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Montana BioScience Alliance Newsletter |  |
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Please welcome our newest member:
Johnson & Johnson Denver, CO
Patricia Weber, formerly of the International Heart Institute in Missoula, has taken a new position with the National Cancer Institute's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center. The SBIR Development Center is a newly created division at the NCI that manages more than $100 million in technology projects within the small business community to accelerate the progress of cancer research. Her new contact information is: Program Director National Cancer Institute SBIR Development Center Bldg 31, Rm 10A19 31 Center Dr. Bethesda, MD 20892-2590 Tel: 301-594-8106 weberpa@mail.nih.gov McLaughlin Research Institute's (MRI) new animal resource center, currently under construction, recently received a $311,000 grant from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The new mouse facility has cage washing and sterilization equipment that will increase the efficiency of the animal care process, and will assist the Institute in its goal of adding up to seven new scientists over the next five to seven years. In addition to an outright grant of $311,000, the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust has also provided an opportunity to receive an additional $187,000, as a one-to-one fund match. These funds will be used to purchase state of the art mouse caging systems and a XYCLONE Laser Module and accompanying software. For additional information, or if you are interested in helping on this important project, please contact Dave Crum at 406-454-6009. Also at MRI, Montana State University graduate student Miranda Orr, who is currently conducting research there, has been awarded a National Research Services Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The three-year award will provide funding for her salary, tuition, and travel to scientific meetings. Miranda studies mice with a mutant gene that causes frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in humans; many features of FTD are shared by Alzheimer's disease. She harvests brain stem cells from mouse fetuses and tests various properties of the cells to see if they behave the same way in a Petri dish as they do in a mouse. Results thus far are promising. Congratulations to the Billings Clinic Research Center for reaching its 20th anniversary! To read an article about the Center, visit: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articl es/2008/11/15/news/local/24-researchcenter.txt Additionally, Billings Clinic's Center for Clinical Translational Research (CTR) recently received a highly competitive $1.2 million grant from the Federal Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare, Quality and Research. The grant will support an effort to use health information technology to improve the communication of hospital discharge information of rural patients to their primary care physicians, ultimately improving quality of care and patient safety. The system will send an electronic copy of the patient's discharge information to their primary care provider, as well as allow the primary care provider access to the Billings Clinic electronic health record. The Center will develop, test and implement the technology over the next three years, in eight communities.
Jeana Paulson has joined BioScience Laboratories, Inc. of Bozeman working in the clinical laboratory with healthcare evaluations and topical antimicrobial testing on human subjects. Paulson earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara in biopsychology with an emphasis in neuroscience. She served as senior research associate in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics for more than five years at Amgen, Inc. in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and most recently was working on the FDA filing for N-plate (romiplostim). GlaxoSmithKline has joined an effort to start a business incubator to foster the Bitterroot Valley's fledgling biotech industry. "We'll be vetting applicants, going through proposals to make them more solid, to make sure they have rigorous review and a solid business plan," said Michael Covarrubias, director of GSK's Hamilton operation. "Almost all of them will need money. We can introduce them to investors, and some could be funded." For Julie Foster, head of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, Covarrubias' aid -- beginning with his service as an advisor to the nonprofit's board of directors -- gives a tremendous leg up to her effort to get the $4 million Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center from drawing board to reality. Plans call for a groundbreaking in early 2009 and for the 16,000-square-foot facility to be completed late in the year, Foster said. "Our primary goal is to create the infrastructure for knowledge-based business growth in the Bitterroot valley," Foster said. The center will be funded in part by a $1.6 million federal grant. Foster's new biotech incubator could provide a ready place for small companies spinning out of work by post-docs and other researchers at the GSK lab, the federal Rocky Mountain Laboratories, also in Hamilton, or from the University of Montana in Missoula. With practical help on business plans and other nuts- and-bolts assistance from Covarrubias, those nascent companies could thrive and grow, and eventually become a cornerstone of the local economy. GSK has a venture capital fund, but the biotech center's startup companies will be too small and risky be tempting. Yet Covarrubias says he and others can help connect entrepreneurs with angel investors. "We know we're laying the groundwork, and we expect it to take time," Foster said, referring to her goal of helping to grow the valley's knowledge-based economy. "You have to start somewhere, and to have these guys step up and say they think it's a good thing, that they'll add their expertise. This is just huge," she said.
