North Dakota boosts bioscience with $2M grants

By Scout Nelson

North Dakota's commitment to innovation in bioscience has taken a significant leap forward with the distribution of $2.067 million in grants aimed at fostering industry growth. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring announced the awards, which target both agriculture and medical advancements.

“Advances in bioscience have already transformed many sectors including agriculture and medicine,” Goehring said. This initiative seeks to maintain North Dakota's position at the forefront of bioscience innovation.

The grants, ranging from $17,000 to $600,000, support a diverse array of projects. Recipients include:

• Billie's Soap: Awarded $260,000 to finalize pharmaceutical skincare formulations and pursue FDA clearance. Contact Billie Kellar at 701-610-6428.
• Chapul Farms ND One, LLC: Receives $90,000 to establish an insect bioconversion facility. Todd Severson can be reached at 402-659-9255.
• CorVent Medical Inc.: Granted $50,000 for the RESPOND II Ventilator's FDA clearance process. Contact Richard Walsh at 443-928-9195.
• Frontier Bioforge LLC: $180,000 allocated to set up a genetic engineering service. Wyatt Warkenthien is available at 701-630-8269.
• Krampade: $25,000 for clinical studies targeting menstrual cramp relief. Reach out to Eric Murphy at 701-772-3430.
• Krisara Engineering: $110,000 to innovate continuous blood pressure monitoring technology. Dave Jorgenson can be contacted at 612-280-6328.
• MindMend BioTech LLC: $60,000 towards Parkinson’s disease treatment technologies. Mercedes Terry is at 765-635-1366.
• Modern Hygiene, Inc. dba TERSA: $17,000 to explore sound therapy pod applications. Contact Ray Kelly at 310-890-8449.
• National Agricultural Genotyping Center: Receives $135,000 for new genotyping tools. Zack Bateson is reachable at 701-239-1451.
• Pathkeeper Surgical: The largest grant of $600,000 is to develop spinal surgery navigation tools. Ryan LeBlanc can be contacted at 860-334-6493.
• SafetySpect Inc.: $70,000 for developing a medical device assessing pressure injuries. Kenneth Barton’s contact is 310-864-2130.
• TailWind MedTech, Inc.: $170,000 to advance nebulizer technology. Richard Walsh again at 443-928-9195.
• Thin Air Surfaces, LLC: $300,000 towards improving portable medical stretchers. Jim Albrecht’s number is 701-640-3220.

These grants were meticulously reviewed and awarded by a committee led by Commissioner Goehring, alongside representatives from the Bioscience Association of North Dakota and the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

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