Purdue News

January 27, 2005

Purdue extends deadline for life sciences business plan competitors

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University has extended the entry deadline for its business plan competition that will award $147,000 for startup companies that describe the best path to market for products and technologies in the life sciences, biotechnology and biomedicine.

The new deadline for submitting an e-mail entry form and executive summary for the third annual Life Sciences Business Plan Competition is Friday (Feb. 4). The competition is conducted by the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and sponsored by Roche Diagnostics Corp. Online registration is available. The competition Web site.

Don Blewett, associate director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, said there have been a number of inquiries from interested teams.

"The reason for extending the deadline is that we wanted to be inclusive and give the best technology and plans the opportunity to enter," he said. "Our competition not only has one of the richest prize purses of university business plan competitions, but it also offers the potential for curing diseases and generally improving health care."

From the entries, 20 semifinalists will be selected by March 7 to submit a full business plan.

Eight finalists will be chosen from the written business plan phase of the competition. Those teams will make 45-minute presentations to a panel of judges April 20 on Purdue's West Lafayette campus. The judging panel includes venture capitalists, scientists, attorneys, accountants and academics, mostly representing the sponsoring firms and Purdue.

Teams based at universities and colleges, research and teaching hospitals, and other academic institutions engaged in bioresearch are eligible to enter. While there is no restriction on the number of members on teams, teams should have at least one team member with business experience.

Teams may be fledgling enterprises seeking seed capital or those further along in the commercialization process, including firms that have received grants, venture capital or equity investments, but entrants can have no third-party intellectual property agreements.

First prize in the competition is $50,000, plus $10,000 in legal and business services; second prize is $20,000, plus $8,000 in legal and business services; third prize is $15,000, plus $6,000 in legal and business services; fourth prize is $7,500; fifth prize is $5,000; and sixth prize is $2,500. Seventh and eighth place earn $1,500 each. There is also a $20,000 prize for the best Indiana team.

Inquiries about the competition should be directed to Blewett at (765) 494-4485, blewett@mgmt.purdue.edu.

Writer: Mike Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu

Sources: Richard A. Cosier, Krannert School dean and director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneruship, (765) 494-4366, rcosier@mgmt.purdue.edu

Don Blewett, (765) 494-4485, blewett@purdue.edu

Doyia Turner, Roche Diagnostics corporate communication, (317) 521-7252, doyia.turner@roche.com

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

 

Related Web sites:
BioCrossroads

Indiana Health Industry Forum

Related news release:
Purdue puts out call for life sciences business plan competitors

 

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