Boston Biochem Awarded Prestigious Grant

MLSC

Boston Biochem Receives Inaugural Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) Small Business Matching Grant Program Award

Cambridge-based company among the first to receive prestigious grant; funds dedicated to development of DUB enzyme platform for drug discovery efforts

Cambridge, MA – June 04, 2010 – Boston Biochem, the world’s leading producer of ubiquitin-related research products and services, has been chosen to receive $500,000 from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center under its Small Business Matching Grant (SBMG) Program.

Boston Biochem will use these funds primarily to accelerate the development and commercialization of a technology platform with continuous fluor-based de-ubiquitinating (DUB) substrates and assays for drug discovery efforts in order to meet market demand. DUBs are one of the largest enzyme families in the ubiquitin system with diverse functions, making them key regulators of human disease. This platform will further improve Boston Biochem’s ability to profile DUB enzymes, substrates, activators and inhibitors in vitro for pharmaceutical customers.

The company’s immediate plans for the MLSC grant include the creation of additional R&D and manufacturing positions at their Cambridge, MA facility. “This is all about jobs,” said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. “By helping life sciences companies grow, we create new opportunities for people to work. As we continue to strengthen our global leadership in the life sciences, this program will meet an important need and make Massachusetts an even more attractive place for life sciences companies to locate and grow.”

"We are extremely pleased and thankful to receive this grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center," said Francesco Melandri, President & CEO of Boston Biochem. “The SBMG Program is a great testament to the Center's commitment to stimulating growth and job creation within the small business life science sector. This grant will greatly enhance Boston Biochem's R&D and manufacturing capabilities, and increase the speed at which we develop and bring new products and services to market to support drug discovery efforts by affording us significant hiring ability in the short term. Without the MLSC program, arrival to this point of success could have taken years."

Thirty-four early-stage companies applied for this program, and three recipients were chosen after extensive review by the MLSC’s peer reviewer panel, Scientific Advisory Board, and Board of Directors. Additional award recipients include Tetragenetics, Inc. and Thermedical, Inc.

About Boston Biochem

Boston Biochem is the leading provider of ubiquitin-related research products and services. Since 1997, our mission has been to provide researchers with innovative tools to facilitate and accelerate drug discovery efforts. We specialize in several related product lines for ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like (UBL) proteins, associated enzymes, substrates, inhibitors and kits. Key to Boston Biochem's offerings is our ability to provide custom service and bulk manufacturing, as well as our extensive expertise that allows us to rapidly and efficiently expand into new areas of ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP) discovery. All of our specialized tools are guaranteed as they are developed, produced and characterized in-house. Boston Biochem has manufacturing and distribution facilities in Cambridge, MA. Our products are available globally through an extensive network of direct distributors in Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.bostonbiochem.com.

About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.

About the SBMG Program

The Small Business Matching Grant Program is targeted at commercialization-ready life sciences companies that have received Phase II or Post Phase II small business innovation research (SBIR) or small business technology transfer (STTR) grants from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), or Department of Defense (DOD). Target applicants are emerging life sciences companies whose products are production-ready and have high potential for market adoption and penetration, are poised for rapid growth that will create jobs in the Commonwealth, and are positioned for additional financing. Companies must be a small business, as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The Program will provide matching grants of up to $500,000 to eligible life sciences companies. The Small Business Matching Grant Program is the newest program the Center is offering to support early-stage companies. Other programs include the Life Sciences Accelerator, through which the Center provides loan financing to early-stage companies, the Internship Challenge, the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program, and the Center’s Cooperative Research Matching Grant Program.