Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 10, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 7 Hamden biotech's drug advances in Turkey H amden-based Vanessa Re- search Inc. said Turkish health regulators have given it the greenlight to conduct a phase II trial on its flagship investigational drug, which aims to treat a rare genetic disease that can be deadly for young infants. VRI's drug, Shylicine, targets micro- villus inclusion disease (MVID), also known as Davidson's Disease. Like cholera but sometimes even more severe, MVID causes chronic di- arrhea in infants, which can kill them unless they receive medical treatment in the form of "massive amounts" of intravenous fluids," VRI said. The recent approval by the Turkish Ministry of Health is "critical, given that a relatively high volume of MVID cases are located in the country," CRI CEO Norman Gray said. The current standard of care for MVID is called total parenteral nutri- tion, in which fluids and nutrients are delivered intravenously for up to 24 hours each day. Shylicine's oral treatment aims to eliminate patients' dependance on parenteral nutrition. Turkey is the first clinical trial for the drug. VRI launched in 2015 and has 20 Connecticut employees and another 10 internationally. It also has a satellite lab at UConn's Technology Incubation Program facility in Farmington. only for TV, film and digital media pro- ductions. The state over the years has pared back its tax credits for feature film productions after concerns were raised they gave away more money than the state actually took in. Regardless, the state's arts indus- try sees opportunity in a theatrical production tax-credit program. John F. Fisher, executive director of the Shubert Theater, says his Elm City presenting house would benefit the most because of its proximity to New York, direct train line to Manhattan, history of production startups and expert backstage crew, and overall resources available in the region. (A major Broadway scene shop — Show- Motion Inc. — is located in Milford.) There was a brief time when it looked like Shubert would become a go-to place to build and start tours. The mega-hit musical "Jersey Boys," in 2007 spent four weeks there ready- ing its first tour and playing a few performances. That launch was followed by prepara- tions for the family-friendly hit "Matil- da," which stayed at the College Street theater for nearly seven weeks in 2015, also ending with performances there. But then, about five years ago, more states — with the help of tax credits — began luring these pre- paratory productions away. A tour of the musical "The Addams Family" in 2012 had eyed The Bushnell — which had invested in the Broadway show — but was drawn instead to $600,000 worth of tax credits avail- able in New Orleans. "That was 10 percent of the $6 million production budget, which is significant," says David Fay, The Bushnell's CEO and president. Fisher says there are still a few productions that begin at his theater without the tax credit lure, such as a new "Dreamgirls," which will begin at the Shubert before going directly to tour in Asia. But, he says, they're of much smaller scale and here for a shorter stay. Even these more modest produc- tions, he says, "are harder and harder to attract." Fay said there were efforts about a dozen years ago to lobby for tax cred- its but they went nowhere. Fisher says developing a tax credit proposal has become a priority for his theater. Wolf's advice for any future legisla- tion is: "Keep it simple." "If the rules become too complicat- ed or cumbersome, it really becomes a discouragement," he said. The Shubert Theater in New Haven hosted pre-tour production and performances of "Matilda" in 2015 (left photo) and "Jersey Boys" (right photo) in 2007. 6.17-23 TPC River Highlands | Cromwell, CT GOLF + MUSIC ANYONE WITH A TOURNAMENT TICKET VALID FOR THE DAY OF THE CONCERT CAN ATTEND BUY TICKETS NOW CONCERT SERIES PRESENTED BY SPIN DOCTORS | 6.21 LOCASH | 6.22

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