Aurora, CO – August 27, 2010 ‐ MBC Pharma Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company announced today, that it has been awarded an $1,795,054 phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). MBC will use this 2‐year grant to further expand their discovery pipeline of bone‐targeted chemotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer induced bone disease. The work will focus on the synthesis and efficacy testing of novel bone‐targeted conjugates of agents with known activities against prostate cancers.

“New therapies are truly needed for the patients enduring the morbidity caused by cancer induced bone disease. MBC has used a combination of private investment and NIH grant money to demonstrate a novel platform technology can effectively produce compounds with efficacy in a number of animal models of cancer induced bone disease.

This new funding will allow us to test a number of exciting new compounds with great potential to address metastatic prostate cancer and possibly primary disease as well,” said Dr. Alexander Karpeisky, CSO and the Principal Investigator on the SBIR grant.

“The SBIR program continues to be a great help to our efforts and we are grateful for the support and recognition of the potential benefit that MBC technology can offer for many types of bone disease. Researchers continue to report new ways that the bone environment proves critical to cancer development. Targeting the cancer cells in the bone environment, we think, will prove critical to treating not only the bone localized cancer but to potentially inhibiting overall metastases and halting further cancer
development,”added Dr. Shawn Zinnen, VP of R&D.

About MBC Pharma
MBC Pharma is a privately held pre‐clinical‐stage pharmaceutical company developing bone targeted therapeutics for serious diseases and conditions of bone with an oncology focus. MBC Pharma is planning to submit its first IND application in the first quarter of 2011 and subsequently initiate Phase I trials with its first‐in‐class compound MBC‐11.

For information on MBC Pharma please contact Dr. Alexander Karpeisky at 720‐859‐4041 or Dr. Shawn Zinnen at 720‐859‐4040
MBC Pharma, Inc. www.mbcpharma.com

Contact: Sarah Eder
Sharklet Technologies, Inc.
303.887.9744 direct
seder@sharklet.com

AURORA, COLO. – Sharklet Technologies, Inc. today announced that it has relocated its corporate headquarters from Alachua, Fla. to Aurora, Colo. The company will be housed at the Bioscience Park Center, a biotechnology incubator in the Fitzsimons Life Science District adjacent to the renowned Anschutz Medical Campus. Sharklet Technologies will situate its executive offices and main research laboratory at the Colorado facility.

Sharklet Technologies made the move to Fitzsimons after spending nearly three years at the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator which is associated with the University of Florida Office of Research and Office of Technology Licensing. UF is the birthplace of Sharklet™, the company’s core technology. The company seized the opportunity to relocate to better align with Denver-based executives and to participate in the growing biotechnology sector in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Separately, the company announced that Mark Spiecker who was formerly COO of the company has been promoted to chief executive officer. Spiecker joined the company in 2007. Former CEO Joe Bagan will remain as chairman on the Sharklet Technologies board of directors.

“We are proud of our Florida heritage and appreciate the opportunities afforded Sharklet Technologies while at the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator. We emerged as a company poised for growth thanks in part to the nurturing environment and leadership at that facility,” said Spiecker. “As we advance Sharklet into a number of verticals and applications, we’re thrilled to have access to Colorado’s state-ofthe- art laboratories, research opportunities and highly collaborative environment that will serve us well in taking our company and technology to the next level. We are thrilled to be part of this state’s vibrant and thriving bioscience sector.”

Sharklet Technologies developed and is commercializing Sharklet™, the world’s first micro-pattern designed to control the growth and transfer of bacteria including Staph. a, MRSA, E. coli, and a host of others that adversely impact human health. Sharklet provides bacterial inhibition through topography alone. The pattern is free of any disinfectants, chemicals and toxins. Sharklet has been developed into the company’s first product called Sharklet™ SafeTouch, an adhesive-backed disposable “skin” that is applied to high-touch bacteria-prone areas in commercial venues, laboratories and animal research facilities, healthcare/hospitals and others. The Sharklet pattern is being further developed for application to medical devices including a urinary catheter and injection molded consumer goods upon which the Sharklet pattern will provide bacterial inhibition.

“Metro Denver is committed to serving as a catalyst for innovation and technology commercialization,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. “Attracting a cutting-edge company like Sharklet Technologies signals that our state provides a resourcerich environment for growth and success.”

“It is our privilege to welcome Sharklet Technologies to Colorado and to what is rapidly becoming one of the nation’s premier bioscience hubs,” said Holli Baumunk, president and CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association. “Sharklet Technologies is taking a revolutionary approach with its acclaimed surface technology that seeks to improve infection prevention in healthcare. We look forward to watching this company grow and further establishing Colorado as the foremost place to cultivate a new technology.”

