Biotechnology Center provides $1.69 million in grants, loans

BT Catalyst, March-April, 2005

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded 15 loans totaling almost $2 million to universities and companies in January, February and March.

Small Business Research Awards

* ArrayXpress, Raleigh, $149,858 To support the development of a microarray-based multi-pathogen diagnostic tool for the swine industry.

* Asklepios Biopharmaceutical, Chapel Hill, $150,000 To support an intravascular adeno-associated viruses delivery preclinical study for purposes of selecting the optimal Chimeric BNP for the treatment of congestive heart failure.

Institutional Development Grants

East Carolina University, Greenville

* Brody School of Medicine, $101,031 To support a modern Imaging Core Facility that will allow investigators to quantify all three signals on one instrument, facilitating ongoing research of cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, viral and bacterial infection.

North Carolina State University, Raleigh

* Department of Biomedical Engineering, $200,015 To develop a tissue mechanics laboratory for enhancing biotechnology in the state.

* Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, $30,000 To help purchase a differential scanning microcalorimetry to complete an instrumentation focused on RNA structure.

* Genome Research Laboratory, $82,500 To support functional genomics.

Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem

* Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, $249,500 To help support a research facility that will use a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

* Animal Resource Center, $250,000 To support the creation of additional new research housing for dogs with inherited bleeding and blood clotting disorders.

* Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, $250,000 To purchase a high-performance, high-throughput liquid chromatography-triple quadruple mass spectrometry analytical system to carry out highly sensitive detection and quantitation of low levels of biomarkers.

Duke University

* Department of Neurobiology, $150,500 To support the Center for Neuro-Transgenic Technology, which will bring cutting-edge mouse transgenic technology to both academic and biotech/pharmaceutical neuroscientists.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

* Institute for Health, Science & Society, $129,193 To support a clinical genotyping core laboratory.

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

* Department of Biological Sciences, $78,050 To acquire a high quality microscope imaging system to study bacteria, micro and macro algae, fungi and animal cells that accumulate bioactive compounds or that have been exposed to natural biotoxins.

Western Carolina University, Cullowhee

* Departments of Chemistry and Physics, $54,225 For sterilization equipment for the new biotechnology core facility.

Business Development Award

* Genesis Molecular Discovery, Asheville, $15,000 To help solidify its business plan and apply for a handful of patents.

Collaborative Funding Assistance Award

* University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Qualyst, Research Triangle Park, $100,000 To support the development of nuclear receptor based high-throughput assays to predict induction related drug-drug interactions in a more efficient and selective manner.