CURE Inc. Release: Strong Bioscience Showing Enriches Connecticut Technology Alliance Event

HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Connecticut bioscience companies made a strong showing at the Alliance for Connecticut Technology Innovation Day and Award Dinner held September 28 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The event was organized by Connecticut Innovations, the state bioscience organization CURE (Connecticut United for Research Excellence), and 13 other organizations working to advance high technology in Connecticut.

An estimated 800 people attended an afternoon poster session showcasing the work of over 100 of the state's most innovative companies, entrepreneurs, researchers and inventors. The exhibitors included a broad range of Connecticut biotech companies, from established players like CuraGen of Branford to more recent start-ups such as NanoViricides of West Haven.

At a gala award dinner in the evening, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell received the 2005 CURE Award for Excellence "for significant contribution or achievement in Connecticut bioscience." Conferring the award, Paul R. Pescatello, president and CEO of CURE, cited Governor Rell's "early and unflinching support" of Connecticut's stem cell legislation, "which has positioned Connecticut as one of a handful of states to lead in this promising area of bioscience research."

Earlier in the day, Connecticut's BioBus, the award-winning laboratory on wheels, paid a visit to the Convention Center to unveil a new BioBus experiment, "From Compound to Cure." The experiment is designed to introduce participants to the lengthy research process necessary to generate new medicines. The BioBus is a project of CURE and its members.

At CURE's annual meeting, held in conjunction with the Alliance event, Pescatello reviewed highlights of Connecticut bioscience during the past year and unveiled priorities for the coming year, including strategies for attracting more public and private bioscience investment to the state, for recruiting businesses by capturing out-of-state research university tech transfer, and for making Connecticut a more consistent and profitable player in clinical and pre-clinical ventures.

"The events of the day reaffirmed the importance of bioscience in Connecticut's economic future," Pescatello said. "We have a real opportunity here if we keep our focus."

CONTACT: Bill Kelly of CURE Inc., +1-203-375-2696, bkelly@curenet.org