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RINGING THE CLOSING BELL at the Nasdaq stock exchange on June 11 provided a glorious moment of national publicity for BiologicsMD LLC.
The team of graduate students from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville won the honor for its winning ways in business plan competitions. The event also marked an unofficial ceremony for the group, a heady rite of passage from academic science to commercial science.
Paul Mlakar Jr., CEO of BiologicsMD, was presented with a memento marking the event that gave occasion for a little capitalistic humor.
"Next time you come, we'll just hand you a bunch of cash," said Edward Knight, executive vice president and general counsel of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
"That'd be fine," Mlakar said with a laugh.
The BiologicsMD team is in the midst of raising $5.3 million to fund Phase I trials of OsteoFlor, a prescription drug with breakthrough promise for strengthening brittle and broken bones caused by osteoporosis.
But the money won't be coming from an IPO hitting the stock market through Nasdaq. It's unlikely BiologicsMD will ever serve as the launching pad for a new public company despite the backslapping of Wall Street.
The startup group's strategy is to further prove the science through Phase I testing backed largely by a combination of private venture capital and grants. After that, they hope a deep-pocketed pharmacy concern can take OsteoFlor to FDA approval and mass production.
"That's our plan," Mlakar said. "The key is do we have the opportunity to sell for licensing or sell it to Big Pharm?"