New Orleans BioInnovation Center

New Orleans BioInnovation Center Dedication Ceremony Set for Thursday, September 22

New Orleans BioInnovation Center Dedication Ceremony Set for Thursday, September 22

Finding Medical Miracles in Nature

Excitement is building around NuMe Health, a biotechnology company specializing in the arena of medical foods and one of four current start-up ventures from the New Orleans BioInnovation Center incubator.

“We want to be the premiere medical food company for chronic indications such as cancer, obesity and diabetes,” explained Justin Peno, the director of business development of NuMe Health.

Founded in July 2009 by Dale Pfost and John Elstrott, two highly successful entrepreneurs in the biotechnology and functional food industries, NuMe Health promises to become a major player in the rapidly growing market of medical foods. Pfost, president and C.E.O., is a longtime biotech entrepreneur, while Elstrott, chairman of the company, has experience as a founding investor of Silk Soy Milk, Whole Foods, and other functional food enterprises.

“With their backgrounds, we aim to be a leading biotech company that focuses on this niche called medical food,” said Peno. “The medical food market is growing at about 25 percent annually. We see it as an excellent opportunity to contribute to improved health through preventative approaches that cost the healthcare system less.”

As a former NOBIC fellow, Peno was involved in the collaboration of research and commercialization from which NuMe Health traces its roots.

So how exactly does one differentiate medical food from drugs or from dietary goods? According to Peno, it is a particular class of product regulated by the FDA. “It’s a very specific and narrowly defined product area,” he said.

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Going for the Gold

In the past year, New Orleans has shown many signs of being a city uplifted, and the changes in the city’s infrastructure and building projects have certainly been among them. The construction of the novel New Orleans BioInnovation Center promises to contribute to the city’s sense of rebirth as a state-of-the-art facility for the biotechnology industry, as well as one that is environmentally unprecedented in the city.

“One thing that’s truly unique about the project is that it’s built to LEED Gold standards,” said Kevin Overton, project manager of Turner Universal, the construction management company for the BioInnovation Center building. “It’s incredible to be a gold-level project.”

The Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System defines a myriad of standards for environmentally and logistically superior building design, used internationally to rate constructions and neighborhoods since its establishment in 1998. To attain status as an accredited LEED Gold Certified construction is a challenging feat.

“It’s a very detailed analysis of the project. This is going to be the first LEED Gold project to be built in New Orleans,” said David Poole, senior project superintendent with Turner Universal.

Located on the corners of Canal and Marais streets, the new BioInnovation Center building will house the Center’s office, retail space, and universally adaptable wet-lab and office spaces for the companies in their biotechnology incubator.

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Making Sense of Louisiana’s R&D Tax Credits

In December 2009, the BioInnovation Center had the opportunity to host one of the live webinars that it frequently broadcasts online via its website. “Understanding the Revamped Louisiana R&D Tax Credit” featured speaker Susan Bigner, Business Development Officer of Louisiana Economic Development, who explained the R&D tax credits available to the state, and some of the recent changes affecting them. Such R&D tax credits offer great promise and huge benefits to grow Louisiana’s economy through its research and development activities.

“I think in terms of bringing in an expert to talk about the subject, we couldn’t have found a better person to join us,” said Steve Ceulemans, Commercialization Coordinator at the BioInnovation Center, in his introduction. “Susan is not only on a technical level with Louisiana Economic Development that is very familiar with these credits, she’s also the key administrator that implements a lot of these benefits as they are developed.”

The Louisiana Research & Development Tax Credit Program has been in effect since 2003, and the December seminar explained retroactive tax credit applications, as well as new rules that expanded and revised these credits in 2009.

“I’m really excited about the 2009 tax credit legislation,” Bigner said in her presentation. Beginning in the 2009 fiscal year, the tax credit was increased to 40 percent for SBIR grants, and is refundable. “That money goes back into your company, and helps your company to do research and development.”

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