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Biotech firms cash in on IRS program

Business First - by Tracey Drury
Date: Thursday, November 4, 2010

More than a half a dozen local biotech firms have been approved for $2.5 million in tax credits and grants through a new Internal Revenue Service program.

The federal government okayed $1 billion in Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery tax credits and grants to projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies, reduce long-term health care costs or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years.

Thousands of local and national firms applied for the funds, with 222 New York companies receiving $48 million for grants; and $456,000 in tax credits. Created by the Affordable Care Act, the program will help nearly 3,000 small biotechnology companies in nearly every state create new and cost-saving therapies. Project reviews were handled by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The tax credits or grants cover up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying biomedical research, up to $5 million per company. The qualifying investments must be made in 2009 or 2010, and businesses must have 250 or fewer employees in order to be eligible.

IMMCO Diagnostics Inc. was among just two companies statewide to receive project credits, receiving nearly $211,500 over the two-year period for two projects.