MdBio halts award program.

A $100,000 investment can stretch a long way, particularly for a bioscience startup like New Hope Pharmaceuticals.

Just ask David Hankins, founder of the Columbia-based company. Hankins was able to happily relinquish his CEO hat thanks to a $100,000 matching investment from MdBio, a nonprofit that supports bioscience in Maryland. Now Hankins focuses on research, and the CEO he hired, Dennis Grimaud, can worry about research partnerships and opening the R&D facility in Gaithersburg.

But none of that would be happening if Hankins had put off applying for the funds: MdBio has stopped making these equity investments, citing a need to reevaluate its financial situation.

MdBio has emerged over the past 10 years as a valuable resource for Maryland's biotech community. And while the non-profit's investments are small by VC standards, the evaluation process is quick and often timely. Last year, MdBio awarded nearly $1 million.

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