Connecticut Innovation’s new $200 million bioscience fund is continuing to take shape. Advisory committee members were selected Dec. 23 and on Jan. 1 the team will begin to assemble a strategic plan and operating budget for the fund.
Established by the General Assembly earlier this year, the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund is a vehicle for investing in research and early-stage bioscience companies under the umbrella of CI, the state’s quasi-public financing entity designed to help companies start and grow.
Over a period of 10 years, the fund will invest a total of $200 million in possibly lucrative research opportunities and businesses as a tool to spur new companies and jobs.
The fund complements the state’s Bioscience Connecticut initiative with the University of Connecticut Health Center which calls for new construction, increased student enrollment and additional faculty members at the Farmington, Conn., campus. The initiative has also attracted Jackson Laboratories to set up a $1 billion research project on the Health Center’s campus.
In a CI announcement of committee members, CI CEO Claire Leonardi said the group had assembled a team of doctors, professors, scientists, researchers, pharmacists and public officials.
“We are delighted to have attracted such high caliber individuals to the advisory committee,” Leonardi said. “Their collective depth and breadth of experience across the bioscience spectrum will ensure great stewardship of the fund.”
