The federal government on Wednesday lent $1 million to two biotech companies that have grown out of Dalhousie University’s research facilities.

Greg Kerr, Member of Parliament for West Nova, announced that the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will lend $500,000 to Thorasys to help to commercialize its tremoFlo Forced Oscillation Technique device.

The compact and portable tremoFlo device helps to diagnose and monitor respiratory illness, and is superior to current products because it requires little effort by the patient and can be easily read by doctors.

The product’s initial development was funded by an Atlantic Innovation Fund grant of $2 million to Dalhousie in 2007.

Acoa will also lend $499,988 to DeNovaMed Inc. to help bring a new class of antibiotic to market to fight “superbugs”.

Innovacorp, the provincial innovation agency, recently said it would invest $500,000 in the company, including the $120,000 it received as the winner of the I-3 innovation contest in January.