(SoyMeds, Inc., Charlotte, NC- October 25, 2011)- Kenneth Bost, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of SoyMeds, Inc., will speak on the panel Biotechnology Start-Up Funding- Where to Find It and How to Get It at the 10th annual Charlotte Biotechnology Conference on Thursday, October 27, 2011.
SoyMeds is a UNC Charlotte spin-out and start-up biotechnology company that is developing and validating soybean seed-based therapeutics for use as vaccines, diagnostics and therapies for treating a variety of diseases. Bost and SoyMeds President and Co-founder Kenneth Piller, PhD, have raised over $1 million in federal and state grants to fund company research and commercialization efforts. Bost, an immunologist and a Belk Distinguished Professor in the UNC Charlotte Department of Biology, and Piller, a plant biologist, formed SoyMeds by combining their research interests in 2005.
“Competitive small business grants from the government and other external agencies have many advantages. In fact, there are very few disadvantages,” Bost said. “These grants are good for getting ideas started or expanding ideas until they get to the point where they are attractive to other private funding sources. For SoyMeds, government grants have allowed us to move our ideas toward the commercialization of what will be cost-effective solutions to current medical challenges in multiple areas from vaccines to diagnostics.”
Bost will participate on the panel, which is schedule for 2 pm, with representatives of Countervail Corporation, Pappas Ventures, Golden Pine Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank. The Charlotte Biotechnology Conference starts at 11 am in the Barnhardt Student Activity Center on the campus of UNC Charlotte.
For information about Kenneth Bost, PhD, and SoyMeds, Inc., visit www.soymeds.com.
For details on the Charlotte Biotechnology Conference, go to http://cri.uncc.edu/events/charlotte-biotechnology-conference.
Contact:
Kenneth Bost, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
SoyMeds, Inc.
Klbost@uncc.edu
980-253-1227
Kenneth Piller, PhD
President
SoyMeds, Inc.
kjpiller@uncc.edu
704-728-9753
