Big Business Appeal of Nanotechnology on Display in Durham

Big Business Appeal of Nanotechnology on Display in Durham

 

DURHAM, N.C., April 2, 2012 - Starting Tuesday night with a speaker reception at the headquarters of the Center of Innovation for NanoBiotechnology (COIN), the fourth annual Nanotechnology Commercialization Conference will kick off with United States Congressman GK Butterfield in attendance.

The event, in Durham this year, features local, national and international nanotech commercialization leaders who will discuss topics such as how to grow this sector through university research, thoughtful regulatory guidance, corporate partnerships and increased investment.

The lunch keynote on Wednesday includes four heavy hitters from North Carolina and will be hosted and moderated by Chris William of the PBS show Carolina Business Review.

This fireside chat includes former CEO of the North Carolina Biotech Center, Charles Hamner, and now Chairman of the Hamner Institute. The discussion also includes John Hardin, the Executive Director of the Office of Science and Technology, who works with the NC Department of Commerce on science and technology policy. Finally, the CEO of a global leader of nanobiotechnology, and from our own backyard, Neal Fowler of Liquidia will discuss his experience and vision from the private sector.

The idea of the panel is how to create the infrastructure to create more companies like Liquidia that license technology from our leading research universities, develop the technology, attract investment capital, attract management and retain and attract the best and the brightest talent to the region.

Nanotechnology firm Liquidia partners with PATH on new pneumonia vaccine

 
December 13, 2011

North Carolina nanotechnology company Liquidia Technologies is partnering with nonprofit organization PATH to develop a new pneumonia vaccine that could be deployed globally.

Research Triangle Park-based Liquidia is working with PATH to conduct preclinical studies on a “next generation” pneumococcal vaccine that could be more effective than existing vaccines and more efficient to produce. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. But it’s not the first time the two entities have worked together. Liquidia has also partnered with PATH’s Malaria Vaccine Initiative to develop a new malaria vaccine.

More Big Foundations Are Investing in For-Profits

 
November 29, 2011

Major foundations are increasingly relying on program-related investing to achieve their goals, putting money into for-profit firms whose work meshes with the donors’ causes, according to The New York Times.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has increased its pool for such investments, known as PRI’s, from $400-million to $1-billion since 2009, and earlier this year it bought a $10-million stake in Liquidia Technologies, a commercial firm working on vaccine delivery. The Omidyar Network, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and other funding entities have also stepped up PRI’s.

Gates Foundation Makes First Equity Investment in a Biotech Startup, Liquidia Technologies

 
March 8, 2011

The Seattle-based nonprofit, the world’s largest philanthropy with $36.4 billion in assets, made its first direct equity investment in a for-profit biotech company last week when it pumped $10 million into Research Triangle Park, NC-based Liquidia Technologies. While the foundation has made grants to companies for years, and has linked its support to specific programs with clear global health goals, this is the first time the foundation has structured a deal to take equity ownership, and have board-level oversight of a startup’s work, much like a venture capital firm.

Liquidia Technologies has added an additional investor, PPD, Inc., to its Series C financing

 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., April 20, 2010 --(EON: Enhanced Online News)-- Liquidia Technologies, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing particle-based vaccines and therapeutics, announced today that it has added an additional investor, PPD, Inc., to its Series C financing. The final addition of PPD brings the total funding for this round to $25 million. The initial Series C closing was announced in January 2010.

Liquidia Technologies Raises $20 Million Financing

 

Research Triangle Park, NC – April 20, 2010 – Liquidia Technologies, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing particle‐based vaccines and therapeutics, today announced it has completed a $20 million round of Series C financing. Canaan Partners led the Series C round, which also included Pappas Ventures and Morningside Venture Investments Limited as new investors. Previous investors, including New Enterprise Associates and Firelake Capital, also participated in the financing round. The funds will be used to accelerate Liquidia’s lead vaccine candidate through initial clinical evaluation and expand development of particle‐based solutions for siRNA delivery and inhaled therapeutics.