Dale Wahlstrom is an optimistic guy. But budget-cutting Republicans poised to control the House and Senate, and possibly the governor's office next year may test the optimism of the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota CEO.
Dr. Frank Cerra has hitched his wagon to outgoing University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks. Cerra, medical school dean and head of the school's Academic Health Center, is retiring at the end of the year partly because Bruininks is doing the same. It's just as well. Together, the two men had sought to remake the school into a top research university and an economic engine for Minnesota. But as they prepare to exit, their vision is in doubt.
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
It seems eons ago when the first cattle rush for Minnesota's governor's office appeared on stage at the BIO forum in April. The results of that debate were abysmal for innovation. Eight months later, Tom Horner and Tom Emmer have substantially improved their grades.
In launching Decade of Discovery, a $250 million-to-$350 million diabetes partnership, the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic are opting for an approach that requires the help of virtually everyone with a stake in Minnesota's healthcare economy: hospitals, payers, food manufacturers, device companies, biotech startups.
Diabetes Sentry Products Inc. beat out 400 other startups across the country to win the best pitch competition at the The PerfectBusiness Entrepreneur & Investor Conference in Las Vegas. The company, based in Orono, Minnesota, is trying to raise $1 million to $1.5 million to develop a portable device that alerts diabetic patients when their blood sugar levels fall dangerously low.
Dale Wahlstrom, the CEO of the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, soon will oversee LifeScience Alley under a strategic affiliation the two organizations announced Thursday. Beginning in November, Wahlstrom, a former Medtronic executive, will replace Don Gerhardt, president and chief executive of LifeScience Alley, who will retire at the end of the year. Officials from both groups stressed BioBusiness Alliance and LifeScience Alley are not merging.
After surveying the chaos otherwise known as Fall elections, I can confidently conclude one thing: I don't think Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton is scoring a lot of votes from the business community, especially the important lifescience industry. So that leaves GOP nominee Tom Emmer and Independence Party favorite Tom Horner vying for lifescience votes.
If Minnesota keeps this up, expanding the $60 million angel investment tax credit won't just be a nice idea, it will be a political necessity. Minnesota has awarded $1.5 million in credits to angels, up from $573,000 in late August -- a nearly three-fold increase in less than two months.
The healthcare reform law is indisputably an emotionally charged, complicated piece of legislation that can thwart even the best intellects and intentions. Just take LifeScience Alley's seminar on how the law will impact Minnesota's healthcare industry. By my last count, I witnessed an unfortunate analogy, two Freudian slips, and an ill conceived attempt at humor...I think.
For a company that promises to "inform" consumers about the law, the letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota is awfully vague.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
A few months ago, LifeScience Alley and the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota sponsored the first ever BIO forum, a chance for the gazillion people seeking to succeed Gov. Tim Pawlenty to woo the bioscience crowd. The results were dismal. The only candidate from that group with a strong chance of winning the election, the Republican […]
Merck & Co. is no longer a drug company. Or at least that’s one of its top executives told the Innovations in Diabetes Summit in St. Louis Park, Minnesota Wednesday. Now before you start shorting Merck stock, the company, a longtime stalwart of Big Pharma, is still very much in the business of making pharmaceuticals. […]
At a time when medical device companies are facing challenges like the $20 Billion excise tax (part of national health care reform), there is industry-wide concern that FDA will increase the regulatory burdens necessary to bring new technology to market, thus increasing time to bring life-enhancing products to patients, and increasing costs. There is already a dearth of early-stage start-up funding available in many parts of the country, and an increasingly burdensome and unpredictable regulatory process only hurts the ability of promising companies to attract what little start-up money exists.
I’m pretty sure the Food and Drug Administration and LifeScience Alley don’t always coordinate their events. But thanks to these two organizations, some pretty meaty drama will play out in Minnesota this week. On Tuesday, the FDA will host a town hall-style meeting in Bloomington, Minn. that will essentially allow the local medical device community […]
Fresh from passing a landmark angel investor tax credit, Minnesota lawmakers are advancing a bill that would, in time, radically alter high-tech economic development in the state by concentrating authority in a single public-private entity. The proposed Minnesota Science and Technology Authority, modeled after programs like Third Frontier in Ohio and The Ben Franklin Technology […]
