Biomedical : Innovation + Job News

Michael Tomsic calls his Columbus-based HyperTech "a poster child" for how the Ohio Third Frontier should work. Not only has his company benefited from numerous state and federal grants, but since 2005 has increased employment from two to 25.

Tomsic says HyperTech is one of two companies in the world working to commercialize magnesium diboride wires, a superconducting material that could eliminate the need for high-cost helium baths needed to keep magnetic resonance imagers cool. The other is located in Genoa, Italy, and named, ironically, Columbus Superconducting.

In 2001, the company won an $800,000 grant from the Ohio Technology Action Fund to demonstrate that the magnesium-boron compound could be made into a useful wire.

"That was first major funding anywhere around the world to actually try to commercialize this magnesium diboride," says Tomsic, HyperTech's president.

That project helped paved the way for a three-year, $5-million Third Frontier research and commercialization grant in 2009, which in turn has helped HyperTech strengthen its collaboration with Siemens, Philips and General Electric -- who Tomsic says "have 95 percent of the MRI magnet market" -- as well as with the Ohio State University Wright Center of Innnovation in Biomedical Imaging and the OSU Center for Superconducting and Magnetic Materials.

Along the way, the company has garnered more than $18 million in federal funds to continue to improve the performance of magnesium diboride wire for MRI companies.

While most of HyperTech's focus today is on MRIs, Tomsic says the wires have great potential for upgrading and protecting electric power grids. In anticipation of further growth, the company moved into a 45,000 square foot facility in February.

Source: Michael Tomsic, HyperTech
Writer: Gene Monteith

A million times each year in this country a pregnant woman who is not remotely ready for a healthy delivery believes she is entering preterm labor. The best way to determine if the expecting mother is in fact in labor is to take an accurate measurement of cervical length. To do this requires an expensive transvaginal ultrasound performed by a trained professional.

Chagrin Falls-based CerviLenz is marketing an inexpensive, easy-to-use disposable device that quickly and accurately measures vaginal cervical length. Invented by a practicing obstetrician, the device is the first and only of its kind.

"Because the interventions to prevent or delay preterm birth are very toxic, dangerous and expensive since they require a two- to three-day hospital stay, you want to be careful not to misdiagnose," explains Dean Koch, CerviLenz president. "Our device allows for easy and objective measurement of the cervix to allow for a better selection of who is likely to benefit from intervention and who is not really in labor. By managing the situation effectively, we can make sure the mother is in the right setting, maximizing the baby's chances for a good outcome."

Down the road, adds Koch, the devices can be used throughout a woman's pregnancy to screen for those who are at risk for premature pregnancies. New findings prove that by administering progesterone therapy, doctors can cut the risk of early births by half.

CerviLenz, which has received financial backing from JumpStart, North Coast Angel Fund, Chrysalis Ventures, Aboretum Ventures and others, is adding staffers in the field and will soon reach 12 employees. The devices are manufactured in Ohio.

Source: Dean Koch, CerviLenz
Writer: Douglas Trattner

When it was approved by the FDA in 1985, Seldane was the first non-sedating antihistamine to relieve the symptoms of allergies. In very rare instances � about once in a million � the drug caused sudden cardiac death in users. That may not sound like a lot, until you learn that billions of prescriptions were written for this blockbuster drug, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

"Early on, we identified the ion channel target that was being adversely affected by drugs like Seldane. That was the basis for starting our company," explains ChanTest CEO Arthur "Buzz" Brown. Today, the Cleveland-based medical company is regarded as the leader in preclinical cardiac safety testing. Seldane, by the way, was withdrawn from the market in 1997.

As a contract research organization, ChanTest provides pharmaceutical research services to drug companies, speeding the drug discovery process while making those drugs safer and more effective. "Our customers say, 'We have this drug and we want to make sure it has these beneficial effects and doesn't have these adverse cardiac effects,'" adds Brown.

