Last week $3.135 Million in Commercialization Infrastructure grants were awarded by Colorado’s Office of Economic and International Trade (OEDIT) under the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program (BDEGP). Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) appreciates the OEDIT for its ongoing commitment to the state’s bioscience industry through the BDEGP, which was created in 2006 by the Colorado General Assembly.

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Colorado BioScience Association Commends the State of Colorado For Granting
$3.135 Million To Advance Bioscience Research from Bench to Marketplace
Last week $3.135 Million in Commercialization Infrastructure grants were awarded by Colorado’s Office of Economic
and International Trade (OEDIT) under the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program (BDEGP). Colorado
BioScience Association (CBSA) appreciates the OEDIT for its ongoing commitment to the state’s bioscience industry
through the BDEGP, which was created in 2006 by the Colorado General Assembly.
Denver, CO, November 20, 2013 ‐ The Colorado BioScience Association commends the Colorado Office of Economic
Development and International Trade (OEDIT) for awarding $3.135 Million in Commercialization Infrastructure grants
under the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program (BDEGP) last week. April Giles, President & CEO of the
Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), says "CBSA appreciates the OEDIT for its ongoing commitment to the state’s
bioscience industry through the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program, which was created in 2006 by the
Colorado General Assembly. These key commercialization infrastructure grants funded last week are critical to
advancing bioscience research from the bench into the marketplace."
Commercial Infrastructure grantees announced by the OEDIT include:
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The Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development (CID4): $1,350,000
CID4 is managing life science discoveries from Colorado research institutions and Colorado start‐ups and early‐
stage businesses with the goal of creating bioscience jobs in Colorado. Grant funds support operations and the
development and management of life‐science discoveries. The CID4 has seven early‐stage companies under its
guidance supporting their operational development and attracting additional investment to meet their needs.
Visit: http://cid4.com
Colorado Center for Drug Discovery (C2D2): $750,000
Based at Colorado State University, C2D2 is a resource to faculty at Colorado research universities, bringing
biology and chemistry faculty together to use chemical libraries, computational resources, bioinformatics,
cheminformatics, database support, virtual high throughput screening, and Computer Aided Drug Design to
pharmacologically validate drug candidates with patent‐protected chemical matter and innovative therapeutics
for unmet medical needs. C2D2 supports several inter‐institutional projects with funding and resources. Further,
C2D2 offers compounds to investigators through its screening library and medicinal chemistry services that are
critical in the drug discovery process. Visit: http://c2d2.org
The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado: $410,248
The University of Colorado Skagg's School of Pharmacy at Anschutz developed an HTS/HCS (high
throughput/content screening) Core Facility for drug discovery. This resource has been utilized by more than
100 researchers and companies advancing the science and helping to secure intellectual property.
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/pharmacy/Pages/SchoolofPharmacy.aspx
The BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado: $624,752
The BioFrontiers Institute is a state‐of‐the art research and education facility that links the basic sciences,
engineering, clinical practice, and industry at the University of Colorado's Boulder campus to support
breakthrough developments in areas such as engineering human tissues, RNA enzyme and aptamer‐based
pharmaceutical, biorefining, and genetics. Grant funds support equipment, resources and personnel costs to
develop the core facilities of the institute. With grant support, the institute has developed one of the largest
repositories of shRNAs in the world at the Functional Genomics Facility. Colorado companies partner with the
institute to improve their products. Ventria, a Fort Collins based pharma‐biologics company, has used mass
spectrometry services to detect oxidation in recombinant protein samples manufactures for human terapeutics.
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OPX Biotechnologies based in Boulder utilizes mass spectrometry to detect levels of intracellular metabolytes in
biofuel molecule samples. Longmont‐based Avery Brewing Co. has partnered with the Next‐Generation DNA
Sequencing Facility to develop an early‐detection test for yeast cross‐contamination to reduce waste and
inefficiencies in their production process. Visit: http://biofrontiers.colorado.edu
Giles explains, “CBSA has played a key role over the years in drafting and securing support for the legislation which has
made the BDEGP possible and takes particular pride in seeing the program have continuity through both the Governor
Ritter and Governor Hickenlooper administrations. We further acknowledge all those state legislators from both sides of
the aisle who have worked tirelessly over the years to create the BDEGP in Colorado.”
Quoting from the OEDIT’s November 13 release: "‘Congratulations to our deserving grantees who provide critical
services to the bioscience industry and the state,’ said Sonya Guram, program manager at OEDIT. ‘The organizations
provide key assets that we want to make solid for the long‐term.’” Link to the OEDIT release:
http://www.advancecolorado.com/news/oedit‐grants‐over‐3‐million‐colorado‐bioscience‐organizations
Commercialization Infrastructure grants support joint efforts of industry and academia to create resources that are
essential to industry growth. Grantees identify and manage technologies, and support collaboration to bring necessary
expertise together to advance novel Colorado biotechnologies to commercialization. In addition to the
Commercialization Infrastructure grants, the BDEGP also encompasses Proof of Concept and Early Stage Company
support. For more information, visit: http://www.advancecolorado.com/funding‐incentives/financing/bioscience‐
discovery‐evaluation‐grants
About Colorado BioScience Association
Celebrating ten years of supporting the Bioscience Industry in Colorado in 2013, the CBSA is a not‐for‐profit organization
providing services and support for Colorado's bioscience industry. With more than 350 members, CBSA actively works to
promote the growth of the industry by advocating for a better business environment, growing the state's biotech
workforce, fighting for policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state, and speaking with a single voice on
behalf of the industry. For more information, visit http://www.cobioscience.com.
CBSA also is found on these social media sites:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/COBioscience
LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=98468&trk=anet_ug_grppro
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/ColoradoBioScienceAssociation
News Feed: http://coloradobio.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/COBioscience
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/COBioscience
Tumblr: http://cobioscience.tumblr.com
Contacts:
Mae Desaire, Director of Marketing, Colorado BioScience Association ‐ http://www.cobioscience.com –
720‐382‐5918, mdesaire@cobioscience.com
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely Public Relations ‐ http://www.absolutelypr.com ‐ 303‐984‐9801,
maggie@absolutelypr.com