— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Alex Vodenlich, president and CEO of Plumb Pharmaceuticals.
This Madison-based company recently landed a $500,000 seed investment from the Winnow Fund, also located in Madison.
“It’s really the first private equity round that we’ve done, so we’re just getting started,” Vodenlich said.
The startup was founded in 2016 by two professors at UW-Madison: Dr. Tim Health and Dr. Lisa Krugner-Higby, both of whom hold executive roles with the company. Plumb Pharmaceuticals is currently developing an extended release drug platform combined with naltrexone, which is used to treat addiction to alcohol and opioids.
“We are in the final stages of a formulation that actually allows us to deliver this drug — it’s an anti-opioid — and it really provides a much longer duration than anything currently on the market, even out to eight weeks, which is significantly longer,” he said.
Vodenlich explained several FDA-approved drugs have helped patients wean themselves off opioids while undergoing behavioral therapy. He said the current “market leader” is an injectable form of naltrexone that lasts for about three weeks.
“It’s injected into musculature, so it’s painful, and it starts to peter out toward the end of the month,” he said. “When we talk to physicians and experts in the field, they say ‘it sure would be nice to have one injection that’s not so painful, and that could last twice or three times as long’ … that’s what we’ve accomplished.”
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/wisbusiness-the-podcast-with-alex-vodenlich-plumb-pharmaceuticals/
See the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/podcast/
— Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry added a record-high $8.7 billion to the state’s GDP in 2021, according to a release from Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
That total captures the impact from a wide array of activities, including boating, fishing, hunting, skiing and snowboarding, bicycling and more.
“Outdoor recreation is part of who we are as a people and a state — it improves our quality of life, draws visitors from all over the world, supports tens of thousands, and serves as a major economic driver for communities across Wisconsin,” Evers said in the release.
According to Bureau of Economic Analysis data provided by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the GDP contribution of outdoor recreation has ranged between about $7.3 billion and $8.4 billion between 2012 and 2020.
The release shows the industry supported nearly 90,000 jobs across various sectors last year.
Travel and tourism and local trips accounted for about $2.8 billion of the $8.7 billion GDP impact last year, the BEA figures show.
See the release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/33d1c74
— Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.3 percent in November, but the labor force participation rate fell slightly over the month.
That’s according to the latest federal figures released by the state Department of Workforce Development, which show the labor force participation rate declined from 65.3 percent in October to 64.9 percent in November.
Still, that’s 2.8 percent higher than the national rate of 62.1 percent, the DWD figures show. The state’s unemployment rate is below the U.S. rate of 3.7 percent.
In a briefing yesterday, DWD Chief Economist Dennis Winters noted total nonfarm jobs were up 63,900 over the year in November.
“The total jobs numbers were higher again this month, so that makes 10 out of the last 11 months [with] gains throughout the year, which is quite a stretch,” he said.
Wisconsin has now regained about 99 percent of the jobs lost during the COVID-19 economic downturn, but remains about 37,400 jobs below the pre-pandemic peak, Winters said.
Meanwhile, the construction industry has set yet another record for total employment with 136,200 jobs.
Winters also said fewer people in Wisconsin are working more than one job, while part-time employment has also declined. He attributed this change to higher wages, highlighting “rapid gains in especially the low end” of the service industry.
See the DWD release: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/press/unemployment/2022/221215-november-state.pdf
— UW-Madison reported more than $1.38 billion in research expenditures for fiscal year 2021, marking a $16.1 million increase over the previous fiscal year.
The university yesterday announced these figures from the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development data, which ranked UW-Madison eighth in the country for research spending among public and private universities.
That’s the same ranking the university received for fiscal year 2020, according to the release. A total of 909 universities responded to the HERD survey for last year.
About half of the $1.38 billion total comes from federal awards, the university notes.
The release spotlights some of the largest research expenditures for fiscal year 2021, including $26.9 million for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, $11.2 million for the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies and $10.4 million for the Inner City Asthma Consortium.
Steve Ackerman, vice chancellor for research and graduate education, says the university will be “intensifying our efforts to maximize our survey performance in future years.”
See the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/uw-madison-increases-research-expenditures-by-16-million-to-retain-top-10-research-institution-ranking/
— UW-Madison is receiving $9.3 million to create an institute to address the needs of the state’s rural communities.
The grant to create the Wisconsin Rural Partnership is part of a $28 million investment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create the Institute for Rural Partnerships. It also involves Auburn University and the University of Vermont.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development, announced the effort.
At UW-Madison, the institute will: support community-based projects to explore solutions to the challenges facing rural communities; develop a statewide network of environmental monitoring stations across the state that will be used to help farmers with decisions on issues such as protecting crops; and support climatology research to benefit farmers.
See more on the UW effort:
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report … </b></i>
— State health officials have announced the first round of ARPA grant funding for Medicaid home- and community-based services totals $17.3 million.
And the Legislative Audit Bureau is recommending the Evers administration increase transparency over how it has decided to allocate a portion of the $3.7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Could feeding seaweed to Wisconsin dairy cows help fight climate change?
# Madison food delivery giant EatStreet predicts insolvency, foreclosure
# UW-Stevens Point lands largest donation in its history to elevate business school
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– WI reps pushing for cranberry inclusion in healthy foods rule
# CONSTRUCTION
– State Building Commission approves $253M in projects for clinics, parks, utilities
– Madison Urban Design Commission approves jail design
# ECONOMY
– Industry to face ‘overheated’ economy as demand, growth, inflation go up, ABC top economist says
– Labor force participation in Wisconsin continues to decline
# EDUCATION
– West High’s all-girl STEM group breaks barriers for students of color
# ENVIRONMENT
– Madison Mayor Rhodes-Conway to serve as chair of U.S. Climate Mayors
# HEALTH CARE
– Growing number of UW System campuses installing opioid overdose kits
– Milwaukee County approves $112 million for new forensic science building at regional medical center
– Bivalent booster uptake minimal, Gundersen expert emphasizes keeping up with shots
# LABOR
– Labor union, contractor association officials comment on apprenticeship rule proposal
– How this Wisconsin firm brought 11,000 employees back to the office — a year ago
# LEGAL
– Moveable traffic barriers among safety upgrades sought for downtown Milwaukee in wake of shootings
# MANAGEMENT
– Downtown Janesville, Inc. hires its first full-time managing director
# POLITICS
– Farm lobbyist Jordan Lamb joins The Welch Group
– Senate Republicans are crafting a 3.5% flat income tax plan for Wisconsin
# REAL ESTATE
– Green Bay Packers break ground on last Titletown townhomes. See inside a finished unit.
– Guardian Pharmacy of Wisconsin moves HQ to larger West Allis location
# TRANSPORTATION
– GXO Logistics closing Kenosha facility
– Southwest Airlines to restore flights between Milwaukee and Kansas City
# UTILITIES
– Power outages across Wisconsin affect thousands of residents after heavy snowfall
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: Andrew Davis appointed to VP of governmental affairs
