Emerging pharmaceutical, biotechnology,
medical device, and health-focused consumer products companies
will benefit from Central
Virginia's new 'deep training for deep tech'
program.
RICHMOND, Va., May 23, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Activation Capital announces the launch of Frontier
BioHealth, an educational and support program designed to provide
highly specialized training, targeted mentorship, and relationship
building to help scale pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and
health-focused consumer products companies. The inaugural
four-month program will be critical in bringing research-intense
products and companies to market. It will broaden the continuum of
regional early-stage support – additive to Virginia Commonwealth University's proof of concept
fund and newly launched pre-accelerator program – and continue to
coalesce the emerging private investment ecosystem in Central Virginia.
"We celebrate the growing base of research and technological
advances within the region's health and life sciences sector," said
Chandra Briggman, President and CEO
of Activation Capital. Virginia Commonwealth
University has seen a 76% increase in sponsored research
over the past five years. Virginia State
University is creating a robust technology transfer and
commercialization ecosystem on its campus to expand its agtech and
other expertise. Our goal is to ensure more of that research and
technology is translated into successful products, companies, and
jobs, which is the intended return on research investments," added
Briggman. "These companies are important contributors to
regional economic growth because they are associated with
higher-paying jobs and with delivering innovations that improve all
varieties of life. Our Frontier BioHealth initiative is designed to
help deliver these outcomes more consistently."
Under the leadership of Activation Capital's newly appointed
Vice President of Entrepreneurship, Dr. Jim
Pannucci, Frontier BioHealth will address the long, complex,
and capital-intense journey that life sciences startups face as
they bring products to market. "On average, deep tech firms
building life science solutions require up to 15 years to reach the
market. There is currently a gap in support for these firms within
the region, as noted by our regional partners, yet these firms hold
great promise for transforming segments of the sector and our
regional economy," said Dr. Pannucci. "Our goal is to provide
startups with a comprehensive array of resources, connections, and
guidance – helping them navigate market-readiness challenges and
scale their solutions."
Frontier BioHealth reflects the growing momentum in Central Virginia's life sciences sector,
including the early successes of the advanced pharmaceutical
manufacturing cluster scale-up efforts and the introduction of
multiple sector-related educational programs like Reynolds
Community College's Biotechnology Laboratory Technician Associate
in Science (AS) degree program, and the School of Pharmacy's new
Pharmaceutical Sciences degree at VCU. "Frontier BioHealth will
help broaden the regional life sciences innovation portfolio –
yielding a more diverse innovation ecosystem and a workforce with
skills across a broader selection of sub-sectors. It will help
deepen regional expertise and thus increase the region's global
competitiveness within key life science focus areas," said
Briggman.
The launch of Frontier BioHealth is a return to the Bio+Tech
Park's roots, where the 34-acre urban campus offered an array of
training, wrap-around support, and networking for university
spinouts and other emerging firms from within its Biotech Center
and shared lab space. "I am excited to bring my deep scientific and
business expertise to help write the next chapter of the Center's
history and build an active community of successful health and life
sciences firms operating within the region," said Pannucci. "Over
the next 12 months, we will engage and iterate our offerings to
address the dynamic needs of these firms, but we are ready to get
started." Participating companies will have access to a wide
variety of resources from Activation Capital and its national-level
partnerships with gener8tor, FedTech, and Fat Robin Consulting. The
inaugural training component is intended to kick off in early
August 2024 and will conclude in
November 2024. Companies with a clear
commercialization path, a strong scientific discovery that is ready
to scale, and a full-time founder are invited to apply. Additional
information can be found at
www.activation.capital/frontier-biohealth.
Frontier BioHealth is funded in part through a grant with the
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). All opinions,
conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of
Activation Capital and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
SBA.
About Activation Capital
Activation Capital is a leading innovation ecosystem development
organization providing social, knowledge, and financial capital to
clusters, entrepreneur support organizations, and entrepreneurs –
accelerating their progress through development and maturation.
Activation Capital, an independent authority of the Commonwealth of
Virginia, is on a mission to grow
life sciences and other advanced technology innovation by promoting
scientific research, commercialization, and ecosystem development
that attracts and creates 21st-century jobs and companies. It
operates the 34-acre Virginia Bio+Tech Park – the hub of life
science and technology innovations in Central Virginia. It oversees the Cluster
Accelerator for Advanced Pharmaceutical R&D and Manufacturing
and supports developing and expanding the region's startup
ecosystem. For more information, visit www.activation.capital.
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SOURCE Activation Capital