Virginia Biotech Firms Receive More Than $11 Million in Federal Grants
Forty-five Virginia biotechnology companies were awarded more than $11 million in federal tax credits and grants today as part of the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Tax Credit Program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the National Institutes of Health.
“The Therapeutic Discovery Credit provides America’s most advanced, cutting-edge companies critical resources to invest in research, purchase new equipment and to hire more people,” said Mark A. Herzog, executive director of the Virginia Biotechnology Association (VaBIO). “Virginia bioscience companies focusing on new cures and therapies to help solve the most challenging unmet medical needs are benefiting greatly from this program.”
The announcement of the awards was made today in Washington, D.C. by Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius who were also joined by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to announce the recipients of the $1 billion in new therapeutic discovery project credits.
“These grants made possible by the Affordable Care Act will not only help to create jobs and bolster the economy but also bring us closer to the next generation of life-saving cures,” said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. “The projects funded show significant potential to create new therapies that will address unmet medical needs and bolster the medical countermeasure supply we use to respond to health emergencies.”
A total of 2,923 companies specializing in biotechnology and medical research in 47 states and the District of Columbia received awards under the program. In all, 4,606 applications from these nearly 3,000 companies were awarded funding.
The therapeutic discovery project program is targeted to projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies, address unmet medical needs, reduce the long-term growth of health care costs, or advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years. The allocation of the credit also reflects which projects show the greatest potential to create and sustain high-quality, high-paying jobs in the United States and to advance our competitiveness in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences. Today, the biotechnology industry employs 1.3 million workers, and the industry continues to be a key growth engine for the economy.
The credit covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying biomedical research and is only available to firms with fewer than 250 employees. To provide an immediate boost to U.S. biomedical research and the small businesses that conduct it, the credit is effective for investments made in 2009 and 2010. Firms could opt to receive a grant instead of a tax credit, so start-ups that are not yet profitable can benefit as well.
In Virginia, a total of 57 projects at 45 companies will receive over $11 million in funding through the program. Several companies were awarded for multiple projects, with four being the highest number of awards given to a single company in Virginia. Overall, Virginia ranked 19th among the states for the total amount of funding awarded.
Fourteen biotech companies in Northern Virginia and the Charlottesville area received awards followed closely by Richmond and Southwest Virginia that each had seven recipients. The Hampton Roads area had three successful company applicants.
One Charlottesville-based company, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, is developing first-in-class drugs to treat hypoxia in serious conditions with unmet medical needs. They received $244,479.24 to advance its lead drug, TSC, for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and cancer. “This non-dilutive award will advance our clinical program and aid us in our mission to introduce approved novel and effective therapies as quickly as possible, providing new hope for patients with PAD, cancer and other conditions related to hypoxia,” said David G. Kalergis, CEO, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals.”
Manassas-based Ceres Nanosciences was one of the Virginia recipients. “These funds are an incredible resource for Ceres – they will be used to accelerate and expand the scope of our Nanotrap® product development. These funds have a direct impact on our ability to rapidly deliver much needed diagnostic solutions to the patient,” said Ross Dunlap, Chief Operating Officer for Ceres.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), supported by more than 40 state bioscience affiliate organizations, was instrumental in advocating for the program and is now encouraging policy-makers to renew the program for another year. Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of BIO said, “We now call on Congress and the Administration to work together to extend and expand the Therapeutic Discovery Project to support continued American innovation and accelerate the development of life-saving cures.”
To view the full list of recipients, click here.
