The E-Group Newsletter

MU Entrepreneurs' Group (E-Group) events are currently being planned for the fall semester. We have some great speakers in the queue and will let you know more as we nail down dates. At our last event, MU alum Dave Holt flew in from Silicon Valley to share his experiences and insights as a serial entrepreneur. More than 125 people attended! The Missourian interviewed Dave while he was here and recently published a story about him. You can view this story by clicking here.

VA Hospital Opens New High-Tech Lab
Two years ago, the lowest level of Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital was an unfinished basement with dirt floors. Today, a $7 million state-of-the-art laboratory fills the space, and researchers say two recent deliveries put the lab at the forefront of cancer research technology. The VA Biomolecular Imaging Center, funded with $3.9 million from the 2000 VA appropriations bill, centers around four pieces of molecular imaging equipment used to study body systems and anatomy and diagnose disease. (more)

At MU, Biotech Focus on Dollars
Biodegradable plastic, like other discoveries at the University of Missouri-Columbia, might eventually bring the university "considerable financial returns," said Professor Doug Randall, a lead researcher who has worked five years on the project. But the problem with this and other MU biotechnology research is that bringing it to market requires that multiple steps in the creation process be patented first - at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars each. The biodegradable-plastic idea will need 17 patents to be marketable, Randall said. (More)

AndroLogika, Inc.
AndroLogika is a privately-funded, reproductive testing and technology development company developing novel approaches to fertility testing in humans, farm animals and pets, in addition to non-hormonal immuno-contraception. Initial customers are producers and breeders of cattle, hogs, horses and pets. Current semen quality tests are based on appearance and mobility of sperm relative to expected norms and do not indicate reliably the actual effectiveness of an insemination. AndroLogika's testing approach examines protein markers pointing to damaged sperm. AndroLogika's tests detect abnormal spermatozoa regardless of whether their morphology/appearance in light microscopy deviates from accepted standards. AndroLogika's methodology thus avoids current problems in false detection of normal spermatozoa damaged during sample processing, and also detects the spermatozoa that are defective, but appear normal in conventional analysis. (More)

KC Area Universities Part of National Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Consortium
Several leading research universities in Kansas City's bi-state region are members of a small but influential association called the National Consortium for Life Sciences Entrepreneurship (NCLSE). Based at the University of South Florida and sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the NCLSE's membership (roughly 20 universities) includes the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Kansas, Washington University in St. Louis, and Rockhurst University. The NCLSE's mission is to be a "catalyst for life sciences entrepreneurship in America" and works to: develop and train leaders in life sciences and entrepreneurship; foster collaboration among the consortium's members in life sciences and entrepreneurship education; develop innovative life sciences and entrepreneurship curriculum; and foster a national climate for life sciences commercialization. (More)

Miracle In the Midwest: How Madison, Wis. Became A Hotbed Of Biocapitalism
This hotbed of radicalism has grown into a seedbed of biocapitalism, propelling the region to the number one slot on our list of Best Places for Business and Careers. Scientists are developing artificial skin (at a company called Stratatech), vitamin D therapies for patients with chronic kidney disease (Bone Care International) and proteins that inhibit cancer-cell development (Quintessence Biosciences). Such biotech ventures cluster around the university and nearby Milwaukee, home of the Medical College of Wisconsin and a unit of GE Healthcare (2003 revenues: $10 billion), which acquired Lunar, a Madison maker of bone densitometers and ultrasound equipment, in 2000. Some 120 technology companies employing 8,000 people have sprung up in Madison during the past decade. Average annual salary: $60,000. (More)

Gauging a Region's Entrepreneurial Potential
December 9, 2005; Noon-1:30 p.m., Room 217 Mumford Hall. Presented by Sarah Low, a research associate in the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

SPARC Quarterly Networking Event
January 26, 2006; 4:00-6:00 p.m., McQuinn Atrium in the MU Life Sciences Center. SPARC partners with The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurship at Washington University to bring you IdeaBounce. IdeaBounce gives entrepreneurs two minutes in front of a panel of judges and an audience full of investors, other entrepreneurs, students, executives and faculty. The judges will select three winners - each receiving $100 and an invitation to dinner with the judges after the event.

InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum
April 5-6, 2006; A.G. Edwards World Headquarters - St. Louis, MO
The main goal of InvestMidwest is to provide access to capital for emerging, privately held companies and to promote greater entrepreneurship, business growth and expansion in the Midwest. InvestMidwest will bring together 250-300 of the country's leading venture capitalists, investors, bankers, and accounting and legal professionals for presentations by 30 emerging growth businesses seeking funding.

Stereotaxis Files for IPO
Stereotaxis, a medical equipment company headquartered at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis and closely linked to Washington University, has filed to raise $115 million in an initial public stock offering. Many St. Louis-based investors -- including A.G. Edwards, Ascension Health Ventures, BJC Health System, Emerson, Gateway Venture Partners, Oakwood Investors, Prolog Ventures and Stifel Nicolaus -- were among some the early backers of Stereotaxis. (More)

SBIR/STTR Grants
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs are extremely important sources of funding for U.S. small businesses. According to the SBA, SBIR is a highly competitive program that encourages small business to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization. STTR is an important new small business program that expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development arena. Central to the program is expansion of the public/private sector partnership to include the joint venture opportunities for small business and the nation's premier nonprofit research institutions. (More)

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