Step aside, "Martin Shkreli's Game." Here are a few more inspired ideas from the healthcare and life sciences industry that could make it to the Great White Way.
People waiting for construction to start at the much-touted Elk Run biobusiness park are getting used to the idea of delayed gratification as yet another construction deadline has come and gone. Elk Run of course is that 2,000-plus acres, mixed-use real estate development in rural southeastern Minnesota whose grand plans once called for the construction […]
Let’s begin with a simple premise: Fantasy is bad. Reality is good. Entrepreneurs begin with a dream. But things go badly when they drink their own Kool-Aid. That’s when valuable advisers can force entrepreneurs to swallow the bitter pill that is reality. And only when aspiration collides with reality and makes the necessary adjustment does […]
Biotech industry observer G. Steven Burrill says he will soon have $350 million to invest in a broad range of companies. Burrill late last week filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on his $500 million Burrill Capital Fund IV. Burrill, in an e-mail Monday, said he’ll close $350 million of that fund by […]
San Francisco financier and biotech observer Steve Burrill has made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing that he is looking to raise $500 million. Could Burrill’s Capital Fund IV be the long-awaited, repeatedly-promised, now-reduced-from-$1 billion fund for Elk Run, the mixed-use development in southeastern Minnesota? According to the filing made on Thursday, none of the $500 million has been raised, but then that doesn’t necessarily mean Burrill doesn’t have commitments for it. In fact a blog is reporting that Rusnano, the state-owned entity formally known as Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, is investing $200 million in the fund.
One thing the interminably delayed Elk Run biotech/real estate development in southeastern Minnesota demands is patience. And that’s exactly what the Minnesota Department of Transportation has displayed in great abundance. Last week, even though no building stands on the proposed Elk Run bioscience park, MnDOT gave the green signal to a contractor to go ahead […]
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.
Fund founder Jim O'Reilly says it was "fairly impossible" to raise money. For O'Reilly, explaining Upwind to potential investors proved to be a challenge in itself. For one thing, O'Reilly insisted Upwind was not a "fund" but rather a "new model" for developing startups.
When you're the president and CEO of a major national real estate development firm, it's best to develop a thick skin. It's also probably not a good idea to post public comments to a news website when you're pissed off at 1 o'clock in the morning. Yet that's exactly what Steve Marks, CEO of Tower Investments in California did upon reading my story Tuesday on the troubled Elk Run BioBusiness Park his company is developing in Pine Island, Minnesota.
"There are two things that we know about the universe," Abraham Algadi said. "We can only control the things we can control. The rest, we leave to a higher power." Algadi is not a priest or philosopher, at least professionally. Algadi, the city administrator for Pine Island, Minnesota, was referring to the fate of the much maligned, often delayed Elk Run BioBusiness Park.
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.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Burrill & Co. and the Infinity Group are joining forces to pursue investments in Chinese life science companies. San Francisco-based Burrill, a venture capital/private equity player that's also trying to launch a $1 billion investment fund in Minnesota, and Israel- and China-based Infinity will co-invest in U.S. dollars and Chinese renminbi as equal partners, according to a press release.
Is it my imagination or does the Elk Run development project in Pine Island, Minnesota, seem a little... what's the word I'm looking for?... oh, yeah... cursed? Don't believe me? Well, let's examine events from the past 12 months or so.
Steve Burrill may have trouble keeping quiet about the proposed $1 billion fund to back the Elk Run BioBusiness Park, but at least one Burrill-related fund in Minnesota has largely remained silent on its plans. Coordinate Capital LLC has been trying to raise a $25 million local fund to invest in biomass, energy and life science startups. Ten months later, CEO and managing partner Andrew Pulkrabek has stuck to its guns -- by not saying anything. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Fairly or not, Steve Burrill's reputation in Minnesota will rest a great deal on whether he can deliver the $1 billion investment fund to back the Elk Run BioBusiness Park in Pine Island. He says he's close. But fund or no fund, Burrill said Minnesota already has benefited from his interest and his checkbook.
The man responsible for finding cash to support the Elk Run BioBusiness Park says he's in final negotiations with a foreign investor for the long-promised $1 billion investment fund. In an interview with MedCity News, Steven Burrill says he is working out the details of a limited partnership agreement with a sovereign wealth fund. He hopes to close the deal by the end of the month.
