 |
LIFE SCIENCES GREENHOUSE
OF CENTRAL PA ANNOUNCES FIRST GAP FUND INVESTMENTS
Nearly $1 Million Goes to Promising
State College Area Startups
Contact: Michele Washko, Director of Marketing and Communications, LSGPA, ,
|
Washington, D.C. June 23, 2003:
The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania (LSGPA) announced plans to invest close to $1 million in two promising biotechnology startup companies headquartered in State College, PA. NanoHorizons, Inc., a developer and producer of state-of-the-art nanotechnology products and processes, will receive $500,000. QuantumBio, Inc., a software company that seeks to accelerate drug discovery efforts using unique molecular modeling tools, will receive $425,000. These represent the first of LSGPAs pre-seed stage investments, which are expected to total roughly $10 million over five years. Additionally, the companies received matching fund commitments exceeding $4 million.
The announcement came during BIO2003, a conference for biotechnology professionals and showcase for cutting edge technologies and companies currently being held in Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky made the presentation.
During his address to the media at BIO yesterday, Governor Edward G. Rendell underscored the Commonwealths continuing commitment to the life sciences industry as he discussed the positive economic impact of biotechnology company expansions in Pennsylvania. Fritz Bittenbender, President of PABIOTECH, the statewide industry advocacy organization, noted that, The emergence of promising startups like NanoHorizons and QuantumBio indicates that Pennsylvanias already vigorous biotechnology industry is poised for further growth, and that this growth can be expected to occur across the state.
LSGPA is one of three regional Greenhouses established within the state, all of which are working to foster growth of the life sciences. In addition to providing pre-seed stage capital, LSGPA seeks to accelerate economic growth and job creation through funding for technology development, relocation services, intellectual property protection, and incubator services.
About NanoHorizons, Inc.
NanoHorizons is in the business of nanotechnology, the field that the National Science Foundation predicts will be the cause of the second industrial revolution. The companys initial product offering, QuickMass PlatesTM addresses the critical need to enhance the productivity of research and development in fields dealing with small molecules, such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agro-technology, security and chemistry.
NanoHorizons was founded by a team of scientists at the Pennsylvania State University, led by Dr. Stephen J. Fonash, Kunkle Professor of Engineering and Director and Founder of Penn States Nanofabrication Facility. The research of Dr. Fonash and his team in thin film-based nanostructures, devices, and processes has led to the invention of manufacturable approaches to producing these materials and structures. An extensive and expanding portfolio of patents and invention disclosures was licensed to NanoHorizons by the Penn State Research Foundation beginning in early 2002.
About QuantumBio, Inc.
QuantumBios software suite of quantum mechanically-based molecular modeling tools and unique database of protein structures critical to drug discovery are based on technology developed between 1995 and the present at Penn State University (PSU) in the labs of Dr. Kenneth Merz, an international leader in the field of computational chemistry for drug discovery. These proprietary tools will enable scientists engaged in drug discovery to leverage the precision of quantum mechanical approaches to model interactions between proteins and small molecules far better than the classical mechanics-based software models currently available on the market. In addition, the company is expected to benefit from an expanding list of technology emerging from PSU in the form of provisional patents and invention disclosures.
Accompanying photographs available upon request. Contact Michele Washko @ or .
|
