Armed with a $200 million fund, Connecticut is jumping into the translational research arena.
The Hartford Business Journal details the operating plans of Connecticut Innovations, the state's latest ambitious attempt to make Connecticut a major hub for drug research. This fund--a brainchild of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy--is offering grants, equity investments, loans and loan guarantees to biotech projects, with a keen eye for moving scientific discoveries into the clinic.
"A lot of innovation comes from small companies in universities," Claire Leonardi, the CEO of Connecticut Innovations, tells the Journal. "That is predicted to drive the future economy. This fund will be a connector to build private, public partnerships."
Stunned by Pfizer's ($PFE) big layoffs in Groton, the state has been actively backing a slate of new initiatives to back biotech. An $864 million initiative launched two years ago has been wooing biotechs to the state while the state invests $291 million in a new Jackson Laboratory.
- here's the story from the Hartford Business Journal