Mike Ivey — 3/11/2009 7:10 am
With all the stimulus money getting tossed around these
days, you'd figure biotechnology would be near the top of the wish
list.
Instead, specific funding for early stage science companies was
practically written out of the $780 billion package, claims the president of
Madison-based Centrose LLC.
A line inserted into the massive spending
bill says $10 billion in stimulus funds provided to the National Institutes of
Health are exempt from a previous requirement that 2.5 percent of NIH research
money go to private companies.
"This single line stole a potential $250
million from research being conducted at small businesses," says Centrose CEO
and founder Jim Prudent. "That may seem fine to some people. But to the
businesses who create most, if not all, of the new non-government jobs, it's an
outrage."
Prudent says NIH officials explain they've had difficulty
getting enough high-quality grant proposals to meet the small-business funding
mandate. They also told Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., that having funding
flexibility allows the agency to devote excess money to "pure science" vs.
research on a specific product or application.
But Prudent says that
approach is a big mistake, arguing that taxpayer dollars are better aimed at
actual companies. Founded in 2007, Centrose has eight employees and a
sugar-based technology that improves the uptake and potency of
pharmaceuticals.