Vicki Jenings, director of business relations for the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority echoed Baumunk’s sentiments. “We’re thrilled that Sharklet Technologies chose the Bioscience Park Center at Fitzsimons to nurture its technology. As the company settles into its new home, we will provide business development advisory services, administrative resources and access to a highly qualified talent pool to support Sharklet Technologies as it grows into one of our state’s biotechnology leaders.”

About Sharklet Technologies, Inc.
Sharklet Technologies is a biotechnology company that develops and brings to market surface technologies that are designed to inhibit or enhance microorganism growth to make the world a healthier, environmentally safer and better place. Inspired by the microbial-resistant properties of sharkskin, Sharklet™, the company’s core technology, is the world’s first micro-pattern developed to control bacteria including Staph a., MRSA, VRE, E. coli and a host of others. Sharklet™ is suited for commercial, healthcare, food service and laboratory environments where bacterial inhibition is desired to protect human health. The company is based at the Bioscience Park Center, an incubator in the Fitzsimons Life Science District adjacent to the renowned Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo.
Learn more about Sharklet at www.sharklet.com. Find us on Facebook!
Learn more about the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation at www.metrodenver.org
Learn more about the City of Aurora www.auroragov.org
Learn more about the Fitzsimons Life Science District at www.fitzscience.com
Learn more about the Colorado BioScience Association at www.cobioscience.com

Phase 1 of the new interchange has been completed and Phase 2 is well underway. Phase 3 includes the completion of a slip ramp which will provide access to southbound I-225 from 17th Place as well as the 17th Place bridge that provides access between Fitzsimons and I-225. Phase 4 includes the portion of the 17th Place bridge that allows two-way traffic to travel over I-225 and it will create access points both to and from the bridge for northbound I-225.

Read the entire news release

Children’s Hospital is preparing to launch a $228 million expansion that will add 124 new beds to its Aurora hospital.

Upon projected completion by the end of 2012, the addition is expected to bring at least 500 new jobs to the hospital’s workforce of 4,000.  Construction is expected to begin this week.

Officials said rapid growth at the hospital, now with 298 beds, mandated the expansion several years before it was anticipated.  Children’s moved in 2007 from central Denver to the Anschutz Medical Campus at the former Fitzsimons Army base.

“Even with our new facility, we’re full and needing to increase capacity,” said Jim Shmerling, president and chief executive of Children’s. “The surprise to us is in how quickly we’ve needed to expand. We originally were looking at expansion five to seven years down the road.”

The 10-story addition will be financed by $108 million in cash reserves from hospital operations, $60 million in revenue bonds and $60 million from the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Read the entire article

Construction is set to begin this summer on a new state-of-the-art health and wellness center at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

A groundbreaking ceremony was originally set for Tuesday, but officials on Monday said it has been postponed to later this summer. When the event happens, it will kick off construction on the 100,000-square-foot facility at the corner of East Montview Boulevard and Quentin Street. The $26 million wellness center is being funded though grants from the Anschutz Foundation and the University of Colorado, said James Ellis, director of operations for the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Health and Wellness Center and the Center for Human Nutrition.

Click here to read the entire article

Please click here to view the full press release

Meanwhile, the hospital also is planning a $20 million expansion of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Both expansions are necessary because demand for services has increased substantially, said Bruce Schroffel, the hospital’s president and chief executive.

“The hospital is seemingly too small for the community,” Schroffel said. “We want to make it a destination from a national perspective and serve the entire Rocky Mountain region. As we’ve gotten more specialized, we’ve seen more patients from surrounding states.”    Read entire article

By Margaret Jackson
The Denver Post

The report separately ranks adult and pediatric medical services.

Denver’s National Jewish Health is ranked No. 1 in the nation for pulmonology, and No. 15 for pediatric pulmonology.

The Children’s Hospital in Aurora garnered three top five rankings among pediatrics centers: No. 4 for diabetes and endocrinology, No. 5 in gastroenterology, and also No. 5 in pulmonology.

Read more: Colorado hospitals rated tops in nation by U.S. News - Denver Business Journal

Core Lab Show - June 15, 2010

When: 9:30 am to 12:30 pm

Where: BioScience Park Center Lobby/Amgen Boardroom/12635 E. Montview Blvd., Aurora, CO

No Cost to attend, but you must RSVP to:  events@colobio.com

Click here for more details

]]> http://bulletinboard.fitzscience.com/?feed=rss2&p=412 http://bulletinboard.fitzscience.com/?p=406 http://bulletinboard.fitzscience.com/?p=406#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 21:08:10 +0000 Stacey http://bulletinboard.fitzscience.com/?p=406

State’s Leading Business and Civic Leaders Heading to Washington, D.C. to Advocate on Behalf of Colorado’s Business Community and Top Industries

Accelerate Colorado announced today that it will be conducting its annual business mission to the nation’s capital, D.C. 2010, on May 10-12.  The group comprised of 100 statewide business and civic leaders, elected officials, and targeted industry executives, will be meeting directly with all members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation as well as other key decision makers at the federal level such as Congressman Steny Hoyer (D – Maryland), the House Majority Leader; Major General James Poss, Director, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Strategy, Integration and Doctrine, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for the U.S. Air Force; and Peter Rogoff, Administrator for the Federal Transit Administration; and others.

