20/20 GeneSystems Receives a Quarter of a Million Dollars in Funding from Agencies Promoting Maryland Biotech.Business Editors ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 2002 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. (2020gene.com) received awards totaling $250,000 this month from three agencies that promote the biotechnology industry in Maryland: The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, MdBio, Inc., and The Maryland Technology Development Corporation. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED DBED Department of Business and Economic Development (Maryland) DBED Double Bit Error Detecting ) issued a $50,000 "Challenge Investment" to 20/20 GeneSystems after the company successfully beta tested A test of new or revised hardware or software that is performed by users at their facilities under normal operating conditions. Beta testing follows alpha testing. Vendors of packaged software often offer their customers the opportunity of beta testing new releases or versions, and the its image analysis software. The software, developed for 20/20 by local bioinformatics company Bear Codes, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control ., was created specifically for users of 20/20's proprietary platform technology called Protein Function Identification Layered Membranes (P-FILM) or Film for Life(TM). This was the second "Challenge Investment" awarded to 20/20 GeneSystems this year. The first, worth $50,000, was granted in April. 20/20 also received a $150,000 Project Accelerator Award from MdBio, Inc. that will be used to help 20/20 expand its manufacturing capacity over the next 18 months to meet anticipated demand for its products. MdBio is a private, non-profit corporation engaged in advancing the commercial development of bioscience in Maryland. Finally, The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO TEDCO Technology Development Corporation (Maryland) TEDCO Toronto Economic Development Corporation (Canada) ) has agreed to invest up to $50,000 to support a collaboration between 20/20 and the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute. The collaborators plan to use 20/20's P-FILM to develop new tools for monitoring patient response to a new class of drugs called angiogenesis inhibitors angiogenesis inhibitor Oncology A chemotherapy adjuvant which inhibits the angiogenesis required for tumor growth and survive, especially for metastastatic tumors See CAI, CM101, IFN-alpha, IL-12, Marimastat, Pentosan polysulfate, Platelet factor 4, Thalidomide, TNP-470. that aim to starve tumors by blocking their blood supply. TEDCO is a state agency that promotes technology transfer from federal labs and universities to the private sector. "This influx of funding from three independent sources really helps validate 20/20 GeneSystems' potential," said president Jonathan Cohen Jonathan Cohen may refer to
Launched in late 2001, the company's first P-FILM product has already been sold to nearly 500 drug companies and biomedical research Biomedical research (or experimental medicine), in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research or applied research conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. institutes in over 10 countries. P-FILM can be applied to diseased tissue to determine which proteins in the pathway are functioning abnormally and help predict whether a particular drug will effectively treat that disease. About 20/20 GeneSystems 20/20 GeneSystems (www.2020gene.com), based in Rockville, MD, was founded in May 2000 to co-develop the P-FILM technology with the National Cancer Institute. The privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. maintains exclusive rights to this technology. |
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