Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com October 31, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 5 REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Farmington's CaroGen looking ahead after $2.1M fundraise Vaccine devel- oper CaroGen Corp. disclosed this month that it recently raised $2.1 million, clearing a major hurdle on its path toward a clini- cal trial for its Hepa- titis B treatment. The Series A investment is the largest ever for the four-year-old bio- tech, and carries the potential for more future funding. GP Fortune Investment Partners (GPFI), a subsidiary of China-based GP Healthcare Group, led the investment round and could ante up an additional $7 million over the next three years, if CaroGen meets certain develop- ment milestones. Connecticut Innovations is also kicking in $1 million, assuming its board approves the deal. Under the agreement, GPFI would receive development and marketing rights in China for CaroGen's therapeutic vaccine for chronic Hepatitis B (HBV), should the vaccine make it to market. The technology was developed at Yale by John Rose. Bijan Almassian, CaroGen's CEO, chair- man and co-founder, said last week that he was pleased with the investment, which he has been working on for the past nine months. "It was a lot of work," Almassian said. He called GPFI an "ideal partner" and said the pairing would be mutually ben- eficial, giving CaroGen, which operates from UConn Health's Technology Incuba- tion Program (TIP) facility in Farming- ton, needed resources to work towards a clinical trial in the next several years and provide hope of a treatment for the 74 mil- lion Chinese citizens suffering from chronic HBV. Worldwide, 248 million people suffer from the disease, according to a study by German medical researchers published in The Lancet last year. There is a vaccine to prevent HBV, but no effective cure. Founded in 2012, CaroGen had previous- ly raised approximately $800,000 in funding, including prior investments from CI total- ing $650,000. Now, Almassian is already setting his sights on the next funding round. Besides the additional $7 million poten- tial investment from GPFI, CaroGen is aiming to raise another $8 million in 2017, Almassian said. That funding would help CaroGen develop its broader pipeline of drugs, which includes treatments for Zika virus, C. difficile and colorectal cancer. CaroGen has already had talks with some potential investors, including others in China, Almassian said. — Matt Pilon Hartford ends parking-meter test The city of Hartford has ended its six- month trial of electronic parking meters bristling with cameras and other elec- tronics and will stay with its current meter vendor. The Hartford Parking Authority (HPA) last December launched what it originally planned as a trial of about a dozen curbside meters from Municipal Parking Services, of Minnetonka, Minn. Thirty-four of the units were installed in various locations, particularly curbside along Lafayette Street, fronting the Supe- rior Courthouse. Originally, the test was to run 90 days but was extended through June, to give HPA more time to observe parkers' interactions with the test meters, as well as harvest reams of operating data from the experiences, said HPA CEO Eric Boone. Among other things, the test meters were capable, on top of monitoring park- ers' metered times in the spaces, of photo- graphing parkers' license plates and accept- ing coin or plastic as payment. Ultimately, though, Boone said HPA determined the tested meters weren't what it wanted. "The technology hits its full stride in a retail environment,'' Boone said, where parking turnover is frequent and more desirable. "You don't get to reap the benefits of all the bells and whistles. … We couldn't fully optimize it for the city.'' For now, HPA has reinstalled on Lafay- ette Street the same Darth Vader-looking Parkeon electronic meters used on 1,600 of its curbside spaces citywide, Boone said. – Gregory Seay PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Liberty Bank | Hamden, Connecticut PDS Engineering & Construction served as Design Build General Contractor for this Liberty Bank facility. The project also included a second floor of apartment units and two other tenant spaces on the first floor. The bank itself entails a teller area, offices, lobby, restrooms, break room, conference rooms, equipment rooms and an elevator. KEY FACTS Project Size: 7,300 Square Feet Date of Completion: 2014 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Banking PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD One of the test meters formerly installed outside the state Superior Court building on Hartford's Lafayette Street. H B J P H O T O | G R E G O R Y S E A Y Bijan Almassian wants to raise $15 million in three years for vaccine maker CaroGen. P H O T O | H B J F I L E A s k y o u r d o c t o r w h i c h M R I i s r i g h t f o r y o u D i f f e r e n t M R I s f o r D i f f e r e n t P e o p l e w h e r e y o u r c o m f o r t M A T T E R S Learn more at www.jeffersonradiology.com or call 860.289.3375 to make an appointment

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