$30 million to University of Michigan startup blurs corporate-academic borders

Filed in archive Institutions on August 8, 2006

Yesterday we reported that the University of Florida is to receive $647,000 from Arrowhead Research to develop thin film transistors. Now NanoBio Corporation has secured $30 million in funding from Perseus, L.L.C., a private equity fund management company. NanoBio was founded by Dr. James R. Baker, Jr., Professor of Biologic Nanotechnology at the University of Michigan(U-M).

NanoBio Corporation develops therapies and vaccines against infections ranging from cold sores to nail fungus and influenza using a novel nanoemulsion technology developed at U-M.

"There is great promise for vaccines based on this technology because they can be administered without the use of needles or refrigeration," Professor Baker said.

His initial research took place at U-M with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA). The vaccine work was funded by grants from the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

U-M has licensed the technology exclusively to NanoBio. In addition to holding an equity stake in the company, the University would receive royalties should the products achieve commercial success.

As this $30 million investment shows, nanotech is blurring the line between the corporate and academic worlds. Can a university be objective when it receives product royalties? Does this kind of reward sway what researchers choose to study? Where does the corporate connection leave the students? We'll see. (photo Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences)