BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Ebb & Flow

March 23, 2009 7:00 AM UTC

A proposal written by Washington attorney Leslie Platt that up to $50 billion of TARP money be invested in biotech and other innovation industries was based, in part, on Germany's BioRegio contest in 1996, which awarded government money to support biotech startups. But while the German plan resulted in too much money chasing too many companies with too little due diligence, Platt maintains there would be significant differences this time around.

Platt is an attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Previously, he was chief of operations at NIH and also was HHS deputy general counsel...