SubscribeThe North Carolina Biotechnology Center has awarded $250,000 to Precision Human Biolaboratory (PHB)
To boost its commercialisation and development of a unique blood test for major depression.
The loan amount was the maximum available under the BiotechnologyCenter's Strategic Growth Loan program launched last year to help promising new North Carolina biotechnology companies survive the difficult startup process.
Unique Development For Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
PHB, founded here in 2006, is developing a new and unique proprietary technique for diagnosing and monitoring the therapy of clinical depression, a debilitating condition also referred to as major depressive disorder (MDD). Physicians traditionally diagnose and monitor MDD with subjective behavioral questionnaires and clinical assessments.
PHB's diagnostic platform includes a sensor chip to capture biomarkers in patients' blood samples that are specific to the target disease. It also includes a dedicated instrument to analyse the chip's signals and process the resulting data into a physician-friendly format.
PHB was founded by five experienced life science professionals, including Dr. Yiwu He, who serves as president, and Dr. John Bilello, who is chief scientific officer. Previously, Dr. He was the global head and Dr. Bilello was director of technology development in GlaxoSmithKline's Human Biomarker Center.
Additional founders include Dr. Bo Pi, CEO and and Dr. Perry Renshaw, professor of psychiatry at Harvard medical School. Larry Stambaugh, former CEO of Maxim Pharmaceuticals and principal of Apercu Consulting Services, serves as board chairman.
PHB has filed a number of US provisional patent applications, including patents covering its sensor chip and proprietary measurement technology and patents covering multiple biomarker diagnostic methods and applications of label-free protein array technology.
"Thanks to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's help," said Yiwu, "PHB is developing a diagnostic tool that has the potential to greatly assist the medical, psychiatric and drug development communities in their efforts to address one of the highest-frequency and most debilitating conditions our society faces.
Bilello said the firm's research has already identified potentially important biomarkers in the human body that correspond to the physiological changes associated with depression. "With the addition of this Biotechnology Center funding, PHB will continue toward our goal to bring the bright light of science into the darkness of depression," he said.
The Biotechnology Center's SGL loans must be matched by an equal "angel network" or venture capital loan or investment. It therefore addresses a sometimes-deadly cash gap faced by many start-up companies between early-stage seed funding and later investment from venture capitalists, business partners and shareholders.
"We obviously see important business and medical potential in this venture," said Stan Sewitch, CEO of KI Investment Holdings, LLC, the San Diego-based investment firm that provided the funding match required for the PHB loan. "The North Carolina Biotechnology Centerhelps firms like ours target great opportunities with its judicious support of the state's best scientists."
PHB has raised additional funding of more than $600,000 and has submitted three federal Small Business Innovation Research grant proposals. One of those SBIR applications has been approved by the National Science Foundation for Phase I funding of about $100,000.
The Biotechnology Center has been providing a variety of loan programs to new biotechnology ventures for more than 17 years, primarily targeting start-up company research. But the SGL isn't restricted to research funding, said John Richert, vice president of theBiotechnology Center's Business & Technology Development Program.
Instead, Richert said, SGL loan funds can also be used for a wide range of needs including hiring key non-executive employees, securing patent rights and pursuing business-development or licensing opportunities. The key restriction is that they can't be used for so-called brick-and-mortar capital outlays or executive-level salaries or benefits. But the program applies fewer restrictions on the matching investments.
The Biotechnology Center, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
For more grant and loan information, visit: www.ncbiotech.org/grants.
Contact: Jim Shamp, news & publications editor, North CarolinaBiotechnology Center,
919-541-9366. Visit the Biotechnology Center's Web site at www.ncbiotech.org.