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2016 | Doing Business in Connecticut 37 Health & BioPharma O ne major challenge for the biopharma and healthcare industry is of course, cost. It's expensive to develop, test and roll out new drugs and it's expensive to keep people healthy. e story is much the same in Connecticut. But what's different here is broad state government support for scientific risk-taking for drug development and commercialization, as well as a well-developed network of hospitals delivering cutting edge care. Startup success State money is fostering successful commercialization partner- ships between Connecticut's academia and the biopharma startup community in the state. One example of such a partnership is the success at New Haven Pharmaceuticals, which was founded in 2008 and in 2015 announced FDA approval of its first drug, DURLAZA. DURLAZA is a prescription-version of low-dose extended release aspirin capsules commercialized from older technology owned by Yale University, according to Patrick Fourteau, the company's CEO and president. Reformulating older products can "make them more efficacious and can bring benefits to patients," Fourteau said. DURLAZA is aimed at patients with cardiovascular disease who previously took over-the-counter low-dose aspirins. at treatment only provides about four to six hours of aspirin treatment for blood platelets, while DURLAZA, which employs a special film coating that slows the absorption of aspirin, provides to 24 hours of treatment. Fourteau says his firm's partnership with Yale benefits both the company and the college. "When you look at Yale's pipeline of products, the various product ideas that have been developed by Yale, you see that it's very active," he said. "We are less risky in terms of development, which Yale likes, and more focused on incremental but significant improvement of exist- ing therapies." Connecticut Innovations and Ironwood Capital have been key funding players for New Haven Pharmaceuticals, demonstrating how public dollars through Connecticut Innovations, and private dollars through Ironwood Capital, can come together. Connecticut Innova- tions, which was founded in 1989 by the state legislature, offers financ- ing and other support to entrepreneurial companies. Meanwhile, the Program in Innovative erapeutics for Con- Continued on page 42 > IMAGE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM © DELIVERANCE From Labs to Exam Rooms CT's health care, biopharma industries evolve with the times By Steve Lubetkin