NanoBio scores $6M grant from Gates Foundation, adds 10 positions

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

NanoBio just got a little bigger, thanks to a big investment ($6 million) from a big name, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The foundation controlled by the founder of Microsoft and his wife awarded the seven-figure grant to NanoBio for vaccine development. The money will help support the development of the Ann Arbor-based company's intranasal vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a common causes of bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Most children contract the virus early and it's particularly dangerous for premature babies, children with other health conditions and the elderly.

NanoBio is receiving the grant on the heels of some significant growth in 2010. It went from 20 employees at the beginning of the year to 30 and three interns today. Most of those hires brought in people to help develop NanoBio's vaccine portfolio. "We expect the same type of growth or better," says John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio.

NanoBio spun out from the University of Michigan's Center for Biological Nanotechnology a decade ago. The biopharmaceutical company develops dermatological products, anti-infective treatments and intranasal vaccines from its NanoStar platform. Its products treat herpes labialis, onychomycosis, acne, cystic fibrosis and it offers a number of intranasal vaccines.

Source: John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio
Writer: Jon Zemke

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