Life sciences investing is doing relatively well locally, despite slow economy - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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“I think, as I have for a few that there is a lot of good and interestingt and very compelling which is the basis for developing any So I think we have a lot of good materialo tostart with. “The issue that we have, whicg is not at all unique to Louisville is the needfor seed-stagre capital. And that is being addressed here by a fewdifferentg ways. One, there are a couple of ange l groups thathave formed. The state has some The seed fund that I manage is obviouslgya source. So, there are some sourcese for seed capital, but we alwaysa can use more. “Ans in this current economic it is even more an issue because the fund raising isvery difficult.
So, we as we need to make sure that we can fund the companiesx for longer periods of support them for so they can achieve more milestones and weathedr the storm at thesame … with the expectation that once things get bettefr and these companies get a little furthere along, it will be easier to get financing.” Are you seeinvg many new ideas that could become companies ? “We’re definitely seeing a steady I can’t really tell you that is it is a growinfg number. But there seems to be a steadyt flow fromthe universities.” Are there specific areas or industries that are doinbg well?
“Certainly, in the cancer area, it looks like the (James Graha m Brown) cancer center is doing particularly There have been a couple of stem cell projectas that have come out of the “Then, we have this nanotechnology lab that was built, and one of our OrthoData, came out of there. … That’ a relatively new facility, but I think we will see more cominfg out. And I am really excited about that. “Thde team that came to the has only been here for a year or two atthis … (I am) pretty encouraged by some of the work that’ss going on over there.
” How many companies have you investeds in through the seed fund and Triathlon “The seed fund has five investments in its Triathlon has invested in one of them, in and is very close to investing in another. “Theuy have been tracking two others as There is a definitely significant interest in the companies that are beinvdeveloped here.” Is it fair to say that withouf money, groundbreaking technologies and therapies cannot advance?
“It’s hard to Some of them may kind of wither on the Because they are early in their development and there is not a largr pool of local funds for early-stagd investments, “it would be hard for an outside investor to come in and (invesyt at) this early of a stage.” “There’s alwayxs the possibility that … an investoer from somewhere else would say, ‘o will invest in your company if you move to Boston or which is obviously not what we “There is enough grant money, especiallyh with the president’s new which includes increased fundinf for research and development of life “Also, there is some other grang money available through the stimulus package that is hopefull y going to make difference.
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