Applications For TEDCO’s Life Science Investment Fund Now Being Accepted
COLUMBIA, MD (2/23/16) — Applications for the Maryland Technology Development Corporation’s (TEDCO) Life Science Investment Fund are being accepted now through April 15.
The Life Science Investment Fund (LSIF) was previously managed by the former Department of Business and Economic Development under the name Biotechnology Commercialization Award. It was one of the programs that was transferred to TEDCO on October 1, 2015 along with Maryland Venture Fund, following the enactment of legislation passed during the 2015 General Assembly. This legislation was initiated by the Augustine Commission in an attempt to consolidate the State’s efforts to provide seed/early-stage business investment.
Under TEDCO’s management, the LSIF has been redesigned to specifically meet the needs of Maryland companies which are developing products that address human health concerns and require approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for commercialization.
“While Maryland has a robust technology start-up ecosystem, companies developing products which require FDA approval are burdened with long, complicated commercialization pathways that require multiple investments over a long period of time,” says John Wasilisin, TEDCO’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “We believe our LSIF will enable these companies to reach critical milestones early in their product development efforts and will better position themselves for product commercialization and job creation.”
TEDCO will make investments of up to $200,000 for a period of one year to support milestone-based projects that advance a medical product toward commercialization. TEDCO plans to make 5 – 6 Investments per year, or 2 – 3 in each of two review cycles.
“Getting FDA clearance is an important milestone for startups in life sciences industry; helping them with increased valuation,” says Arti Santhanam, LSIF Program Manager. “LSIF is designed to help these companies meet this challenge more quickly and efficiently, acting as a bridge fund to move them up to the next stage.”
The program is specifically designed for companies that are beyond the technology validation stage and further along in product development. For that reason, it is expected that the applicant has initiated preliminary discussions with the FDA.
Application deadlines for 2016 are 5 p.m. on Friday, April 15 and Friday, October 14. Review LSIF “Request For Applications”
For more information about TEDCO’s Life Science Investment Fund, contact Arti Santhanam,Program Manager.
