The next meeting of the New Jersey Biotechnology Task Force will be held from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 in the Board Room of EDA Headquarters, located at 36 West State Street, in Trenton NJ.
The focus of the meeting will be to hear testimony from internationally recognized innovation expert, Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President and CEO at Biomedical Growth Strategies LLC.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority's next public Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 2 p.m. at the EDA offices at 36 West State Street, Trenton. A copy of the proposed agenda can be found prior to the meeting at www.njeda.gov/Board. Following the Board Meeting, minutes and the full agenda will also be available at www.njeda.gov/Board.
CEO Touts New Jersey’s Intrinsic Value for Entrepreneurs
North Brunswick, N.J. (March 22, 2018) – Stroke victims, dementia sufferers, and patients who have sustained traumatic brain injuries can now incorporate virtual reality games into their rehabilitation therapy, thanks to technology developed by Bright Cloud International (BCI) Corp.
The Rutgers University spinoff moved its operations into the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (EDA’s) Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) earlier this month, expanding its footprint in the Garden State. CCIT, located in North Brunswick, is New Jersey’s leading life sciences incubator.
BCI’s proprietary BrightBrainerTM Rehabilitation System is a self-contained and mobile rehabilitation medical device with a suite of custom virtual reality therapeutic games. The games target various motor skills, including motor control, speed of movement, endurance, hand-eye coordination, and task sequencing. They also target cognitive abilities such as attention, short term visual and auditory memory, working memory, reading comprehension, and dual tasking.
BrightBrainerTM Rehabilitation System is useful in a multitude of settings, including outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities and medical adult day programs, and is available for lease or purchase. A scientific team of researchers, engineers, physicians, therapists, and game developers created the games, which adapt to individual patients. In addition to improving motor and cognitive skills, BrightBrainerTM games have been found to benefit a patient’s emotional state, leading to an increased quality of life.
“We know that the brain can rewire itself to bypass non-working neurons, so our technology helps patients build that bypass to regain use of their bodies,” BCI Founder and President Grigore (Greg) Burdea, PhD, said. “It also puts a new and interactive spin on the monotony of occupational therapy, bringing an age-old industry into the 21st century.”
Burdea cited CCIT’s collaborative environment, its easy access to networking and investors, and its opportunities for increased visibility as reasons why he moved to the incubator. Businesses located at CCIT have access to a variety of professional and support services including open office hours by professional firms from the life sciences community. The 46,000-square-foot incubator also offers tenants access to affordable lab space and offices, conference rooms, support staff, and a variety of additional resources. University spinoffs like BCI also can take advantage of discounted rent for the first year.
“Understanding and responding to the needs of the market is imperative to the State’s ability to retain and attract innovative companies and top talent,” EDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan said. “Nurturing early-stage companies is just one facet of Governor Murphy’s vision of a more robust and equitable economy, and CCIT offers a model of what can be achieved through collaboration between the private, public, and academic sectors.”
With a background in robotics and virtual rehabilitation, Dr. Burdea, who is originally from Romania, has been a professor at Rutgers University School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering for more than 30 years. Dr. Burdea’s work has been recognized both internationally and state-wide. He received the 2017 Virtual Reality Career Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for his lifetime contribution to virtual and/or augmented reality. This is the highest and most prestigious honor in the field of virtual and augmented reality. In 2014, he received the New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award. BCI repeatedly received Small Business Innovation Research funding from National Institutes of Health, helping the medical device company to further its efforts.
@NJEDATech spoke to Dr. Burdea about his experience in New Jersey and his company’s plans for the future:
Why did you choose to grow your company in New Jersey?
Having spent the past 30 years here, I know the intrinsic value that New Jersey offers entrepreneurs, including its strong academic institutions and its dynamic life sciences community. I also wanted to maintain strong ties with Rutgers and to offer jobs for students and graduates. In return for the decades of support I have received from the university, I wanted to strengthen BCI while also benefitting Rutgers.
What have you found most useful about locating at CCIT?
In addition to the abundant networking opportunities here, we have found the incubator’s large research and office space in a modern facility a great tool that offers an avenue for growth.
