City announces fund investment.Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone announced the closing of the first investment by the Emerging Industries Fund, one of several economic development initiatives administered by the New York City Economic Development Corporation Overview New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a non-profit local development corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. . The Fund made a $600,000 equity investment in Vector Therapeutics Corporation, a New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. biotechnology company engaged in research and development of a gene therapy treatment platform for cancer and Hepatitis C. "We are happy to be able to support Vector Therapeutics through the Emerging Industries Fund and look forward to helping many more small and start-up technology companies," said Mayor Giuliani. "The city's commitment to the growth of the high technology industry will help to keep New York City in the forefront of the new economy. The Emerging Industries Fund makes early stage investments ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million in small, promising companies located in or moving to the city, in industries including biotechnology, biomedicine biomedicine /bio·med·i·cine/ (bi?o-med´i-sin) clinical medicine based on the principles of the natural sciences (biology, biochemistry, etc.).biomed´ical bi·o·med·i·cine n. 1. , software, high-technology, and telecommunications. Paramount Capital LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control is the fund's investment adviser for biotechnology investments; Draper Fisher Jurvetson Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $4.5 billion in capital commitments. Gotham is the adviser for information technology and telecommunications investments. "We know how difficult it can be for young companies to obtain early-stage financing," said City Council Speaker Vallone. "The Emerging Industries Fund offers technology companies capital and, in turn, the City will benefit from the revenue generated by this burgeoning sector." According to Dr. Fred Mermeistein, Director of Venture Capital at Paramount Capital, gene therapy presents an important medical opportunity to cure disease, including hereditary disease, without drugs and their attendant side effects. The Vector Therapeutics technology was developed at New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the by Dr. Daniel Meruelo, a tenured Professor A Tenured Professor (1990) is a satirical novel by Canadian/American economist and Professor Emeritus at Harvard, John Kenneth Galbraith, about a liberal university teacher who sets out to change American society by making money and then using it for the public good. of Pathology and a founder of Vector. The company will use the investment funds to complete its pre-clinical program and to develop and refine the technology for human clinical tests and potential commercialization. |
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