Tuesday, June 24, 2008

ProThera pulls in $500K in new Slater funds

By Mass High Tech Staff

ProThera Biologics Inc., a biotech firm based in East Providence, R.I., has received a $500,000 financing commitment from the Slater Technology Fund, according to Slater.

Slater, a state of Rhode Island-funded nonprofit in Providence, R.I., reports that the $500,000 commitment follows its initial $100,000 grant to ProThera in 2001. ProThera has also won more than $3.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health.

ProThera plans to use the Slater funds to begin unspecified Phase 1/2a clinical trials of a protein treatment known as an inter-alpha inhibitor protein as well as to initiate a study to determine whether the protein could be used to treat pandemic and biological threats, Slater said. 

The funds will also enable the firm to retain Richard Andrews, a co-founder of former Lincoln, R.I., medical devices firm RenaMed Biologics, as an adviser on corporate matters and business development, according to Slater.

Slater says it invests exclusively in early stage startups in Rhode Island.