Phila. company getting bio seed-stage funds

BioAdvance, the Philadelphia-based biotech incubator. said today that it is providing $550,000 in seed-stage funding to Novira Therapeutics Inc., which also is based in the city.

Novira is trying to develop drugs against viral infections, and will use the money to both increase its projects and add to its management team.

Novira, formerly called Molecmo Nanobiotechnologies, also is one of 104 recipients (out of 4,000 applicants) to be given a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation under its "Grand Challenges Explorations" program. The company said it would use the funding to develop novel treatments for HIV.

BioAdvance is one of three Pennsylvania biotechnology greenhouses that invest in life-sciences start-ups using funds from Pennsylvania's share of a tobacco settlement

Its 26 seed-stage portfolio companies are developing products to diagnose or treat diseases such as Alzheimer's, obesity, diabetes and cancer.