Austin-based Savara has picked up a $1.9 million award from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to back its development of dry-powder versions of respiratory drugs.
The award comes on top of $1.4 million Savara raised in venture capital last year. The company licensed the nanotechnology it uses from the University of Kansas in 2008 and then moved to the Austin Technology Incubator inside the University of Texas. CEO Rob Neville earlier ran a consulting firm and sold a software company back in 2000. The state's technology fund is specifically focused on supporting nanotechnology enterprises.
"Savara's dry-powder technology holds great potential for treating asthma, lung cancer, and other lung-based diseases," said Jack McDonald, chairman of the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization. "This investment by the ETF will not only help grow our biotech industry in Central Texas but may result in new therapies that save lives."
- read Savara's release
- here's the story from the Austin American-Statesman