Biotech startup to receive $200,000 from SC Launch at business summit

Charleston Regional Business Journal
Staff
November 4, 2009

A Charleston-based biotech startup is receiving a $200,000 investment today at the Small Business Innovation Summit & Expo at Trident Technical College in North Charleston.

SC Launch, a collaboration with the S.C. Research Authority, is making the investment in FirstString Research Inc., which is developing a product for scar prevention and tissue regeneration.

“The support we’ve received from SC Launch even goes beyond the equity investment we’ve received from them,” said Gautam Ghatnekar, FirstString’s president and CEO. “SC Launch has brought the right resources to the table. This investment, along with SCRA, SC Launch and additional in-state angel support, has helped us double in size over the last six months, enabling continued growth for us here in South Carolina.”

FirstString Research was one of the first recipients of funds from SC Launch as part of the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I Matching Grant Program. SC Launch client companies have secured more than $71 million to date in follow-on venture capital and private equity funding.

“With peptide-based intellectual property licensed from the Medical University of South Carolina, FirstString is the exact archetype of how we want to support bio-related commercialization in partnership with our in-state research universities,” said Bill Mahoney, chief executive of SCRA.

FirstString’s first commercial product will be a topical gel for the prevention of scarring. Based on early results, FirstString has already received regulatory approval in Europe to enter clinical phase testing.

SC Launch assists startup companies with upfront counseling, seed funding and access to a resource network. SCRA is an applied research and commercialization services company with offices in South Carolina, Ohio and the Washington, D.C. area.

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