The Gates Foundation is also getting a board position as an observer and there could be potential for further grant assistance. As an investor though that 
contribution could change at any time, different from a grant. Liquidia is all about drug design and delivery systems. If you have not seen this explanation on vaccines it’s pretty interesting.
Bill Gates Explains Vaccines on a White Board
From the website:
“Liquidia Technologies is developing engineered particle-based vaccines and therapeutics that have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of human life. Utilizing a novel technology known as the PRINT® platform, Liquidia is creating rationally-design carriers for improved delivery of small molecule and biological cargos.
By designing highly specific particles that deliver therapies to an intended target, Liquidia is uncovering ways to optimize the safety and efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics. Liquidia's PRINT platform makes it possible for the first time to design particles with independent and precise control of particle size, shape, chemistry, surface functionality, and flexibility. The ability to modify these key particle attributes is allowing Liquidia and its partners to develop more optimized, safe, and effective vaccines and therapies for a wide variety of diseases.”
There are other private investors in the group and the company is working on a flu vaccination and you would have to be living under a rock these days not to be aware of the focus the foundation has for vaccines in the US and around the world. BD
The Seattle-based nonprofit, the world’s largest philanthropy with $36.4 billion in assets, made its first direct equity investment in a for-profit biotech company last week when it pumped $10 million into Research Triangle Park, NC-based Liquidia Technologies. While the foundation has made grants to companies for years, and has linked its support to specific programs with clear global health goals, this is the first time the foundation has structured a deal to take equity ownership, and have board-level oversight of a startup’s work, much like a venture capital firm.
It took more than a year to sort through the technical, financial and legal issues before the Gates Foundation was comfortable enough to make the Liquidia investment a reality. But it could provide a template for a new financing approach, which seeks to balance the focus and discipline of a venture investment with the nonprofit mission of fostering global health innovation, says Doug Holtzman, a deputy director on the infectious diseases team at the Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation has been thinking about new ways to structure its support for innovation in global health for quite some time. Tachi Yamada, the executive director of global health at the foundation, has spoken about how venture capitalists and biotech entrepreneurs haven’t done enough to support the cause.
Gates Foundation Makes First Equity Investment in a Biotech Startup, Liquidia Technologies | Xconomy
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