Pharma Firm "Graduates" From Incubator Facility

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ-A drug delivery technology company is all set to move from a business incubator to a new permanent location in this Middlesex County township. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Technology Funding Program is providing the financial impetus.

Commerce Bank NA of Mercerville is providing a $550,000 loan to Tris Pharma Inc., backed by a 50% guarantee from the EDA. Tris Pharma will use the funding to move from its start-up location at the Trenton Business & Technology Center to expanded space in a 10,000-sf facility at a Route 130 industrial park here. The bank has also approved a $300,000 line of credit to provide working capital for the firm.

“The Technology Funding Program is one of several initiatives developed by the EDA to help high-tech businesses get off the ground,” according to EDA executive director Caren S. Franzini. “It enables the EDA to partner with banks to provide loans and loan guarantees.”

Tris Pharma develops new platform technologies for a range of existing and new pharmaceutical products. For example, the company has developed a platform technology for Lipisol that helps absorption of that drug into the body, according to Tris president Ketan Mehta.