Companies with UW roots gain national recognition

Two Wisconsin companies born of UW–Madison research, DNASTAR of Madison and Gala Design of Sauk City, have been selected as winners of the Sixth Annual Tibbetts Awards by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Tibbetts Awards recognize companies as “models of excellence” and leaders in innovation, job creation, growth and technology applications that have important social impact. They are awarded annually as part of the Small Business Innovation Research Program.

DNASTAR, founded in 1982 by UW–Madison genetics professor Fredrick Blattner and programmer John Schroeder, is the leading producer of software tools for genetic sequencing analysis. Software produced by the company is used by scientists worldwide to help make sense of the mass of genetic information that powers much of modern biology. The company employs 25 people, many of them UW–Madison graduates.

Gala Design was founded in 1996 and emerged from research in the UW–Madison department of dairy science. Gala focuses on the production of proteins coded by the human genome and proteins used as pharmaceuticals. The company uses mammalian cell cultures and the milk of transgenic cattle, and technology that builds on the early work of the Howard Temin. The company has 36 employees.

Both Gala Design and DNASTAR benefited from SBIR grants for startup and product development