The Maryland Technology Development Corporation awarded a total of $350,000 to three early-stage health care companies on Monday.
Rockville-based 20/20 Gene Systems Inc. received $150,000. Biomedica Management Corp. in Baltimore and Clarksville-based Neuronascent Inc. each received $100,000.
TEDCO partnered with the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science & Technology to provide the funding.
Johnson & Johnson sees “great innovation and entrepreneurs working here in Maryland,” said Renée Winsky, president and executive director of TEDCO.
To date, Johnson & Johnson has contributed $300,000, which TEDCO has matched.
The money is awarded to startup, seed and early-stage life sciences companies that are already collaborating with a government agency or a Maryland university.
20/20 Gene Systems Inc. is working with the National Institutes of Health to develop a protein biomarker-based blood test for lung cancer detection.
Biomedica Management Corp. is working on projects related to inflammation, coagulation and tissue regeneration with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research.
Neuronascent Inc. is developing molecule agents to treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression in collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Funds from TEDCO can make a big difference for new firms. It may be the “only money available to the earliest or youngest companies,” Mark Esposito, director of Entrepreneurial and Venture Capital Advisory Services for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ mid-Atlantic region, told The Examiner in October.
