State Offers $1M Financial Package To New Stem Cell Company
Company To Test Drugs For Side Effects
Updated: 1:04 pm CDT May 14, 2007
By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.comMADISON -- A new stem cell company in Madison developing ways to test drugs for side effects will receive $1 million from the state to help get started.Until now, Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. was a "virtual" company, but will soon enter the world of bricks, mortar and lab equipment.The state funds will take the form of state grants and low-interest loans. The offer was announced on Monday morning by Gov. Jim Doyle.Doyle used the lab of Dr. Gabriela Cezar, a top University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell scientist, to make the announcement. Cezar is the company’s chief scientific officer, while the other co-founder is Beth Donley, who is Stemina's chief executive officer.Until Donley and Cezar started Stemina earlier this year, Donley was general counsel of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and executive director its WiCell Research Institute branch. The pair said that they hope to close on an additional $1.5 million in private funding by July.Cezar said that the company is now in negotiations with the University Research Park and the Fitchburg Technology Park for its lab and office location. Stemina's goal is to develop better techniques to screen drugs for human toxicity. The company will use two stem cell patents covering Cezar's work held by WARF and will initially focus on safer and more effective cancer treatments.In the past year, two other companies that use human embryonic stem cells have been started in Madison. Doyle said that he hopes there will be more in the near future. By the year 2015, he said that it could become a $1 billion industry with 10,000 jobs in the state."Our growing stem cell industry has attracted some of the best and brightest scientists in the world," said Doyle, who was in Boston last week for the huge BIO 2007 conference."This new company has the potential to achieve incredible breakthroughs that could save lives and create jobs. This is a competitive industry and Wisconsin still has a lead, but we need to continue to support these efforts in a significant way at the state level."Cezar called the state money crucial for the company's early development and said that it signals the state's dedication to developing the stem cell industry.For more information about, visit WisBusiness.com.
WisBusiness.comMADISON -- A new stem cell company in Madison developing ways to test drugs for side effects will receive $1 million from the state to help get started.Until now, Stemina Biomarker Discovery Inc. was a "virtual" company, but will soon enter the world of bricks, mortar and lab equipment.The state funds will take the form of state grants and low-interest loans. The offer was announced on Monday morning by Gov. Jim Doyle.Doyle used the lab of Dr. Gabriela Cezar, a top University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell scientist, to make the announcement. Cezar is the company’s chief scientific officer, while the other co-founder is Beth Donley, who is Stemina's chief executive officer.Until Donley and Cezar started Stemina earlier this year, Donley was general counsel of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and executive director its WiCell Research Institute branch. The pair said that they hope to close on an additional $1.5 million in private funding by July.Cezar said that the company is now in negotiations with the University Research Park and the Fitchburg Technology Park for its lab and office location. Stemina's goal is to develop better techniques to screen drugs for human toxicity. The company will use two stem cell patents covering Cezar's work held by WARF and will initially focus on safer and more effective cancer treatments.In the past year, two other companies that use human embryonic stem cells have been started in Madison. Doyle said that he hopes there will be more in the near future. By the year 2015, he said that it could become a $1 billion industry with 10,000 jobs in the state."Our growing stem cell industry has attracted some of the best and brightest scientists in the world," said Doyle, who was in Boston last week for the huge BIO 2007 conference."This new company has the potential to achieve incredible breakthroughs that could save lives and create jobs. This is a competitive industry and Wisconsin still has a lead, but we need to continue to support these efforts in a significant way at the state level."Cezar called the state money crucial for the company's early development and said that it signals the state's dedication to developing the stem cell industry.For more information about, visit WisBusiness.com.
Previous Stories:
- April 3, 2007: Feds To Toss 3 UW Stem Cell Patents
- April 3, 2007: UW Stem Cell Patents Might Be Thrown Out
- February 12, 2007: U.K., Wisconsin Collaborate On Stem Cell Research
- January 11, 2007: UW Researchers Encouraged By Stem-Cell Vote
- December 14, 2006: Wisconsin To Get Third Embryonic Stem Cell Company
- November 3, 2006: Reality Check: Thompson Says In Ad That Green Supports Stem-Cell Research
- October 24, 2006: Actor Michael J. Fox Supports Doyle In New Ad
- October 10, 2006: Stem Cell Pioneer Starts New Company, Receives State Investment
Copyright 2007 by Channel 3000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
