Despite snow flurries, strong winds, and unseasonably cold temperatures, spring has officially arrived. For me, it means dawn to dusk days spent recruiting companies, raising money, and preparing the NM Pavilion for the annual BIO International Convention. It will attract more than 20,000 attendees from more than 70 countries to San Diego in early June.
BIO is our opportunity to market NM’s innovative bioscience and health care sectors, our talented workforce, the national labs, our research universities, and health care institutions, as well as our emerging and promising startup companies from Las Cruces to Los Alamos.
What’s different this year from my prior seven years representing NM and its bioscience community at BIO? NMBio has the sweat equity assistance and financial support of two partners that are splitting the workload – the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance and the University if New Mexico’s Health Science Center. They are contributing their ideas and talent that will help us gain national exposure for our industry and the state of NM.
We’re delighted that several economic development organizations will be joining us in San Diego or helping to sponsor our pavilion. Drum roll: the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the New Mexico Partnership, Sandoval Economic Alliance, the City of Santa Fe’s Economic Development Department, and Sandia National Labs (it’s business development division). Other participants/sponsors include Central NM Community College and New Mexico Tech. Bioscience firms include Nature’s Toolbox (NTx), Sandia Biotech, Q-Biotech, AWS Bio-Pharma Technologies, Mercury BIO, and T-Neuro Pharma.
If you would like to participate in the pavilion and be an ambassador for NM and the bioscience community, I’ll need to hear from you prior to April 15. Ditto for any firms/institutions that would like to be sponsors (sponsorships range from $1,500 to $10,000). However, if you’re flush with cash, we can accept six figure checks.
While the BIO convention is top of mind, I’ll soon be traveling to Washington, DC to meet with members of our Congressional delegation – an annual event (pre and post covid) sponsored by BIO. In addition, AdvaMed is also hosting an event at its DC headquarters for its state association leaders. Since DC is a walkable city, I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to see (and smell) the blooming cherry blossoms.
While spring is a time for new beginnings, spring is also a season for dreaded allergies. Many of us are forced to seek relief from runny noses, itching eyes, and congestion. As some of you know, member Cliff Shunsheng Han, a former medical doctor and biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory for more than two decades, launched AllerPops – probiotic lollipops — to provide lasting respiratory support. While he has gained traction locally and has a retail store in Los Alamos, he’s now searching for a CEO that can help him raise additional funds from investors so that they can create a national marketing campaign. Here’s the link to his website: https://allerpops.com
Healthy Regards,
Greg
GRANTS
New UNM Grant to Support Collaborative Research
UNM Rainforest Innovations is launching a pilot program called the UNM Health Sciences & Main Campus Research Collaboration Seed Grant to further support research collaboration efforts at UNM. The grant is intended to encourage investigators from the University of New Mexico Main Campus and Health Sciences to work together on advancing research that may lead to new inventions.
The new collaboration seed grant is intended to fund early-stage research that supports investigators to develop concepts for joint proposals. Proposals must include at least one (1) Primary Investigator (PI) from UNM Main Campus and one (1) PI from UNM Health Sciences. A total of $250,000 is available to award 10 proposals up to $25,000 each.
Announcement for the call for research collaboration proposals will open later this month (mid-April) and close on May 20, 2024.
NM LEEP is on the lookout for exceptional early-stage deep tech entrepreneurs to become part of its Cohort 4, concentrating on critical areas of advanced materials, biotech, energy transition, quantum computing and AI, and space systems. LEEP seeks dedicated individuals ready to fast-track the development and commercialization of their technologies and products that address one of the country’s significant energy, security, and economic challenges.
This two-year fellowship encompasses an annual stipend alongside benefits, a collaborative agreement to support technical advances with a New Mexico national laboratory expert, a custom-designed training curriculum led by industry experts, personalized mentorship, and interactions with investors in your field.
NM LEEP’s customized business curriculum has been pivotal for its five Fellows, helping them secure $4 million in funding in the first two years. Laboratory work, through the collaborative agreement, has propelled the validation of their technologies, broadened their customer bases, and accelerated their product development efforts. Collaborating strategically with specialists at Los Alamos National Laboratory has enabled our LEEP innovators to pinpoint and overcome their most pressing technical challenges.
NM LEEP offers deep-tech startups an invaluable opportunity to thrive, build their product and company in the state of New Mexico.
Applications are open for Cohort 4 until May 6th 11:59 pm, MT. Final selections for the next cohort will be in the fall of 2024 with the new cohort starting in January, 2025.
$100M ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health Program is a major opportunity for women’s health businesses and innovators. From Spark to Launchpad to what to emphasize in your submission to align with topic areas, G2G can help you make the strongest possible submission.
United for Medical Research (UMR)’s annual economic report: NIH’s Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy finds that research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) generated $92.89 billion in new economic activity nationwide — or $2.46 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.
In New Mexico, researchers were awarded 204 NIH grants totaling $125 million in FY23. This funding in turn supported 1,472 jobs and generated $290 million in economic activity.
The report and additional state-specific resources can be downloaded here
EVENTS
The 2024 MDMA Annual Meeting
April 17-19th
Intercontinental – The Wharf
801 Wharf St SW
Washington, District of Columbia 20024
MDMA is the leading voice for innovative and entrepreneurial medical devices companies, and this year’s Annual Meeting will deliver key insights on issues facing our industry. Attendees at this year’s conference will hear from Congressional, Federal Agency and industry leaders on current and upcoming issues impacting our industry.
Attendees also have an opportunity to visit Capitol Hill and meet with your Congressional delegation during MDMA’s popular Congressional Fly-In
White Hat Life Science Investor Conference
White Hat Investors 2024 showcases exciting biotech and medtech companies from across the Rocky Mountain & Southwest Region. September 18-19, during Arizona Bioscience Week.
AI has the potential to prevent the onset of rare diseases and neurological disorders, along with improving outcomes for those already diagnosed, writes Colin Lake, vice president for digital transformation at UCB. AI plays a role in drug development, detection of trends, refining clinical trials and remote monitoring, writes Lake.
Full Story: Clinical Leader (3/21)
Heart disease innovations have reduced death rates from cardiovascular disease by double-digits between 2009 and 2019. Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act threaten this success which is why Congress must pass bipartisan solutions to fix the law and ensure patients get the cures and treatments they need.
UniFirst provides a range of apparel from traditional uniforms and industrial wear to protective clothing and “corporate casual” attire. UniFirst offers customers rental, lease, and purchase programs to enhance their business image at the very best value.
Uniform and facility service savings of 30-50%
Hygienically clean garments
Dedicated customer service team
4-year agreement term
3-year fixed pricing
Free lab coat pressing included with rental program
Free company and name emblems on initial installation
No upfront program investment
1-week complimentary service upon new agreement execution
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