Montana State University scientists found a gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs. The gene, called srbA, allows molds to thrive during infections even when inflammation reduces its oxygen supply. When the gene is removed, the mold becomes much more vulnerable to lack of oxygen and can no longer grow to cause disease. For the complete article, visit: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwvi ew.php?article=6474
Gary Strobel, a plant pathologist at Montana State University, has discovered a fungus (Gliocladium roseum) that produces dozens of the same midlength hydrocarbons found in gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. After discovering the new fungus wedged between cells in a stem from an Ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia), Strobel and colleagues cultured the organism, collected the gaseous compounds it produced, and ran the compounds through a mass spectrometer to identify them. When he saw the printout, Strobel says, "every hair on my body stood up." The list included octane, 1-octene, heptane, 2-methyl, and hexadecane--all common components of diesel fuels. The synthetic repertoire of G. roseum includes 55 volatile hydrocarbons, possibly producing the hydrocarbon stew to inhibit other organisms from growing nearby. For the full article, visit http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/ content/full/2008/1103/1. John Old Elk, a sophomore at MSU, recently won third place and $200 in the American Indians in Science and Engineering Society's national contest for his poster and presentation about an MSU research project. The project tested the effectiveness of a cocktail of common drugs in protecting the brains of gerbils from cerebral ischemia, a type of stroke. The study has potential applications in protecting human brains during certain types of strokes. Lila Fishman, a plant evolutionary geneticist in the University of Montana's Division of Biological Sciences, and co-author Arpiar Saunders, who did post-baccalaureate work at UM, had research published in the December 5, 2008 issue of Science. While studying monkeyflowers, she discovered that the detrimental trait of pollen sterility persisted in a population because of a "chromosome that selfishly helps itself." This chromosome somehow "outraces its partner during meiosis in females and thus manages to get into more than its fair share of the next generation's seeds." Fishman showed that nonrandom chromosomal transmission likely results from competition between structures called centromeres, which are regions of chromosomes that mediate their division during meiosis. While other researchers have shown that genes often behave selfishly, this research offers some of the first evidence to pinpoint selfish centromeres. (Click here for the full article.)
Linda Brander has resigned as program manager of the Montana Technology Innovation Partnership Program (MTIP), to become the Restoration Coordinator at the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. John Balsam, the MTIP long-term advocate and contract counselor, will handle basic program activities; he is reachable by calling (406) 549-2460, or emailing johnb59803@gmail.com The Montana Board of Research and Commercialization Technology is accepting proposals for funding. Proposals are due March 2, 2009. The Request for Proposal may be found on the MBRCT website at http://businessresources.mt.gov/Includes/RCT/2010_Guidelines.pdf. For additional information, please call (406) 841-2760. A delegation from Alsace International, an economic development agency funded by the government of northern France, will be in the US during December and January to meet with companies that are considering expanding their operations into France in the next three years, or who would like further information on the business climate in France. There is a biotech cluster in the Alsace region, and the regional government offers a variety of business incentives. For more information, please visit http://www.alsace-international.eu. You can also contact Lien Van den Dries at LvdDries@roivision.com.
The 2009 Rocky Mountain Venture Capital and Private Equity Directory, focusing exclusively on venture capital and private equity firms in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, is now available. The directory includes profiles of local private equity firms (later stage investors), incubators, prominent angel investors, family investment offices, merchant banks, fund of funds, venture debt firms, and economic development offices. The 2009 Directory (including printed book, eBook, and spreadsheet) is available for $175.00. For more information and to order, visit: http://www.massinvestor.com/rm_vc.htm
In mid-August, Sharon Peterson attended the BIO Midwest Executive Director's meeting in Columbus Ohio. Attending were Directors from Montana, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Ohio and Kansas. The first evening the group heard from Andreas Grauer on Proctor and Gamble Needs and Opportunities. We were able to visit BioOhio - located on the campus of Ohio State University; they currently have 8 staff people. We heard about the BIO perspective from Jim Eichorst and discussed the possibility of working together at BIO 2010 which will be held in Chicago. In mid-September a meeting was held of the Western State Executive Directors in Denver, Colorado. Attending were Directors from Colorado, Oregon, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Utah, Oklahoma, and Nevada. Sessions were held on creating a solid business model, marketing and communications, public policy and strategies to grow your own industry. Dinner was hosted by the Denver-based Canadian Consulate staff with a very interesting talk about cooperation between the two countries. Johnson& Johnson sponsored the conference and we heard from Audrey Phillips, Ph.D., Executive Director, J&J, New York. Both meetings were very informative and provided many opportunities for cooperation among the states. We look forward to many collaborative efforts with these groups. On November 13th and 14th the Montana BioScience Alliance had a booth at the annual BioWest conference in Denver, Colorado. Thanks to the many Montana companies who provided material for the booth. We received a lot of interest. At the conference G. Steven Burrill from Burrill and Company presented a future vision for the life science industry that was challenging and at the same time provided food for thought. View Burrill's presentation at www.cobioscience.com/FoundersBreakfast.pdf Ernst and Young's Washington Council partner Richard Meltzer has been a player in DC on federal health care issues for a long time. His presentation provided the BioWest audience with an idea of what to expect from the new president, federal agencies and congress. His presentation is available at http://www.cobioscience.com/afternoonpresentation. pdf December 1st and 2nd found Sharon Peterson at the Council of State BioScience Associations retreat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Following is the agenda for the meetings. 