UK life sciences sector to grab a slice of £200m investment fund

The UK’s life sciences sector has been given a boost on news that it will be dished up a slice of a £200 million cash pie taken from the UK Innovation Investment Fund (UKIIF).

The government announced this week that the European Investment Fund has been picked to manage the £200-million UK Future Technologies Fund (from which £100 million was raised by the EIF itself) – which will also benefit digital and advanced manufacturing businesses.

The first investments will be made in UK venture funds, with cash injections destined for technology-based businesses “where there are significant growth opportunities, driving the UK economy forward and creating highly skilled jobs”, the government said.

The UKIIF, which was launched in June last year by Prime Minister Gordon Brown under the government’s strategy for Building Britain’s Future - designed to build “a stronger, fairer and more prosperous country” – operates on a fund of funds structure, which means that monies will not be invested directly in companies but instead a small number of specialist, private sector technology funds which have the expertise to invest directly in technology businesses.

The idea is that by boosting the stream of venture capital available to these funds the UKIIF will help to propel investment in high growth businesses, including start-ups and spin-outs and those that have yet to book any profits or sales and are finding it difficult to raise cash in the current difficult economic climate.

And it seems the idea is starting to pay off. “Despite a tough market, the UKIIF goes from strength to strength,” said Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson. “Private funds have matched the government's investment and money can now flow into promising technology companies [and] this is just the boost these companies need as the economy returns to growth,” he remarked.

The BioIndustries Association has also welcomed the news. “The closing of the fund is a significant step towards delivering much needed funding to life sciences companies in the UK and it is important that the fund managers act quickly,” said chairman Clive Dix. “We now hope that a significant proportion of the fund will be used to help make the UK’s life sciences companies the most successful in the world”.

NEWS BY:http://www.pharmatimes.com

Final 3 Compete On ‘X Factor’; Simon Cowell Thinks He Knows Who Should Win

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- “The X Factor” and its $5 million recording contract is in America’s hands to decide.

Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene and the lone lady left standing, Melanie Amaro, took the stage for one last set of competition performances, and based on the judges’ comments, one contender may be in the lead. But who is it? Read on to find out…

Here’s how Round 1 went:

Josh, a burrito maker from Ohio, hit the stage with “Uninvited,” joined by Alanis Morissette. A little thrown off by the superstar power on stage, Josh was strong in his singing, but had a moment or two of insecurity standing next to the Grammy winner – and Simon Cowell noticed.

“Alanis — amazing, looks cute, by the way. Josh — I thought you were a little bit intimidated in the beginning,” Simon told the singer following his performance. “Then, as the song got into gear, I heard the old Josh back… It was an 8 out of 10.”

Chris dueted with Avril Lavigne on her song, “Complicated,” which featured one of the Santa Cruz performer’s own rap verses, something Josh’s mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, complimented.

“It was a little shaky in the takeoff… but your energy and the light around you is so flippin’ contagious,” she said. “You shined up there.”

Looking like the cat who got the cream, Simon introduced his contestant, Melanie, who sang “I Believe I Can Fly” alongside R. Kelly. Performing the tune in R. Kelly’s key signature made it less of a show piece for the powerhouse vocalist, according to Chris’ mentor, L.A. Reid.

“I felt you got a little bit over shadowed,” L.A. said.

Simon, however, praised his contender.

“You didn’t look like someone in a talent competition… It was a fantastic version of the song,” the Brit chimed in.

AH Nation Poll: Now that they’ve performed in the final, who should win “The X Factor”?

With no clear frontrunner in Round 1, Round 2 was anyone’s game as the contenders performed without superstar help and in Josh’s case, without any help at all. Just a lone man on stage, the Ohioan took out his guitar and gave a soulful rendition of “At Last.”

“This is what we call the $5 million song,” Simon said. “This is the song that’s gonna determine your fate… and what I liked about it was it was all about you, what we liked about it in the first place. This is gonna be a very, very close call tonight, I can feel that.”

Chris tugged at heart strings when he performed the song he did at his audition – his own composition – “Young Homie.”

Giving his all on stage alongside dancers and spruced up musical accompaniment, the young man was in his element and he was moved to tears by the end.

“You are magic!” Paula Abdul screamed. “You are the consummate singer/songwriter, performer… You make everyone fall in love with you.”

Melanie, then took to the stage for her final number – Beyonce’s “Listen,” complete with a choir and vocal runs that showed her true musical prowess.

“That is the Melanie I love,” L.A. said. “That wasn’t a $5 million performance, that was a $50 million performance.”

Simon, however, went one step further, telling Melanie she was the reason he imported his foreign reality competition stateside, and, perhaps, putting her in the lead.

“I brought this show to America because some of the greatest singers in this world are from this country, and you just proved that,” he said. “You, based on that performance tonight, you should be the winner of ‘The X Factor,’ because you’re gonna represent this country all over the world.”

“The X Factor” crowns a winner on Thursday night at 8 PM ET/PT on FOX.


Source:


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