercialization Program at the conclusion of Phase II. Due to the success of the catapult eddy brake
Phase I project, they have also recently been awarded a Phase I from the Navy
to develop a magnetic tailhook concept. AMT
will create a preliminary design of a new tailhook that uses superconducting magnets,
which interact with the steel flight deck on a carrier to produce eddy currents.
The currents naturally drag the aircraft along the flight deck to bring it to a
halt in a shorter distance, thereby increasing the safety of landing aircraft.
By design, the magnetic tailhook will have fewer moving parts, resulting in a
greater cost savings with fewer maintenance expenses on board.
Georgia SBIR
Assistance will continue to work with AMT to review their product development
and launch strategies as they explore partnerships with aircraft carrier system
integration contractors. We will also
begin analyzing potential markets or applications for transition to civilian
markets. Congratulations to AMT! If
this is the kind of support that you are looking for and the kinds of success
that you expect from the SBIR program, please contact the GA SBIR Assistance Program. If you
want to learn more about American Maglev Technologies, their Navy STTR
projects, or how we worked with them, visit www.american-maglev.com, or contact
AMT at 770.428.8792.