What do you consider Bright Cloud’s biggest success to date?
Our biggest success to date is the BrightBrainerTM Rehabilitation System. I am proud that it reduces care costs, increases access to care, and improves therapy outcomes.
What’s on the horizon for Bright Cloud?
We want to become the go-to place in this exciting new medical specialty of virtual reality therapy. We also plan to attract additional investments that will help us grow.
The EDA offers a multitude of resources to help technology grow and thrive. To learn about these resources, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
New Jersey has over 840,000 small businesses – and they continue to create jobs, provide important services and products, and make a big impact on the state's economy daily. Whether a business owner's enterprise is home-based or a high-tech start-up, they can face challenges of all sizes when launching or running a small business.
Here in the Garden State, small business owners do not need to do it alone. The State of New Jersey offers specialized and professional support to small businesses through the New Jersey Business Action Center (NJBAC). Housed within the Department of State, the business community can rely on the NJBAC as a "one-stop" resource for doing business in the state. Need the latest updates on the state's licensing and permitting laws? Want a practical checklist for starting a business? The NJBAC has the information business owners need. Below are a few NJBAC resources that are useful to small business owners – at no cost:
Financing Help
The NJBAC's Office of Small Business Advocacy can identify financing and incentive programs available through other state agencies, and those administered by sister agency, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). What's more, NJBAC advocates can assist in finding resources needed to repair or build credit.
Export Assistance
Ready to expand your business internationally? NJBAC business advocates can help your company go global with valuable export assistance. Not only are basics terms and conditions about exporting offered, but a team of international advocates are ready to assist and help build a plan for global success. Your business is in capable hands; the State of New Jersey received the prestigious President's "E Star" Award for excellence in export services.
BAC SUCCESS STORIES
Fornazor International, a Hillsdale-based specialty animal feed blender, received assistance from the NJBAC and was able to attend two trade shows in Dubai. "The trade shows have had a tremendous impact on our business. Thanks to their support, we project a million-dollar revenue increase over 18 months," said Susan R. Jay, Fornazor's Business Development Manager.
Branchburg-based ZEUS Scientific, a global company serving the in-vitro diagnostics community, also received assistance from the NJBAC. The company was able to attend the American Association of Clinical Chemistry trade show and facilitated a market research study to identify potential international markets. "There is a real market looking for our products overseas," said Chris Howard, chief commercial officer. "The NJBAC helped us expand our network of contacts and buyers from Europe, Asia and South America."
Events to Keep You "In the Know"
The NJBAC team travels the Garden State to speak at events and educate the business community about ways to stay competitive and successful in their market. Topics of interest for small business owners include entrepreneurship, intellectual property and marketing basics. Check out the State of New Jersey's Business Portal for information on upcoming events.
NJBAC Call Center: 1-800-JERSEY-7
Put the NJBAC’s Call Center on speed dial and help will always be just a call away. Business advocates at the NJBAC Call Center are ready to answer questions in real time and direct callers to the proper resources. The call center is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spanish-speaking advocates are also available. For 24/7 information and an overview of the NJBAC's services, visit the State of New Jersey Business Portal.
Due to uncertainty regarding the weather, the NJEDA Board Meeting scheduled for March 13, 2018 has been postponed.
Due to forecasted inclement weather, the meeting of the New Jersey Biotechnology Task Force scheduled for Thursday, March 8, 2018 has been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date.
TRENTON, N.J. (March 1, 2018) – With the robo-advising industry surpassing $200 billion worldwide, Bridgewater-based BackEnd Benchmarking is quickly becoming a global leader in investment analytics and transparency. At the same time, the company remains grounded in its local community, nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs by hiring New Jersey-educated employees, and benefiting from resources available to the Garden State’s technology community.
