UM Ventures and SilcsBio, LLC Announce Licensing Agreement

BALTIMORE, June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- University of Maryland (UM) Ventures and SilcsBio, LLC announced today that SilcsBio has obtained exclusive rights to a technology licensed from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). UM Ventures is an ambitious joint research commercialization effort of the UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). SilcsBio is a supplier of computer-directed drug discovery software and services.

"The license, which we obtained from UMB, creates the core of our product line," said Kelli Booth, SilcsBio's Chief Operating Officer. "It's great to have a university so supportive of our state's start-up community."

The licensed technology centers on a computer algorithm for drug discovery. SilcsBio, which has headquartered at the UM BioPark in Baltimore, supplies pharmaceutical companies with software and computational services enabling the identification and optimization of drug leads.

"With an experienced management team at the helm of SilcsBio, we believe the company will be able to bring its technology to market quickly," said Phil Robilotto, Assistant Vice President, Office of Technology Transfer, UMB. "SilcsBio is the type of company that represents the potential of the UM Ventures program in terms of its ability to get start-up companies off the ground. It also represents the third software-related UMB company to launch in the last year, joining Analytical Informatics and Advance Management Services."

About SilcsBio, LLC
SilcsBio, LLC was founded in April of 2012 and is located within the University of Maryland BioPark in downtown Baltimore. The company provides software and services for drug discovery. The co-founders are renowned researchers Alexander MacKerell, Ph.D., Grollman-Glick Professor, UM School of Pharmacy, and Olgun Guvench, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Vice-Chair of Pharmaceutical Science, University of New England. Visit www.silcsbio.com to learn more.

About UM Ventures
UM Ventures is an ambitious joint research commercialization effort of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). UM Ventures is a central part of an initiative called University of Maryland: MPowering the State. The program has combined the entrepreneurial efforts of the two powerhouse universities that together do more than $1 billion a year in externally sponsored research. UM Ventures is bringing innovative technologies to the market and expanding collaborations with industry. Visit http://umventures.org/ to learn more.

SOURCE University of Maryland (UM) Ventures