News

Virginia Catalyst announces Grant Round 16 awarded projects!

The Virginia Catalyst, also known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), today announced that it has awarded $3.18 million in grants to four life and bioscience projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia. These grants, which will be met with significant matching funds from partner companies, were awarded through Grant Round 16.

“Powerful collaborations between Virginia’s research universities and industry is resulting in major breakthroughs in medical diagnostics, devices, and drug discovery” said Mike Grisham, CEO of Virginia Catalyst. “It’s also generating significant

Through this 16th round of funding, Virginia Catalyst has awarded 65 grants totaling nearly $33 million, resulting in over $50 million in matching funds and over $600 million in follow-on funding to date.

Grant Round 16 awarded projects:

Project:  Readmission Risk Assessment through Physiological and Behavioral Health Monitoring using

VitalStream Wireless Platform

  • Company: Caretaker Medical (Charlottesville, VA)
  • University collaborators: University of Virginia and Virginia Tech
  • Funding amount: $800,000

Project:  Optimization and Commercialization of PRECYSE as a Novel Quality Control Solution for Next Generation Sequencing

  • Company: Evizia, Inc. (Charlottesville, VA)
  • Funding amount: $800,000
  • University collaborators: Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Virginia

Project:  Developing an exercise-mimetic to treat diabetes

  • Company: MGMedicine, Inc. (Charlottesville, VA)
  • University collaborators: University of Virginia and Virginia Tech
  • Funding amount: $780,000

Project:  First-in-Class Bifunctional Cytokine to Target Tissue Resident Tregs for the Treatment of Idiopathic Nephropathy and other Autoimmune Diseases

  • Company: SlateBio, Inc. (Charlottesville, VA)
  • University collaborators: University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Funding amount: $800,000

 

Recent News

07/01/2025

ISOThrive Announces Promising Phase 2 Interim Data for Novel Heartburn Treatment and Appoints Pharma Veteran Mike Walther as Chief Strategy Officer

ISOThrive Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced interim results from a Phase 2 study of its lead candidate, ISOT-101, for treatment of Non-Erosive Reflux Disease (NERD). The data showed positive trends in addressing heartburn frequency and symptom severity among proton pump inhibitor (PPI) partial-responders (PR), a patient population with major unmet medical need. These positive

07/01/2025

Gary Lowenthal Joins Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Council

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is pleased to welcome Gary Lowenthal to its Council, a dedicated group of goodwill ambassadors who work closely with the Board of Directors and staff to provide advice and assist with raising funds and building awareness. Mr. Lowenthal is a retired educator, entrepreneur, and executive with a career spanning education, international service,

06/25/2025

Liquet Medical Closes Oversubscribed Seed Round to Launch Pilot Study Evaluating Real-Time Hemodynamic Monitoring

Liquet Medical, a clinical-stage medical device company developing the Versus™ Catheter — a first-of-its-kind dual-tipped catheter system cleared by the FDA for controlled and selective infusion of fluids into the pulmonary vasculature and hemodynamic monitoring — announced the successful and oversubscribed close of its Seed funding round, which officially closed in May 2025. The capital