The recipient of two rounds of Ohio Third Frontier funding, ChanTest is growing by leaps and bounds. These grants have allowed the company to add some 50 jobs in recent years, bringing the payroll up to approximately 70.

"The pharmaceutical market is in great turmoil right now," says Brown. "But this can be very good for us as drug companies reduce their R and D departments and outsource the work to firms like ours."

Source: Arthur "Buzz" Brown, ChanTest
Writer: Douglas Trattner

A new Ohio high-tech company aimed at helping osteoporosis patients soon will launch at Cincinnati's life science company incubator  BIOSTART.

OsteoDynamics, a partnership of Integrated BioScience Solutions, and BIOSTART, will build on new technology that two University of Cincinnati professors created to test bone strength.

Professors Amit Bhattacharya and Nelson Watts, who developed the technology based on the concept of "Bone Shock Absorbance," plan to advance a new diagnostic tool testing a patient's bone fracture risk.

In February, OsteoDynamics, which will be managed by Integrated BioScience Solutions, signed an agreement to license Bone Shock Absorbance technology from UC. OsteoDynamics also received $125,000 in seed financing from Southern Ohio Creates Companies. The company will be based at BIOSTART.

"This is a promising technology, developed through a productive partnership between Drs. Watts (M.D.) and Bhattacharya (Ph.D.) that draws on their respective clinical and engineering experience," says Carol Frankenstein, president of BIOSTART. "Their invention has the potential to improve treatment for women who suffer bone loss following menopause. BIOSTART is pleased to play a part in developing OsteoDynamics."

The noninvasive test measures how the energy from a heel strike is absorbed and dissipated. It's a new way of testing that measures bone quality and appears to be a better indicator of fracture risk than traditional tests.

"With that information, we can then provide them with more effective medications and other interventions that have already been proven to reduce fracture risk. Initial clinical data indicates that Bone Shock Absorbance may be the diagnostic technology that can achieve this goal," said Bhattacharya, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health.

Sources: University of Cincinnati, BIOSTART
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

The prevention of tooth decay � rather than its treatment � is the drive behind Toledo-based Branam Oral Health Technologies. But it's the company's innovative line of products toward that goal that's getting all the attention.

Developed two years ago by Dr. Stephen R. Branam, a local dentist with a big idea and 30 years of experience, the company is poised to smile in the face of tooth decay nationwide.

"Treatment is of course reactive and impacts the healthcare system in a dramatic fashion � not to mention the health implications on the affected child," says Branam CEO Mick Janness.

By using Xylitol � a natural sweetener and a proven inhibitor of tooth decay � Branam has developed a suite of naturally formulated products giving children and their parents an alternative to the mass-marketed products currently on the shelves. Branam's line includes toothpaste, mouthwash, gum and mints � all free of detergents, artificial dyes, saccharin and fluoride.

Ortho-Gibby, Branam's orthodontic pacifier, is geared to cut out jaw deformities associated with traditional pacifiers. The Ortho-Gibby was designed to reduce pressure that causes ear infections while also promoting proper oral development.

The company shipped its first order of products in March and is expected to make millions in sales. Janness says the company's launch is now official.

With some financial backing from the Regional Growth Partnership, the company focused on research and development of the products. Branam received a $1million investment from the RGP and $250,000 grant from Rocket Ventures to launch the company.

Three people are currently employed with the company, but Janness says more people (in marketing, compliance and administration) will be hired within a year.

Source: Mick Janness, Branham Oral Health Technologies
Writer: Colin McEwen

There might come a day when you can leave the doctor's office and have your check up without returning. The doctor could simply turn on a computer and monitor your progress online.

Sound super futuristic? It may come sooner than you think.

The folks at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland are working on a radio frequency system for implantable biosensors � ones that could go inside a person.

