Governor stumps for Ohio as biomed hotspot

Governor Taft appeared and touted Ohio as a biomed hotspot at the Mid-America Venture Forum this week. He was proud of what's happened during his tenure with the Third Frontier program. "It's a lot more than pre-seed and seed capital," he said. He said $18 million of state money was put into 22 pre-seed and seed capital funds and was then used to leverage an additional $75 million from investors, and those funds have been invested in 86 Ohio early stage companies.

He indicated that some of the nation's very large health care funds from outside the state have opened chapters in Ohio including Draper, Charter Life Sciences, Oakwood Medical. He also said the state has just begun operating the Ohio Capital Fund that's backed by tax credits and has begun investing in early stage venture funds in Ohio.

After the Mid-America conference, the Governor called on several highly successful bioscience firms that started and are staying in Ohio. AxioMed Spine Corp, makers of next generation artificial disks for degenerative lower back disease; Lifeline Screening, which makes mobile testing units in vans that can test for osteoporosis and other conditions; and MemberHealth, which facilitates financial and prescription drug benefit programs between pharmacies and customers. Read more about these companies at the BioMedNews blog.

Good stuff going on in Ohio. Good work, Governor.