Industry – Page 24 – Swanson Reed | Specialist R&D Tax Advisors

Nutramax Laboratories Set to Expand in Lancaster

Nutramax Laboratories has been researching and developing high-quality nutritional supplements for over 30 years. In an effort to continue this work, the company has announced their plans to expand operations in Lancaster County. This expansion – and the $30 million investment that goes with it – will create approximately 200 new jobs.

In addition to three existing locations in Lancaster, Nutramax Laboratories’ new facility will be located at 785 Fort Mill Highway in Indian Land and will house additional warehousing, distribution and future manufacturing capabilities.

“We are pleased to continue to grow in Lancaster County. With this newest expansion to the Indian Land area, we will continue providing a positive impact that goes beyond our economic development commitments. For 30 years, we have been blessed with a fantastic team of employees committed to delivering the very best to our consumers. Our values of glorifying God, serving our people, supporting our community and pursuing excellence have created an unwavering guide to fulfilling our mission.” said Nutramax Laboratories President and CEO Todd Henderson, DVM.

Nutramax develops and provides safe, effective, quality products meant to improve the user’s quality of life. They have formulated supplements for both humans and pets and quickly grew as an industry leader in setting and adhering to high standards in manufacturing and quality control. In fact every supplement is tested by 80 quality checks backed by scientific studies. Their product line includes supplements to promote joint health, digestive health, and overall wellness.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

MindImmune Therapeutics Secures $12.4M in Series A Funding

Hawaii Patent of the Month - November 2021

MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc. is at the forefront of discovering mechanisms of neuroinflammation that may be targeted for breakthrough therapeutics for brain disease. With such ground-breaking research, it’s no surprise that the company has raised $12.4 million in Series A financing.

Their research is focused on the science around blocking aberrant immune system activity. This activity is an effector of nervous system disease, and blocking it may have positive impacts around the cause of symptoms and progression in many devastating neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Collectively, the co-founders bring over a century of experience in drug discovery. The founders are experts in neuropharmacology, neuroscience, and pharmaceutical drug discovery and development.

MindImmune’s scientists are bridging knowledge of both the nervous and immune systems in an effort to discover previously unrecognized immune effector mechanisms underlying brain disease. To support this endeavor, the company has decided to actualize their knowledge in the form of a facile drug discovery engine. Their flagship program may herald a breakthrough therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition wherein the immune system becomes inappropriately activated. Then the inflammatory response fails to resolve this activation. This inappropriate immune response usually manifests as innate immune first responder cells infiltrating into the brain, where these cells cause damage to synapses. This synaptic damage underlies both the cognitive symptoms and the relentless progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

MindImmune has identified the key innate immune cells that infiltrate the brain in these instances. Armed with this knowledge, the company began developing an antibody therapy to block this infiltration and ameliorate the synaptic attack.

Investors participating in the Series A funding round include Dolby Family Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), Trend Venture, RightHill Ventures (an affiliate of the Slater Technology Fund) and several private investors. The funding will go towards supporting the company’s lead program in preclinical development, targeting Alzheimer’s disease as the primary indication.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

This Academic and Corporate R&D Matchmaker will “Astound” You

Birmingham-based Astound has set their sights on supporting R&D in Alabama. This platform is dedicated to connecting academic researchers with companies in order to streamline how industry-funded academic research gets off the ground. Astound comes out of Mark Two Venture Studio – a Nashville-based firm focused on tech startups.

The bridge between academic research and commercialization has long been a hard one to cross. This means many breakthrough technologies struggle to be brought to life. Getting funding is a process with many hoops to jump through.

Dr. Joel Berry, founder of Astound, describes landing research funding as a “labor-intensive and high-friction” process. Even once the funding is secured, there are further roadblocks and bureaucratic hurdles associated with tracking contract agreements and project status.

Berry said work on the idea really started as a “scholarly exercise” to better understand the market surrounding industry-funded academic research. While Berry and Mark Two have been working on the concept since last August, Astound closed its $1 million seed round from Mark Two and officially incorporated this May. The team plans to fully launch the platform in early 2023.

The team, currently made up of 6 employees, has gone through its long customer discovery phase and is now in the process of testing its prototype platform with more potential corporate sponsors.

The system will provide an automated and confidential system to match university research expertise to corporate R&D needs. With initial focus on the life sciences research community, the company intends to expand to address a broad spectrum of disciplines including engineering, computer science, and agriculture.

With an automated marketplace and smart matching algorithm, the process of finding funding can be made more efficient and streamlined. Partnership negotiations through a templated and simple system will also speed up negotiations.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

PAI Life Sciences Begins Phase 1 Trial for Snail Fever Vaccine

PAI Life Sciences, a Seattle biotech startup, has started a phase 1 trial for their schistosomiasis vaccine. The trial has an expected end date of April 2024. This tropical disease, also called snail fever, is caused by parasitic flatworms that enter human skin when in contact with contaminated water. This infection, if untreated long term, can cause damage to livers and kidneys, infertility, and bladder cancer.