Constituents of this year’s trip include representatives from Aurora, the City and County of Denver, Glendale, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Westminster, Commerce City, Adams County, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, El Paso County, Jefferson County, Weld County, Colorado State Legislators, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and top private industry leaders from around the state.

“Bringing a statewide group of this caliber to Washington to meet face-to-face with our Congressional leadership really puts Colorado’s business and industry needs in the spotlight,” stated Accelerate Colorado President and CEO, Wendy Mitchell.  “We seek to make our priorities known, so that Colorado receives crucial federal support for projects and programs that drive the state’s economy.”

Accelerate Colorado has been focusing on the following key policy areas this year that the constituents will address in Washington, D.C.:

Aerospace and Defense - The aerospace and defense industry is a crucial component of Colorado’s technology economy with 25,870 private-sector aerospace and defense workers with an average salary of $107,720 that develop products from launch vehicles and satellites to command and control software, sensors, and navigation equipment.  Development of the Orion crew capsule by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, a $4.1 billion initial contract that employs nearly 1,000 full-time equivalent people, is a major component of this industry.  Constituents of D.C. 2010 will advocate for Orion’s intermediate-term use as an emergency escape vehicle for the International Space Station and support the use of Orion’s technology as the foundation for the development of a deep space exploration vehicle.  Participants will also communicate support to grow Colorado’s military assets such as Buckley AFB, Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB, and the U.S. Army’s Fort Carson, which form a critical part of our national defense and our state’s economy.

Bioscience – Colorado has approximately 17,150 private-sector bioscience workers in nearly 650 companies made-up primarily of medical device and instrument, as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms.  A strong federal investment in medical research is critical for the health and prosperity of Colorado’s bioscience industry.  Constituents will request $500,000 of funding in the President’s FY 2011 budget to invest in the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostics Development (CID4).  They will also voice their support for the President’s proposal to increase the overall National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by 3.2 percent to $32.1 billion in FY 2011.  For every $1 million invested in NIH, more than 30 jobs are created/sustained.  Constituents will also ask the Administration and Congress to support a consensus-based approach to patent law reform, which would improve the patent system in ways that would benefit all sectors of the U.S. economy by enhancing patent quality and the efficiency, objectivity, predictability, and transparency of the patent system.

Transportation – Accelerate Colorado’s transportation focus is on regional improvements that will help serve Colorado with a coordinated and multi-modal transportation network.  All of the priorities have regional support and significant benefit to the safety and mobility of Colorado citizens, goods and services.  Accelerate Colorado’s key priorities for Highway Priority Project (HPP) consideration include:

1.    I-225 Widening and Colfax/17th Place Interchange: funding to complete the construction of this interchange to serve the demands of the Anschutz Medical Campus and Fitzsimons Life Science District estimated at $21.9 million; and funding for the next phase of widening of I-225 from Mississippi to Second Avenue to relieve congestion estimated at $32 million.
2.    I-25 and Arapahoe Interchange: funding for design and phased construction of this significant regional interchange, estimated at $55 million.
3.    FasTracks: continued federal partnership in funding for the build-out of this regional transportation project; federal contribution estimated at $1.4 billion.
4.    Tower Road and Peña Boulevard Interchange: funding for the design and engineering of the missing on-ramp of the interchange to enhance the economic development of Commerce City; total cost estimated at $10.1 million.
5.    Powers Boulevard and Stewart Interchange: funding for the construction of this interchange to serve as the entrance to Peterson Air Force Base; total cost estimated at $45 million.

Additionally, D.C. 2010 Constituents will advocate positions on issues related to energy, water, and veterans affairs.  Accelerate Colorado is proud to partner with the following organizations that make D.C. 2010 possible:  Arapahoe County (Presenting Sponsor), Merrick & Company (Platinum Sponsor), The Boeing Company, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, City of Aurora, Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, Forest City, Inc., Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Oakwood Homes, LLC, University of Colorado Denver, and Xcel Energy (Gold Sponsors).

About Accelerate Colorado and D.C. 2010
Accelerate Colorado is a partnership between business and local governments in Colorado that works with the U.S. Congress and key federal leadership on issues critical to the state’s economic development, top industries, and business community.  Each year, Accelerate Colorado conducts an exclusive business mission to Washington, D.C. comprised of 100 statewide business and civic leaders, elected officials, and targeted industry executives.  This year’s business mission, D.C. 2010, brings a large, influential group to Washington to meet directly with Colorado’s Senators and Representatives and other key decision makers at the federal level.  For more information on Accelerate Colorado and D.C. 2010, please visit www.acceleratecolorado.com.