We have hosted BARDA representative Emil Runge in Wilmington NC for the last two years in conjunction with the SBIR workshop tour. We work VERY HARD to being you the right resources.
Proof – https://www.ffvcnc.org/new-events/how-to-win-sbirsttr-grants-the-collider-asheville-nc-4nf6j (Yes this is the Wilmington link)
(And three Wilmington entrepreneurs benefited from that event. OpiAid, Airlie Wedemeyer and Kyle Travisonno of EcoTek Prosthetics)
According to the article below …
BARDA is, as some staffers put it, the closest thing the government has to a venture capital firm.
Indeed, like a venture capital firm, BARDA doles out funding and advice to biotech companies trying to push a product through the FDA approval process. BARDA’s longtime director, Rick Bright, talks like a venture capitalist, too. He speaks frequently of BARDA’s role in bridging the “valley of death,” the dearth of funding that often keeps promising developments from proceeding into late stage trials.
BARDA even holds its own annual version of the pitch fests that have become wildly popular among venture capitalists. Companies swarm the event to vie for the opportunity to give a “lightning talk,” as BARDA calls the pitches for funding.
But here is why BARDA is so important RIGHT NOW – https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/06/barda-coronavirus-response/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=73c136be4e-Weekend_Reads_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-73c136be4e-149606845
