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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, March 25, 2009
MLSC loan program attracts 88 life sciences applicants
By Mass High Tech staff
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The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the Waltham-based agency that oversees disbursing the funds voted by the legislature as part of the 2008 $1 billion Life Sciences Act, has received 88 applications for its Accelerator loan program for early-stage companies. The program offers loans to companies with winning applications in order to match existing grants, investments and capital.
Of the 88 applications, the MLSC Scientific Advisory Board will add to peer reviews of each applicant to narrow the list of final awardees on April 29. The MLSC did not reveal the expected number of awardees.
Almost half of the Accelerator Program applicants stemmed from medical device or diagnostic firms. Another 24 percent of applicants were drug discovery firms; and 14 percent of the applicants came from developers of technologies that contribute to the life sciences industry.
The loan program received funding support from the MLSC’s Consortium Program, which draws on matching funds for MLSC’s investments, as well as two-year $500,000 contributions from Johnson & Johnson Co. and additional consortium membership. In total, the program has a pool of $1 million to disburse for research projects and early-stage life sciences companies.
The first stage of the Accelerator loan program called for applications from January 1 through March 6.
MLSC officials said in a statement that the program reaches early-stage companies in the midst of research and proof-of-concept studies that will help gain additional funding.
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