Thursday, October 9, 2008

ECI Biotech lands NIH-sponsored mentorship

By Mass High Tech Staff

ECI Biotech Inc. will get a boost in transitioning from product development to product commercialization, courtesy of a National Institutes of Health 2008-2009 SBIR Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) award, company officials reported.

The Worcester biotech firm will participate in the Accelerator Commercialization Track (ACT) program, which is designed to provide mentorship for companies that meet some of the following criteria: already focused on partnerships and markets; familiar with life sciences clinical studies; funded institutionally; and potentially experienced in past product commercialization.

The CAP program, in general, aims to move small life sciences companies built on grants from the Small Business Innovation Research grant program level into commercialization.

ECI Biotech announced in July its receipt of a $949,000 Phase 2 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to market the company’s rapid diagnostic that detects harmful bacteria that cause wound infections. ECI’s first product will be a diagnostic that will help doctors determine if a wound is infected.

In April of 2007, ECI received an $800,000, low-interest loan from the Emerging Technology Fund of MassDevelopment Corp., Massachusett’s finance and development authority, for the company to purchase equipment it needed to manufacture its protein-based diagnostic system. The loan was part of ECI’s $3.8 million plan to retrofit its offices at 85 Prescott St. in Worcester to accommodate development and manufacturing of its wound diagnostics.