Rainee Simons, branch chief at the NASA Glenn Research Center, says the Radio Frequency Telemetry System for Implantable Bio-MEMS Sensors -- or BioMems for short -- were originally planned for astronauts, but the space suits complicated things.

The research center teamed up with Endotronix in Peoria, Ill., for the product's newfound focus on heart patients.

But Rainee says there's no limit to the Bio-MEMs' success. NASA Glenn Research Center was recently contacted by a company in Texas, inquiring about the device's possible use in spinal monitoring.

"The advantage of our system is that the device is extremely small (1mm x 1mm) and it is does not require batteries and there are no wires," Simons says. "And it's is non-invasive; therefore it prevents any toxicity."

Without batteries, the device works through a real-time inductive system, meaning it is charged from the outside of the body.

Not surprisingly, the Bio-MEMs has gotten some attention. The system was awarded a 2010 NorTech Innovation Award. Also in 2009, the device was runner-up for best invention by the Wall Street Journal.

The device is currently undergoing trials, and there is no timetable set for market entry, Rainee says. But, he adds that Endotronix is considering a move to Cleveland � which could create countless jobs in Northeast Ohio.

Source: Rainee Simons, NASA Glenn Research Center
Writer: Colin McEwen

There is little argument that the medical device industry is one of the hottest growth sectors in the U.S. But a niche within that field, says entrepreneur Tim Moran, is being largely ignored. And that doesn't bode well for healthcare's littlest consumers.

"There aren't many players in the pediatric medical device space because there isn't huge cash-out potential," explains Moran, founder of Cleveland-based PediaWorks.

The issue, he notes, is simply a matter of market share. Whereas the adult medical device market caters to patients aged 18 to, well, death, the pediatric market stretches only from birth to 18. "And people in that younger age group are, thankfully, relatively healthy."

The lack of medical devices designed for young patients often leaves practitioners scrambling for suitable off-label replacements. In fact, there are relatively few devices that are FDA-approved for pediatrics. The associated problems can range from pain and discomfort, as in the case of an ill-fitting airway mask, to matters of life and death, illustrated by the absence of pediatric pacemakers.

Working with medical practitioners who design and test products they'd like to see, Moran says that PediaWorks is devising products such as cardiac catheters designed for infants and a brain retractor for use during neurosurgery. The latter of the two, adds Moran, also can crossover to the adult market without any modifications.

Moran, PediaWorks' sole employee, says that he founded the company as a nonprofit in order to accept charitable grants. The intent is to spin off for-profit companies that bring the devices to market.

Moran says that he recently left the field of IT outsourcing in search of a more stable industry. "It doesn't get more stable than the medical industry," he says.

Source: Tim Moran, PediaWorks
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Doctors have long been able to evaluate neurological disorders like Parkinson's and ALS. What they haven't been able to pinpoint are many of the specific nerve-connection changes that lead to those problems.

The Wright State University and Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute is poised to change all that. Late last month, Wright State and Premier Health announced a partnership that will create the $22-million state-of-the-art institute and a new department of neurology within Wright State's Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Molly Hall, chief academic officer and vice president of academic affairs for Premier Health, says the institute will provide both a residency training program in neurology within Premier Health's hospital system and a mechanism for moving Wright State research into clinical trials. Such a program will help keep medical graduates in the region, attract new talent, and move the region toward national leadership in the neurosciences, she says.

The institute will focus on neurological problems that lead to movement disorders, says Tim Cope, director of the new institute and professor and chair of department of neuroscience, cell biology and physiology at Wright State.

As many as 95 new jobs will be created initially, but Cope says the ability to marry research with clinical trials will pave the way for  federal grants -- and more jobs and funding.

Premier Health will contribute $4.35 million over five years to form the new neurology department at Wright State; a department chair is to be named by the end of the year. The residency program is expected to be in place within four to five years. WSU, meanwhile, is raising $22 million for the 64,000-square-foot laboratory from state, federal and private sources.