The phase 1 trial will evaluate both safety and immune response in healthy volunteers at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. The study will be conducted as an open-label, dose-escalation trial with a sample size of 45 healthy adults between 18 and 55 years of age. Five treatment groups, each including nine subjects, will receive three intramuscular injections at different doses. One group will receive the vaccine without an adjuvant (which acts to increase immune responses) and four will receive the vaccine with an adjuvant.

Currently, there are drug therapy approaches for treatment of the infection but dependence on these treatment options alone is inadequate. This treatment option has minimal impact on the reduction of disease transmission and, as such, infection rates continue to be high. Beyond this, there is an ever-present risk of the development of drug resistance by the parasite.

If proven effective and safe through clinical trials, this vaccine would build up the arsenal against the disease and contribute to the reduction in infection rates. At present, the vaccine has shown to ameliorate disease, kill adult worms, and reduce fecundity in preclinical animal models. The company is hoping to prove this again in full clinical studies.

The condition “is second only to malaria among parasitic diseases with the greatest devastating economic impact,” said PAI’s vice president Sean Gray.

PAI Life Sciences have focused their expertise on antigens for diagnostics and vaccines. They provide developmental and translational research necessary to bring products from the laboratory to the bedside.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Biomotum Receives $300K as First Place Winner in Angel Oregon Life and Bioscience Investment Program

Biomotum has been announced as the winner of Angel Oregon Life and Bioscience in Portland. This win comes with $300,000 in investment funding for the wearable robotics startup.

The company has dedicated themselves to developing solutions which optimize human mobility. Their solutions include the development of intelligent and intuitive wearable systems. These exoskeleton solutions are designed by expert engineers which can offer mobility solutions to physical therapists, orthotic and prosthetic professionals, and individuals who experience walking impairment and disabilities.

The exoskeleton is designed with an ankle actuator built from ultra-lightweight carbon fiber. This component achieves finely-tuned mobility with both plantar-flexor and dorsiflexor torque. Torque angle sensing optimizes control and monitoring. A waistpack stores the brains, battery, and motors of the exoskeleton including lithium-ion batteries. With a control interface available on any device, the device transforms mobility rehabilitation, helping those with walking impairments to live without limits.

The company was up against four other finalists including:

Savorease Therapeutic Foods – a startup focused on creating finger foods for people with swallowing or chewing difficulties;
Inherent Targeting – a startup developing fluorescent imaging agents to visualize nerves during surgery;
StoneTable – a startup developing a way to increase vaccine stability with a silica coating.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Skymount Medical to Receive Silver Stevie Award from the Annual American Business Awards

Skymount Medical has been awarded a Silver Stevie ® Award in the Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Solution category of the 20th annual American Business Awards. This award is based on the company’s work developing its DeepDrug™ AI platform.

The company utilized an AI platform developed by Louisiana State University (LSU) researchers to repurpose and build new drugs for innovative new therapies. Their DeepDrug™ AI platform is designed to accelerate drug discovery and development for the entire industry.

Alongside this platform, the company is working on developing combination therapies to fight COVID-19 and all coronavirus strains. Their focus extends to other infectious diseases as well as new antibiotics that target antibiotic-resistant bacteria and rare diseases.

The American Business Awards is the premier business awards program in the United States. All organizations operating in the U.S. are eligible to submit nominations, whether they are public or private, for-profit or non-profit, large or small.

“We are honored and gratified to be among the elite group of companies recognized for their achievements,” said Zubin Kothawala, chief executive officer of Skymount Medical. “It is especially meaningful that the judges’ comments included words like ‘revolutionary’ and ‘sophisticated’ when describing our computer-aided drug design software that uses key components to deliver an efficient, state-of-the-art compound generation that significantly shortens the timelines and reduces the cost for new drug development. Receiving this prestigious award validates our commitment to the important work of advancing the development of improved medicines using DeepDrug™ and providing greater access to cutting-edge therapeutics.”

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Benchmark Space Systems to Expand Internationally

Vermont’s own Benchmark Space Systems has announced their plans to expand globally, opening a new location in England. While growing internationally, the company intends to continue to grow its business in Vermont.

The company makes products that propel small satellites in space using hydrogen peroxide. This solution provides a cleaner satellite propellant as compared to industry alternatives. They intend to develop solutions that target pain points in propulsion systems. While their non-toxic propellants tackle a major pain point, the company has also tackled thrusters, propellant tanks, modular control electronics, and intelligent GNC integration frameworks. Combined, they have developed a plug-and-play solution customizable to mission objectives.

The new location will support the scale up of their manufacturing in order to meet industry demand. Along with this new location, the company has signed a contract with UK startup Space Forge and plans to add more to the list.

“We’re engaged with a handful of companies, nothing that I can announce officially today,” he said. “But we do have some new contracts that will be coming up here shortly that hopefully we’ll be able to announce by the end of the summer.”

The company has experienced rapid growth since their founding in 2017. In 2021, the company built three propulsion systems. They are on track to build 7 in 2022 and expect to build 80 in 2023. While the international expansion will help with this, the company is also doubling the space of their Vermont operations.

