In the latest Bulldog roundup of life science and technology news:Obama announces new $100 million Tech HIre Initiative; Envisia names a new president; Epic Games buys more land near its headquarters in Cary; Cisco says some new jobs could be coming to the RTP; Greensboro animal health firm gets second FDA approval.
Obama announces new tech hire program
President Obama announced a new TechHire initiative yesterday that includes $100 million in federal investments and agreements between the government and private companies in more than 20 areas.
The main purpose of the initiative is to train Americans for work in high-paying technology positions. The program will train people in skills that include coding via both traditional college and universities, but also with online training and bootcamps.
In collaboration with business advisory groups, the program will also create an aptitude test so employers can evaluate candidates who completed nontraditional training, as well as a guide for recruiting tech workers who didn’t graduate from traditional four-year colleges and universities. “It turns out it doesn’t matter where you learn code,” the President said, “it just matters how good you are at writing code.”
The government will offer $100 million in grants to training programs that help individuals with such drawbacks as disabilities, child care needs, and limited English skills. Private companies will also offer free training and bootcamps to low-income persons and those under represented in tech such as women, minorities and veterans.
The Research Triangle area is not among the 21 communities that have responded to the President’s call to action so far. In the Southeast, only Nashville, Memphis and rural Eastern Kentucky are currently invovled. Read more at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/09/fact-sheet-president-obama-launches-new-techhire-initiative.
Envisia Therapeutics names Yerxa president
RTP-based Envisia Therapeutics has named Benjamin Yerxa, PhD as the company’s president. Dr. Yerxa joined Liquidia Technologies in August 2012 and was critical to the company’s formation of Envisia in November 2013 where he has since served in the dual role of chief scientific officer for both companies.
Envisa Therapeutics is developing novel occular therapies, beginning with a treatment for glaucoma, ENV515, with the potential to significantly limit disease progression and vision loss. It is in Phase 2 testing.
Envisia uses the proprietary PRINT (Particle Replication In Non-Wetting Templates) technology to create particle-based ocular therapeutics, which can deliver both small and large molecules in multiple formats. Envisia is also exploring how the company’s technology can address other important ocular diseases, such as AMD and ocular inflammation.
For more information see: www.envisiatherapeutics.com.
Greensboro animal health firm gets second FDA approval
Piedmont Animal Health announces its second approval from the Food and Drug Administration for companion animals, new advantus (imidacloprid) soft chew, an oral flavored chewable flea medication for dogs.
Piedmont plans to commercialize more than 10 of its pipeline products, and, as with advantus, already holds out-licensing agreements with multiple global animal health pharmaceutical companies for the others. Based on independent market research, sales of Piedmont’s retained portfolio products are projected to reach $175 million annually by the end of 2020. For more see: http://www.PiedmontAnimalHealth.com and http://www.PiedmontPharma.com.
Epic Games buys more land
Epic Games, creator of the popular “Gears of War” and a widely used Unreal Engine game development technology, has bought an additional eight acres of land near its Cary headquarters for “future development, according to the Triangle Business Journal. Read the full story at: http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/techflash/2015/03/epic-games-cary-nc-buys-eight-acres-crossroads.html.
Cisco says additional new jobs may come to the RTP
The Triangle Business Journal also reports that a story in the Atlanta Business Journal saying the networking giant is bringing 150 new jobs to Atlanta may not be completely accurate.
Some of the jobs, which include networking engineers, iOS engineers, and software developers, may actually be coming to the RTP, Lauren K. Ohnesorge reports in the TBJ.
Cisco has more than 4,500 employees at its RTP campus and previously said it would be bringing 550 new jobs there. Read the full story at: http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/techflash/2015/03/cisco-atlanta-new-jobs-could-come-to-rtp-nc.ht.
