Albany Medical College’s BACC Receives $250,000 Economic Development Grant from National Grid

Regional economic initiative brings biomedical innovations to market

A regional economic initiative to bring biomedical innovations to market was awarded a $250,000 economic development grant from National Grid.

The Biomedical Acceleration and Commercialization Center (BACC) at Albany Medical College received a grant from National Grid to provide direct financial assistance to BACC biomedical start-up companies for commercialization needs and access to experts. It will also help support the BACC’s entrepreneurs in the arenas of clinical trials, prototype development, marketing and hiring consultants for regulatory needs. Finally, funding will assist in expanding the scope of the responsibilities and impact of the entrepreneur-in-residence, who serves as a mentor and advisor for BACC companies.

“National Grid’s support is vitally important to advancing the region’s economic development and expansion as a biomedical research hub and to build a commercialization pipeline in the Capital Region,” said James J. Barba, president and CEO at Albany Med. “Partners like National Grid help the BACC bring our region’s sustainable life sciences ecosystem to the next level, and we thank this forward-thinking company for its generosity.”

National Grid offers several different economic development grants to regional businesses and business supporters that help grow opportunity in upstate New York.

“As a utility, many people are unaware of the support we give to intiatives like the BACC at Albany Medical College,” said Regional Director Laurie Poltynski. “Working with projects like this allows us to support the community we provide services to every day and the region where many of our employees call home.”

One of the BACC’s start-up companies, Somml Health, is developing its Connex platform, which delivers real-time health information and communication between patients and care teams to improve patient health and lower health care costs, said Kurt Lozier, president and CEO of Somml Health. The company is currently working on a pilot for the managed care market.

“Through National Grid’s grant in support of the BACC, Somml Health will be able to accelerate our entry into the market by using knowledge experts and consultants in fields such as branding, customer experience and financial modeling,” said Lozier.

Launched in 2015, the BACC houses medical device and software start-up companies on the Albany Med campus. It offers a variety of assets, including wet lab space, business and financial guidance, as well as connections to world-class researchers, medical talent, industry leaders and more. To date, seven companies and three affiliates are located in the BACC, with the site rapidly reaching its capacity.

For more information about the BACC, please visit https://www.amc.edu/bacc/.

About Albany Med

Albany Med, northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center, is one of the largest private employers in the Capital Region. It incorporates the 734-bed Albany Medical Center Hospital, which offers the widest range of medical and surgical services in the region, and the Albany Medical College, which trains the next generation of doctors, scientists and other healthcare professionals, and also includes a biomedical research enterprise and the region’s largest physicians practice with more than 450 doctors. Albany Med is affiliated with Columbia Memorial Health and Saratoga Hospital to provide the largest locally governed health system in the region. Combined, these three hospitals offer nearly 1,100 beds and outpatient locations throughout the Capital Region. Albany Med works with dozens of community partners to improve the region’s health and quality of life. For more information: www.amc.edu or www.facebook.com/albanymedicalcenter.