Benchmark has also had support from the federal level. In the past three years, the company has received over $2.8 million in federal contracts and grants from both NASA and the Department of Defense, as well as a $200,000 loan from the Paycheck Protection Loan Program (PPP) in April 2020.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Mazen Animal Health Secures $11M in Series A Funding

Mazen Animal Health, an Iowa-based startup, has secured $11 million in their Series A funding round, with investors such as AgFunder and Fall Line Capital.

Mazen is set on improving agricultural animal health by developing orally administered vaccines. These novel biological vaccines and therapeutics have the potential to disrupt the status quo of aghealth and address complex or unsolved challenges in animal health and protein production.

True to its name, Mazen’s technology uses plants, like maize, as molecular farms to produce the protein ingredients for its vaccines. This corn-based formulation is significantly cheaper than the typical precision fermentation process in expensive bioreactors. The cost-effectiveness of their process helps to combat the razor thin margins faced by farmers. With the vaccine being orally administered, it can also cut costs needed to effectively deliver the vaccine. Their formulation can be incorporated into animal feed and delivered as usual rather than individually injecting each animal.

The Series A funding round followed the company’s progress in combating Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). This virus is deadly for newborn pigs and has been problematic for farmers since 2013. The funding will help support the efficacy studies of their PEDV vaccine to acquire approval by the USDA.

The funding will also help with plans to scale up their ability to manufacture the vaccine at commercial scale, while advancing a pipeline of other vaccines such as one for coccidiosis in poultry among others.

“Our investors are seeing the tremendous potential of the technology platform to deliver better vaccines more efficiently,” said Jennifer Filbey, CEO of the company. “In fact, the technology can help achieve better animal health through disease prevention – rather than treatment – and improve economics, stewardship, and sustainability.”

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Solid-State Battery Startup Natrion Secures $2M in Seed Funding

Illinois-based Natrion has announced the close of their first-ever seed funding round which successfully raised $2 million. The company is focused on the development of batteries that will better support mass market electric vehicles (EV), pushing their boundaries in terms of distance and power.

With growing global climate crises and climbing gas prices, it’s no surprise that there is also a growing demand for Evs. As this demand grows, so will the need for batteries to power them. This is where Natrion comes in.

The company has R&D facilities in New York and Illinois with semi-automated pouch cell production lines for the manufacture of prototype multi-layer pouch cells for use in EVs. These facilities are further set apart from others by the company’s specialized handling of lithium metal for the construction of lithium metal batteries.

Presently, EVs are limited by known fire safety risks and the high cost associated with prevailing lithium ion battery tech. But Natrion’s solid-state lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery chemistries are set to overcome these obstacles.

Natrion replaces plastic membranes with a Lithium Solid Ionic Composite (LISIC). The plastic membranes are soaked in highly volatile and flammable liquids which can create serious fire risks and also cause degradation of the chemical reactions. This degradation limits the battery performance and lifespan. LISIC, on the other hand, achieves the performance needed without any liquid and therefore has improved battery safety, performance, and durability.

This seed funding, along with a previously acquired $200,000 contract from the US Department of Defense will support the development of pouch cells to house the LISIC prototypes in full-size cells.

“Having the backing of investors of this caliber has positioned us well to continue to lead the pack and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Over the years we’ve assembled a stellar core research and development team that will now have all the necessary resources to make Natrion’s vision a reality,” Alex Kosyakov, CEO and co-founder of Natrion, said in a statement.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Sortile Wins Circularity 22 Accelerate Competition to Improve Fashion Sustainability

Sortile has been announced as the winner for GreenBiz Group’s Circularity 22 Accelerate competition after taking the stage by storm with their captivating fast pitch. Four startups from across the circular economy landscape competed for the prize, pitching their ideas to two industry experts – Francesca Whitehead, investor at G2VP, and April Crow, vice president at Circulate Capital.

The textile waste management technology company is focused on creating a more robust, circular fashion industry. The rise of fast fashion and microtrends have led to approximately 92 million tons of global textile wastes created every year.

Sortile removes key barriers for textile recycling including the difficult sorting process and lack of data. With these barriers removed, brands are more likely to follow through on their sustainability commitments.

“I started my professional career doing research on Latin American retailers,” Sortile’s CEO Constanza Gomez, who grew up in Chile, told GreenBiz. “I was able to have a clear view of the amount of waste that was created in the industry. It quickly became a sort of obsession to understand why textiles were not recycled.”

The co-founders pitched their device which sorts clothing by fiber composition quickly and efficiently using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This technology is traditionally used to image and monitor blood oxygen levels in brains, muscles, and tissue for the detection of injury and disease. However, Sortile has found they can apply the technology to optimize textile recycling. When combined with Sortile’s proprietary machine learning algorithms, NIRS is able to scan apparel and identify fiber compositions with 95% accuracy.

This reduces the labor needed to properly process and sort textiles and cuts the time needed in half. It also provides valuable data for B2B customers and improves transparency. Companies that collect clothes (returns or donations) can sell them back to fiber recyclers – saving on disposal costs, diverting material from landfills and helping meet sustainability goals.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.