Denver Post: 'Colorado in running for U.S. patent satellite office'

Quoting from today's Denver Post article by Allison Sherry - @allisonsherry - on the 'Bring A Patent Office To Colorado' initiative:

"Holli Riebel, president of the Colorado BioScience Association, helped marshal signatures and support within her field for the office.

'Many times, things go to the coasts and they don't go to the middle of the country,' she said. 'I think there's a huge market that could be drawn from the middle. It's an easy place for everyone to get to, and we do have an international airport.'"

Link to the Denver Post article

View the related video:
http://youtu.be/xKW6j33EipQ

Link to the news release: 'Colorado Business Leaders Unveil New Report Making the Case for Patent Office in Denver'

CBSA January FOCUS Newsletter: Featuring Fitzsimons Bioscience Park's $8 Million Expansion and a Sneak Peek at CBSA's Plans for the Upcoming Year

Quoting CBSA President & CEO Holli Riebel:

"As we kick off the New Year at CBSA we are thankful for a great 2011 and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead in 2012. Our community's spirit of innovation and history of success continues to push the bioscience industry forward. CBSA's strategic goals for the year are to:

* Promote a supportive regulatory and tax environment at the state and federal level.
* Increase access to capital.
* Brand Colorado's innovation in the bioscience industry.
* Enhance programs and services for our members.
* Create a bioscience community that fosters growth.

A feature detailing the $8 million expansion of the Fitzsimons Bioscience Park is on page 2.

Link to the January FOCUS newsletter

Denver Business Journal: 'VC-backed startups now free to chase SBIR grant money'

Quoting CBSA board members Mark Spiecker and Rick Duke in Greg Avery's article:

"The change will be particularly helpful to many early-stage bioscience companies in Colorado, making them eligible for a program that’s awarded $16 billion in grants since 1997.

'Everybody’s writing SBIR grants or counting on them in one way or another,' said Mark Spiecker, co-founder of Sharklet Technologies.

The Aurora-based startup has survived on SBIR grants that pay for its research into a bacteria-fighting surface coating for medical uses, a technology inspired by the bacteria-fighting properties of shark skin. But that meant limiting the involvement of VC investors.

Sharklet landed $1.2 million in SBIR grants in early 2011. Without them, the company would have shut down, Spiecker said. Sharklet’s pursuing more SBIR grants under the new rules...

...For more established biotechs, the old SBIR ban limited their ability to research new uses for their technologies, said Rick Duke, a veteran biotech entrepreneur who helps run the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development (CID4), a nonprofit incubator for biotech companies.

Now a biotech can use for SBIR grants for research to broaden the number of products the company’s developing, while investors fund getting the first product to market. That should help companies grow faster and be stronger, and speed the development of new medicines.

'It’s helpful from the point of view of continuing to be innovative among companies that are funded with venture capital,' Duke said."

Link to the article that also quoted Cartier Esham, BIO’s senior director on health regulations for emerging companies (subscription required for full article access)