BackEnd Benchmarking’s President and Founder Ken Schapiro created the company to provide a research tool to help investors make informed decisions when considering investing in a robo-advisor. To that end, he pumped close to $500,000 of his own dollars into investments handled by several of the largest robo-advising products, including offerings from TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab Corporation, Fidelity, Betterment, and others. This enabled his company to use its proprietary software platform to aggregate data and analyze various aspects of the investments, such as equity positions and fixed income. BackEnd Benchmarking tracks these investments and publishes “The Robo Report™,” which monitors the largest and most well-known robo- advisors, with the goal of providing transparency via quarterly analysis of robo-advisor performance, portfolios and news.
In 2017, BackEnd Benchmarking received $470,000 in funding from investors who participated in the State’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program. Administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the New Jersey Division of Taxation, the Program offers a 10 percent refundable tax credit against New Jersey corporation business or gross income tax for qualified investments in an emerging technology business with a physical presence in New Jersey and that conducts research, manufacturing, or technology commercialization in the state. The EDA approved 256 Angel Investor Tax Credit applications in 2017, representing the injection of a total of $111 million of private capital into 39 different technology and life sciences companies throughout the Garden State. Since the program began in 2013, the EDA has approved 929 applications for investments in 65 New Jersey-based technology businesses totaling more than $332 million.
“The Angel Investor Tax Credit Program is a great extra incentive to invest in our company,” Schapiro said. “Of course, there are a lot of other criteria on which our investors base their decisions on where to deploy capital, but when they look for funding, every extra incentive helps.”
Shapiro added that, for investors that are local to New Jersey, the program helps emphasize that they are investing in their community and helping to create jobs and a robust economy where they live. Schapiro is also president of Condor Capital Wealth Management, an investment advisor from which BackEnd Benchmarking spun out in 2016. Condor, which has been in central New Jersey for three decades, was recognized in the 2017 Barron’s Top Advisor List and was recently named one of NJBIZ’s Best Places to Work in New Jersey. Its offices are in a former school renovated by Schapiro. Both Condor Capital Wealth Management and BackEnd Benchmarking are committed to fostering entrepreneurship in the State and routinely offer internships and full-time employment to Rutgers University students and graduates.
“The State’s proximity and accessibility to New York City’s financial markets and its highly-educated workforce make New Jersey an ideal location for financial technology companies,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “The Angel Investor Tax Credit Program and other resources are helping early-stage companies like BackEnd Benchmarking flourish in the Garden State.”
@NJEDATech asked Schapiro about his experience in New Jersey and his company’s plans for the future:
Why did you decide to grow BackEnd Benchmarking in New Jersey? Having spent 30 years growing multiple successful businesses here, I can leverage my existing resources to help get BackEnd Benchmarking and The Robo ReportTM off the ground. Also, when considering the best use of raised capital, I would rather rent affordable office space and hire more software developers than pay astronomical rents in a place like New York City and have a less robust team. This affordability also benefits employees, who can focus more on building a great product if they are not under the stress of high living costs or long commutes. Schools like Rutgers and Stevens Institute of Technology also have robust programs that are educating young people with the skills I need to build out our businesses. Proximity to New York City, access to young talent, and affordability are just a few reasons New Jersey makes a lot of sense for us.
What do you consider BackEnd Benchmarking’s biggest success to date? Our work and research were featured in a cover story in Barron’s Magazine in July, which really validated what we are doing to bring transparency to robo-advisors. The day the story came out was invigorating for the team and gave us a lot of energy to continue with our mission. The success we have in helping our users and readers make more informed and better decisions with their money is more important than press coverage to us, but when Barron’s called our research “groundbreaking” in a cover story, it helped us to step back and look at how far we have come.
What’s on the horizon for BackEnd Benchmarking? The robo-advice industry is just the first area of finance to which we are bringing transparency. We are building a digital personal investments and finance tool that is going to bring the underlying concept of The Robo ReportTM across the investment services landscape. Our goal is to bring transparency to all corners of the financial services industry, while guiding and empowering our users to make informed, quality decisions about their finances, service providers, and products. We will be seeking additional funding in the third and fourth quarters of this year to help us take the next steps in our mission.
The EDA offers a multitude of resources to help technology grow and thrive. To learn about these resources, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls.
