Virtici announced today that it has received a three-year, $3.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence.
Virtici has been selected to create and operate a Regional Technology Transfer Accelerator Hub in the Western region (the ASCEND Accelerator Hub: NM, AK, ID, HI, MT, NV and WY). This hub will actively collaborate with eleven leading research institutions in the Western region and the other three Hubs in Central, Southeast, and Northeast regions.
“It is exciting to be selected by the NIH to lead this important initiative in the Western region,” said Neil Fanger, Ph.D., cofounder and CEO of Virtici. “We look forward to working on this with University of New Mexico and other research institutions in the Western region.”
“The goal is to educate faculty within the various institutions on how to commercialize their research, including startup funding and finding business partners,” said the CTSC’s Eric Prossnitz, PhD, who will serve as UNM’s principal investigator.
“This is a significant opportunity for small businesses, academia, and the federal government to partner in two critical areas: boosting high-tech innovation and tackling biomedical research needs,” said NIGMS Director Jon R. Lorsch, Ph.D.
The goal of the ASCEND Accelerator Hub is to bridge the gap between NIH funded research and improved patient outcomes by increasing the number of medical entrepreneurs and their level of competency. In this vein, the Hub aims to provide the knowledge, skills and training necessary for innovators to become successful entrepreneurs. With the end result of reducing morbidity and mortality nationwide, the program and its initiatives are unique, and have the potential for significant economic and clinical impact.
This award was granted by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UT2GM130166. The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.