Despite that shortcut and other AIA reforms, many small businesses see the patent system as "a morass of regulations" rather than as an opportunity to establish property rights, Dennis Crouch, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, told the House committee...In reality, the number of patents given to small businesses has remained steady, but more and more patents are being awarded to large companies

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (STI), of San Diego, said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases renewed the second year of a two-year Phase I fast-track advanced technology small business technology transfer research (STTR) grant to support the development of human antibody therapeutics to combat Staphylococcus aureus infections, including methicillin-resistant S

While the SHIELD Act, if passed, could deter trolls from asserting weak claims, it also could discourage small businesses from protecting valid patents because of the cost and unpredictable litigation environment, Thomas said...It is unfair to burden small businesses with patent allegations no more substantive than a TV commercial

Bill Grants Trading Flexibility Recognizing that the one-size-fits-all approach to securities tick sizing isn't working for emerging biotechs and other small businesses, Rep

To help small businesses get the financing they need, Niederauer said regulators should vet all possible solutions instead of sending the message that if a company can't get venture capital funding, it's not worth surviving...Both he and Nasdaq OMX CEO Robert Greifeld recommended a market incubator or stepping stone approach, tied to liquidity rather than a time frame, to help small businesses go public

Last month Milo attracted a $300,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to study the efficacy of regional follistatin delivery in small and large animals

Actinobac Biomed Inc., of New Brunswick, N.J., said it received a $202,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institutes of Health to study its drug candidate, Leukothera, in B-cell lymphomas

Visionary Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, obtained a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research award to develop small-molecule retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR) modulators targeting TH17 T-lymphocytes in inflammatory bowel disease

Company (Location) Funding Institution Amount (US$M) Type Details Date OCTOBER Addex Therapeutics SA (Geneva) Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation CHF0.7 ($0.748) Grant For development of allosteric modulators for neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases 10/3/12 Advanced Cancer Therapeutics Inc. (Louisville, Ky.) National Cancer Institute $0.158 Phase I SBIR grant To support the development of an inhibitor of glycolysis targeting 6-phosphofructo-2 kinase/fructose 2,6-biphosphatase 3

Milo Biotechnology LLC, of Cleveland, received a $300,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Instead, the company was awarded a trio of two-year Small Business Innovation Research grants totaling $2.1 million that supported early stage programs and a clinical trial of combined radio- and immunotherapy for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Other cuts that could affect the biotech industry include a decrease in defense spending and reductions in small business assistance

Other cuts that could affect the biotech industry include a decrease in defense spending and reductions in small business assistance

The SEC also hasn't proposed a rule to raise the Regulation A cap from $5 million to $50 million. (See BioWorld Today, July 6, 2012.) But even though all the rules don't exist yet, the agency's Small Business Advisory Committee is recommending that the SEC extend the JOBS Act reporting exemptions to smaller reporting companies (SRCs) that don't meet the law's definition of an emerging growth company

Altravax Inc., of Fargo, N.D., said it received two Advanced Technology Small Business Innovation Research grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for research on vaccines to prevent infection by dengue virus and to treat chronic hepatitis B. In recent months, the firm has received more than $4.5 million in nondilutive funding

America Stem Cells Inc., of San Antonio, said it was awarded an Advanced Technology Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute for a study to examine the effect of the company's lead technology, ASC-101, in combination with neural stem cells in an experimental mouse model of multiple sclerosis

As part of the final closing, HVP IV established a subsidiary fund, HVP IV SBIC, which is the first licensee of the Small Business Administration's newly established Early Stage SBIC Program

The U.S. Small Business Administration has updated its regulations regarding the size and eligibility for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, which take effect Jan. 28

Updated regulations by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the size and eligibility for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer programs may make the programs significantly more competitive when they take effect Jan. 28...Another possible loophole would involve a small business owning more than 50 percent of an SBIR to be itself majority-owned by a VCOC