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CEO Touts State’s Talent Pool and Business Environment as Critical to Company’s Growth
TRENTON, N.J. (February 22, 2018) – In recent months, biopharmaceutical company V ClinBio has taken several steps to make 2018 a banner year for its development and for the creation of new drugs for millions of patients that suffer from multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and psoriasis. These actions, under the new leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and veteran New Jersey pharmaceutical executive Bob Oliver, include expanding the company’s footprint in the Garden State with the opening of a new office in Mercer County, executing a strategic acquisition, and obtaining critical funding through New Jersey’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program.
V ClinBio entered 2018 with funds raised from 10 investments approved last year under the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program. Administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the New Jersey Division of Taxation, the Program offers a 10 percent refundable tax credit against New Jersey corporation business or gross income tax for qualified investments in an emerging technology business with a physical presence in New Jersey and that conducts research, manufacturing, or technology commercialization in the state.
The funding will help V ClinBio further its mission to develop a robust pipeline of new medicines addressing unmet medical needs across diverse therapeutic areas including neurology, inflammation and metabolic diseases. Scientists at V ClinBio take the core ingredients of already-existing drugs and combine them in new ways to make new therapies that both increase their efficacy and reduce potential side effects for patients.
“Through resources like the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program, the EDA provides growing technology and biotechnology companies like V ClinBio with resources that help them to attract private investors and receive the funding they need to continue developing life-saving and life-enhancing therapeutics,” EDA CEO Tim Sullivan said.
The EDA approved 256 Angel Investor Tax Credit applications in 2017, representing the injection of a total of $111 million of private capital into 39 different technology and life sciences companies throughout the Garden State. Since the program began in 2013, the EDA has approved 929 applications for investments in 65 New Jersey-based technology businesses totaling more than $332 million.
As a former executive at pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth (now Pfizer) and Otsuka, Oliver, who took the helm at V ClinBio in November, is familiar with New Jersey’s pharmaceutical landscape and its advantages for early-stage biopharmaceutical companies, such as its proximity to large pharmaceutical companies, its top-notch workforce and the many resources available to the life sciences community.
Oliver moved V ClinBio’s operations to Ewing last month, where it leased approximately 3,000 square feet of space. The company also maintains its presence at the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark, where it has grown over the past four years led by its founder Dr. Subbu Apparsundaram. While at the incubator, V ClinBio had access to NJIT resources, mentors and other programming.
Earlier this month, V ClinBio acquired a nearly 50 percent stake in Cellix Bio, an innovative drug design and development biopharmaceutical company. Through this acquisition, V ClinBio obtained Cellix Bio’s proprietary Synergix drug delivery platform, which unlocks the clinical and regulatory potential of existing therapies and offers biopharma companies the potential to shorten development times and reduce the risk of clinical failure. V ClinBio expects to file an Investigation New Drug Application later this year with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for CLX-106 and CLX-103 to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis respectively. Both CLX-106 and CLX-103 were generated by Synergix. V ClinBio plans to start human clinical trials on these drugs later this year.
@NJEDATech spoke with Oliver about V ClinBio’s experience in New Jersey and its plans for the future:
Why did you choose to grow your company in New Jersey?
New Jersey has an excellent talent pool and the business environment is conducive to innovation.
How have investments made through the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program benefitted V ClinBio?
The clear majority of investors have converted equity to shares in our company, rather than holding onto convertible notes, ensuring that they have a long-term, vested interest in V ClinBio.
What do you consider V ClinBio’s biggest success to date?
We are very proud of our accomplishments in advancing our lead compounds through the regulatory and clinical development process.
What is on the horizon for your company?
We look forward to continuing to create partnerships and commercializing our best-in-class medicines.
The EDA offers a multitude of resources to help technology grow and thrive. To learn about these resources, visit https://www.njeda.gov/tls and follow @NJEDATech on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
A meeting of the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation (CCRC) Board has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 10:00 am in the EDA Board Room, 36 West State Street, Trenton, NJ.
A copy of the proposed agenda can be found at http://web.njeda.com/ccrc/page.aspx?id=2461