Sources: Molly Hall, Premier Health Partners and Tim Cope, Boonshoft School of Medicine
Writer: Gene Monteith

Quicker diagnoses. More accurate evaluations. Fewer medical errors.

All are expected benefits of new federal stimulus money that is designed to jump-start Ohio's move to digitized medical records.

The $43.3-million grant to the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP) last month, along with an additional $8 million budgeted over the next two years from the Ohio Department of Insurance, will focus on making patient information truly portable, linking health facilities and individual doctors throughout the state.

"To the patient the transition will be seamless, but in an emergency situation, if they're seeking medical attention at a hospital or from a physician they haven't visited before, it could potentially be life-saving," according to OHIP spokesperson Carly Glick.

Because doctors will have immediate access to complete information, they will be able to provide more efficient, more error-free care. Financially, the health information exchange can also cut costs by eliminating redundant tests and slashing administrative costs, Glick adds.

According to OHIP officials, more than a third of the funds will go toward development of a statewide health information exchange (HIE) to allow for the sharing of electronic health records between authorized healthcare facilities and health care providers. The remaining $28.5 million is earmarked to help create regional centers that will support hospitals to adapt to the HIE. It will also help individual doctor's offices � particularly in rural areas � convert to electronic medical record keeping.

OHIP is a not-for-profit partnership that includes state government, BioOhio, the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, other medical groups and business and consumer groups.

Source: Carly Glick, Ohio Health Information Partnership
Writer: Dave Malaska

Almost 2 million Americans suffer from pressure ulcers � also know as bed sores. And almost $1.3 billion is dedicated annually for that treatment. A new device capable of relieving chronic pain (with a lower price tag) is now a reality.

But it took a neighborhood of Ohio innovators in the state for the Valtronic Advanced Photobiotherapy Device to make it to the marketplace.

The Cleveland-based Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET) provided engineering expertise, patented the design and developed working prototypes; the University of Toledo's Department of Bioengineering developed the optical system; the UT College of Medicine conducted clinical trials. Valtronic Technologies USA , of Solon -- which specializes in medical industrial products -- handled commercialization, manufacture and distribution.

Greg Krizman, senior director of marketing for MAGNET, exudes pride while talking about the Valtronic Advanced Photobiotherapy Device.

He's also proud of MAGNET's role. "We're a one-stop shop for manufacturers who wish to grow their businesses," Krizman says. "Whatever people need to make their operations go faster, better and smarter, we have people to make that happen."

Krizman says one of the consequences of the recession is that companies have often been forced to lay off engineers. MAGNET serves companies with engineers on an "as-needed basis."

The partnership of organizations received some assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative. About $1.3 million in assistance.

About 100 units have been sold to date. But those involved are optimistic about the product. Home care clinics and nursing homes are more likely to afford the portable device at $20,000 a unit � compared with the predecessor's $70,000 price tag.

Source: Greg Krizman, MAGNET
Writer: Colin McEwen

Cincinnati Children's Hospital has opened a ground breaking $600,000 stem cell facility, in a 650-square-foot space that has room to grow.

The Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility opened in January, and is the first of its kind in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky. Researchers from Cincinnati Children's and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine are working together, studying the cause � and possible new organ and tissue replacement treatments � of a myriad of diseases.

Known as "induced pluripotent stem cells," these cells come from patients who have a disease. It's an emerging technology and these cells have the theoretical ability to become more than 200 different cell types found in humans.

"This technology is a bit like the internal combustion engine in terms of how it will drive future advances in stem cell biology," explains facility director James Wells. "It allows us to use cells from patients to study what goes wrong at the genetic and cellular level to cause their disease -- whether it's muscular dystrophy, diabetes or any number of degenerative diseases. This technology could allow us to fix genetic defects and use these cells to generate healthy cells and tissues to treat or cure the patient."

Researchers have already developed pancreatic cells that make insulin, retinal cells of the eye, nerve cells of the brain, intestinal cells, and liver cells.