1. Jim Tullis, CEO and founder of Tullis-Dickerson, spoke on Venture Capital. He raised the question of how concerned we should be with the downturn of investments from 2007 to 2008, and what results we can expect to see. He suggests being aggressive when finding alternatives to funding such as grants and partnering. 2. Joe Pannetta, BIOCOM, began another Roundtable Discussion regarding the down market and how to generate association revenues. He included ideas on how to urge members to fully utilize benefits and take advantage of programs offered. Jen Landress presented a grading sheet as an example of how BIOCOM has proactively worked to get members more involved and therefore more likely to stay with the association. Several affiliates offered cost cutting measures and ideas of how to attract small companies earlier with discounted memberships. 3. Kelly Gillespie, MOBio, led a Roundtable Discussion on the topic of helping companies leverage available capital resources. He specifically addressed how to responsibly increase investments and to equally accommodate member companies. State Government Relations Committee Strategic Planning Meeting 1. John Gibson provided members of the Committee with an updated map outlining which states have caucuses or committees dedicated to the biosciences. 2. Prior to the meeting Committee members were asked to complete a survey rating which issues they believe would be "high priority", "priority", or "monitor". India Valentine presented the Committee with the results of the survey. After much deliberation on the potential high priority issues for 2009, the Committee decided that Sales and Marketing and Prescriber Data Privacy would be the two highest. Members of the committee also noted that Product Liability could also become a high priority issue as the year unfolds. 3. Brian Rosen, of MedImmune, and chair of the Committee, led a discussion on what actions BIO should take on issues that fall into the different priority categories. Plenary Lunch Featured speaker Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief - New York Daily News. Tom spoke on his past experiences with numerous presidents, providing entertaining anecdotal stories as well as insight into the character of people who he had the fortunate chance to work closely with. Afternoon Joint CSBA/SGRC Meeting Patrick Kelly introduced Gillian Mullins, BIO, who offered news and events information from our Federal Government Relations team. Gillian announced the BIO Fly In dates, March 31th - April 1st, and gave an overview of our position and progress on the Economic Stimulus Package, Corporate tax relief, Bonus Depreciation, and R & D Tax Credits. Brent Del Monte, BIO, Vice President of our Federal Government Relations team, expanded on these topics and discussed Follow On Biologics, Comparative Effectiveness, and Patent Reform. 1. Joe Hammang, Pfizer, spoke about Personalized Medicine and the importance of educating public policy makers on the issue. He discussed the value of treating patients with specifically tailored drug treatments. However, he said that paying for these procedures would present a challenge the existing reimbursement system. (If you would like a copy of Joe Hammang's presentation, please contact him directly at hammang.joseph@pfizer.com) 2. Pete Pellerito introduced Marianne Clarke and Ryan Helwig, who spoke about Battelle and outlined an State Science Education initiative they are developing. They outlined their strategy to survey, collect data, and analyze the presence and effectiveness of state Math and Science programs in schools nationwide. In addition they stated that they would be working closely with CSBA members to compile information for the report. The report will be released at the 2009 International Convention in Atlanta. Pellerito then introduced Emily Ascherl who discussed the updated edition of BIO's State Legislative Best Practices for Bioscience Industry Development Guide. 3. George Goodno, from BIO's Communication's team discussed an industry branding campaign currently being undertaken by BIO. In addition, he discussed, utilizing new media, and organizing media individual state media workshops. 4. Tricia Brooks, from BIO's Alliance Development team discussed working closely with patient advocacy organizations to secure passage of key health policy initiatives. Daryl Pritchard, from BIO's Health Policy Dept discussed a specific initiative to secure additional funding for NIH research and development programs. Morning CSBA only Meeting 1. Yvette White-Wiggins, BIO, distributed and explained the new IRS 990 tax form. All non-profit associations will be required to use this new form for 2008 tax returns and beyond. 2. Fred Zeldow, BIO, and Charles McWilliams, VWR, gave presentations on promoting membership through the BIO Business SolutionsSM program. You can see more about the program at http://www.biobusinessolutions.com/mt.asp
January 28-30, 2009 · Great Falls
February 10, 2009 · Helena
March 18-19, 2009 · Seattle, WA
March 31-April 1, 2009 · Washington,
DC
May 18-21, 2009 · Atlanta, GA
July 2009
There is now a classifieds section on the Montana Bio website, in the resources section! Please send information to Sharon at sharonpeterson@bresnan.net .
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