BioSTL has received a $1.5 million federal grant to develop medical technologies relevant to the U.S. military.
The money, from the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration, will create a new entity called the Center for Defense Medicine. The center will assist startups focused on technologies that can, for example, help in treating wounded troops or securing the U.S. against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats.
The center's assistance will include training and coaching as well as grants to help startups develop their technology.
“BioSTL has quietly grown its footprint in defense medicine with our staff expending considerable time and resources to understand the processes and medical demands of defense agencies,” BioSTL's Eric Gulve said in a statement. “Concentrating and expanding this effort ... will unlock new startup activity and economic opportunity for St. Louis.”
Gulve is president of BioGenerator, the investment arm of BioSTL. The industry group said it agreed to match the grant with its own funds.
BioSTL said it has identified several local startups working on technologies with defense applications. They include Gateway Biotechnology, which is developing treatments for noise-induced hearing loss, and KaloCyte, which is developing artificial blood for treating trauma patients.
BioSTL was one of 52 organizations awarded entrepreneurship grants on Wednesday. It has won five other Commerce Department grants since 2010, but the new one is the largest.
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