Lentigen Awarded $1.2 Million by U.S. Government Under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Lentigen Corporation, a biotechnology company specializing in the development and manufacture of lentiviral gene delivery products, announced today that it will receive $1,235,306 in cash grants from the U.S. Government under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Only companies with no more than 250 employees were eligible. Qualifying projects had to show reasonable potential to result in new therapies to treat areas of unmet medical need, prevent, detect, or treat chronic or acute disease and conditions, reduce long-term healthcare costs in the U.S., or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within a 30-year period. 

In addition, preference was given to projects that showed the greatest potential to create and sustain high-quality, high-paying jobs in the U.S. and advance the country's competitiveness in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences. Qualifying projects were eligible for either grants or tax credits.

"We are very pleased that 8 of the 9 applications that we submitted for review by the NIH and Treasury were approved and that the overall grant placed us among the top 5% of recipients in the nation. This provides further validation of our programs in cell therapies, vaccines and biotherapeutics," stated Tim Ravenscroft, CEO of Lentigen.  "As a small company operating in a difficult economic climate, these funds are very timely and will be invested in completion of our GMP manufacturing facility and the support of several of the therapeutic and vaccine programs submitted for consideration."

About Lentigen Corporation

Lentigen Corporation is a privately owned biotechnology company focused on the development of lentiviral vector technology for a wide range of therapeutic, vaccine, and bioproduction applications. Lentiviral vectors are the most efficient vehicles for the delivery of genes or gene silencing sequences stably into cells. Lentigen is a highly collaborative company, co-developing Lentiviral vector-based products across a broad spectrum of bench to clinical applications. Collaborations include The National Institutes of Health, PATH, IAVI, Harvard Medical School, Expression Therapeutics, Epixis SA, The University of Pennsylvania, The Johns Hopkins University, Case Western Reserve University, The Medical College of South Carolina, The University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, and The U.S. Army. For further information, visit www.lentigen.com.

SOURCE Lentigen Corporation