CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES

Dr. Deanna Nelson

BioLink Life Sciences
Cary, NC
www.biolinkonline.com

 “I’m a problem solver,” Dr. Deanna Nelson says -- her company, BioLink Life Sciences, Inc., attacks “problems that are currently messing up pharmaceutical performance.”  Specifically, BioLink engages in drug repair, a process that minimizes side effects while retaining therapeutic efficacy.  BioLink also pursues technology that improves the safety of diagnostics and foods.  BioLink has been operating as a contract research organization in Cary for five years.

Deanna’s pursuit of funding awards from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program -- two programs that reserve a percentage of federal R&D funding for small business -- makes her an excellent match for the SBTDC’s services.  John Ujvari, the SBTDC’s statewide SBIR specialist, has been her primary counselor.  Before she received the SBTDC’s assistance, as many as five of her grant proposals failed in the first round of consideration because they were “poorly presented,” Deanna says.
 
“[The SBTDC programs] decode the instructions for the SBIR proposals.  Those in university settings . . . understand the grant approach. . . . For those of us who come from industry, putting together a fundable grant proposal is quite difficult,” Deanna says.

The SBTDC holds SBIR/STTR University Workshops and an annual SBIR/STTR R&D Funding Conference.
 
“The workshops . . . have been really valuable,” Deanna says.

BioLink received a Phase I SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health in June 2005 and one from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 2005.  The former award supports research for a biocompatible iron compound; the second supports the development of “pro-dyes” that can be used as branding ink for beef carcasses without interfering with contamination detection systems.  BioLink has two other proposals under review.

Before she received the SBTDC’s assistance, as many as five of her grant proposals failed in the first round.

While SBIR and STTR awards are typically smaller than what venture capital provides, Deanna has enjoyed the relatively broad freedom researchers receive to follow their own agendas.
 
“There are no strings attached except do the research that you wanted to do anyway,” Deanna says.  “You don’t have to listen to investors; there is no whole management team imposed.”

Deanna also sought the SBTDC’s help with marketing.  The SBTDC arranged for a Wake Forest University MBA student to create market analyses as an intern in summer 2005.
 
“We had him working day and night,” Deanna says.

BioLink has operated profitably; nevertheless, Deanna chooses to emphasize her company’s success in terms of client relationships.
 
“For all major clients, we’ve provided patentable technologies during the time we’ve worked with them,” Deanna says.