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Ben Franklin Technology Partners has provided funding to thousands of companies throughout the Commonwealth in the last 20 years. Below, please take some time to read about just a few of those companies.
StageMark, Inc.
Regional Partner: Innovation Works
Amount Invested: $300,000
StageMark, Inc. develops novel, proprietary biomarkers as “diagnostic agents” to improve treatment outcomes in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. Initial commercialization of this “Cell-Bound Complement Activation” technology platform is for the diagnostic and monitoring of lupus. Using a proprietary technology licensed from the University of Pittsburgh, extensive clinical studies of these agents are underway at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. With an estimated 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and 5 million worldwide with lupus the market is estimated to be in excess of $500 million. Ben Franklin has provided $300,000 in direct investment as well as business advice on critical issues facing the early-stage company.
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Othera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Regional Partner: Southeastern PA
Amount Invested: $600,000
An estimated 35 million Americans this year are expected to develop vision-debilitating cataracts, one of the top two leading causes of blindness; the other is the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. In 2001, BFTP/SEP funded a feasibility study with $100,000 to develop an eye-drop as an alternative to injections in the eye to arrest cataracts. The study results were so encouraging that the recipients of the investment formed Othera. Between 2003 and 2004, Ben Franklin invested an additional $500,000 in Othera. In 2004 Othera, which now has 18 employees, raised an additional $13 million in a private stock placement. Othera has discovered that its OT-551 cataract drug may also work in combating AMD which affects some 10 million Americans. The company expects clinical trials for the AMD application to begin in the third quarter of 2006.
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Advanced Technology Institute (ATI)
Regional Partner: Central & Northern PA
Amount Invested: $150,000
Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), located in Clarion County, is a start-up manufacturing company which has received a $150,000 investment from CNP to help develop an auto fence and auto return for straight-line saws in the wood industry. This product provides a reliable, lower cost alternative to more traditional and expensive solutions and can be sold as a stand-alone or complete system. The complete system will allow a small operation to automate and increase the yield of their old, straight-line ripsaws at a very low cost. The product has been tested and is going into commercial production.
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Omega Tools, Inc.
Regional Partner: Northeastern PA
Amount Invested: $350,000
Omega Tools, Inc., located in Northampton County, is a designer and manufacturer of proprietary vacuum excavation products that allow underground utility companies to perform repair work through an 18" hole rather than a 4'x8' trench. NEP has provided product development and marketing assistance, and invested $350,000 over three years. Omega offers products to leading utility companies nationally and internationally. The company now employs 42, with sales increasing 15 percent per year over the last three years.
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