RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has approved a $21,000 loan to help a young Charlotte research-based company pursue more investment for developing its flu-fighting products.
The Business Development Loan (BDL) was granted to Flutrends International LLC to support inception activities necessary to launch the company.
Flutrends, co-founded by Charlotte businessman Gregory Poole and Myrtle Beach, S.C., physician Steven Schwartz, plans to develop viral barriers and biotechnology-based therapies as a two-pronged approach to fighting flu, said Poole.
"We intend to offer a new approach for preventing the influenza virus from attacking the human host," he said, "while also delivering a therapy capable of disabling the flu virus at the cellular level. We simply could not get this done in the time frame we deem appropriate without the assistance of the Biotechnology Center. "
The BDL program is one of more than 15 targeted grant and loan programs administered by the Biotechnology Center to support biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training statewide.
"The Biotechnology Center is one of the few viable options for promising young biotechnology companies like Flutrends," said John Richert, vice president of the Biotechnology Center's Business & Technology Development Program. "We're glad we can be here for them, because virtually all start-ups need this kind of help to make it through the inception phase and prove their concepts to venture investors."
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the N.C. General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
North Carolina Biotechnology CenterCONTACT: Jim Shamp, news & publications editor, North CarolinaBiotechnology Center, +1-919-541-9366, or jim_shamp@ncbiotech.org; or GregPoole of Flutrends, +1-704-843-6928, or gpoole@flutrends.com
