Primorigen receives SBIR grant

Madison biotech firm Primorigen Biosciences has received a $1.2 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health. The money will be used to accelerate work on a new cost-effective system for large-scale production of stem cells and the specific lineages they produce, such as blood, liver, neural, and other cells. The company had earlier received two other Phase I grants of over $672,000, including one for $344,715 in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin.