Three Slater-backed Companies Receive STAC Funding

Bionica Corporation, NABsys, and ProThera Biologics Among Enterprises Awarded Grants

Providence, R.I., April 8, 2008 – Slater Technology Fund today announced that three of its portfolio companies were named recipients of the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council’s (STAC) annual Rhode Island Research Alliance Collaborative Grants. Now in its second year, the grant program is designed to advance technological research and economic growth in Rhode Island by stimulating collaborative research across institutions within the state.

The STAC awards, totaling $1.5 million, were granted to 24 scientists at 14 organizations throughout the state. Three of the 14 organizations awarded were biotechnology ventures that were started with seed funding from Slater. They include:

Bionica Corporation, a biotechnology company developing an innovative new personal communication system for the hearing impaired. Bionica received the grant to accelerate the progress of its innovative “Clio” hearing aid from a hardware platform to a device prototype for clinical testing.

ProThera Biologics, which develops integrated theranostic and therapeutic biomolecules for life-threatening conditions such as sepsis and cancer. ProThera received funding for a joint project with researchers from Women and Infants Hospital to evaluate and develop new anti-inflammatory therapies for serious pregnancy complications.

NABsys, the developer of sequencing technology designed to reduce the cost of sequencing the human genome. The STAC grant allows the team of NABsys scientists and researchers from Salve Regina University to further the development of the company’s hybridization-assisted nanopore sequencing technology in pursuit of the “$1000 genome.”

“STAC’s support for collaborative research among RI-based innovators aligns extremely well with Slater’s commitment to backing entrepreneurs in the development of technology-based ventures based here in Rhode Island,” said Richard G. Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund. “STAC grants to Slater-backed ventures are an excellent illustration of well-conceived economic development programs being brought to bear in an integrated manner.”

For more information about STAC, please visit www.stac.ri.gov.

About Slater Technology Fund
The Slater Technology Fund is a state-backed venture capital fund that invests in new companies committed to basing and building their businesses in Rhode Island. Slater focuses its resources on the support of entrepreneurs who have the vision, leadership and commitment to build substantial commercial enterprises. Slater typically invests at the inception stage in the development of a new venture, often based upon ideas and technologies originating in academic institutions and/or government research laboratories located within the region. In most cases, investments are premised upon the possibility of raising substantial follow-on financing, from venture capital investors or from strategic partners, with a view toward accelerating the generation of significant numbers of high-value, high-wage jobs over the intermediate to longer-term. For more information, visit www.slaterfund.com.

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Laura Nelson or Kaycee Roberts
SVM Public Relations
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