The facility offers training in the generation and use of pluripotent stem cells for scientists to take to their own labs. It also offers cell line maintenance and other of pluripotent stem cell services. The facility is poised to grow along with demand for its services.

"Given the rapidly developing pace of this technology, it's easy to envision a day where pediatric hospitals like Cincinnati Children's will be able to provide services for generating and banking pluripotent stem cells from specific patients for future therapeutic use," Wells said.

Sources: Cincinnati Children's Hospital, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

No doctor wants a cure that's worse than the problem it treats. In the case of traditional radiation therapy for cancer patients, internal organs affected by cancer can shift, causing radiation to be directed accidentally to healthy tissue.

"The problem is," says Greg Ayers, president and CEO of Oakwood Village-based ViewRay, "if you scan continuously, you will kill the patient by imaging him."

ViewRay, which moved to northeastern Ohio two years ago from Florida, believes it has found a better way. The company, with assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier, is in the final development stages of a new process that combines magnetic resonance imaging and radiotherapy that Ayers says allows clinicians to see where the radiation is being delivered throughout the treatment. The technology is designed to reduce side affects and improve the treatment of patients with all sorts of cancer.

"What the MR imaging allows is for continuously watching that tumor and shutting off the radiation or adapting the radiation depending on the tumor's location," Ayers says.

Ayres is hoping to see a product in the marketplace within the next year to year and a half. But already, the work being done at ViewRay is drawing attention. Last month, NorTech -- the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition -- and Crain's Cleveland Business, recognized ViewRay's advancements with a NorTech Innovation Award. The honor is given to businesses and other organizations that "transform technical and scientific knowledge into novel products, services and processes that result in a positive economic impact."

Ayers says his company moved to Ohio from Gainesville because of the Cleveland area's long-time expertise in MR technology and workforce knowledge. Since arriving, the company has increased its employee base from two to 49.

Source: Greg Ayers, ViewRay
Writer: Gene Monteith

It can take as long as 24 hours to detect toxins (ranging from E-coli to anthrax) and the people affected could be long gone by the time lab technicians and health departments figure it out. Thanks to new technology, that may all change.

Crystal Diagnostics � with its parent company Pathogen Systems Inc. � is working to develop liquid crystal biosensors to detect pathogens in real-time, instead of a day.

The detection device � jointly invented by researchers at Kent State University and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rootstown � combines both liquid crystal technology and antibody research to find harmful pathogens.

Work at the Crystal Diagnostics Applied Research Laboratory on the campus of NEOUCOM is ongoing. And plans are in motion to move into Centennial Park at KSU for manufacturing the device.

As the project grows, so will the local workforce.

Walter E. Horton Jr., NEOUCOM's vice president for research, said there are a total of 15 full-time positions at Crystal Diagnostics, and that when the device goes "live" there could be a dozen jobs added immediately.

"We see this as one of the innovation success in Ohio," says Horton, who also oversees the millions of dollars the company has received from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative in the last two years. "We have two public entities � Kent State and NEOUCOM � working together. This is exactly the direction this state wants to go."

"This company is based in Colorado, but (Pathogen Systems) saw a real benefit of moving to Northeast Ohio, because of the support of the Third Frontier and because of the regional success in terms of biomedical innovation," he says.

Source: Walter E. Horton Jr.
Writer: hiVelocity staff

As founder of the American Migraine Center, Bahman Guyuron sees about 3,000 migraine sufferers per year. Potential treatments range from pain medications and Botox injections to full-blown surgery, the latter of which Dr. Guyuron pioneered as Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals.

But not all of his patients desire medication or are good candidates for surgical intervention. For those migraine sufferers, the doctor developed a portable heating and cooling device that relieves pain on contact. "The efficacy of heating and cooling therapy in alleviating pain has been recognized for years within the medical community and amongst patients," explains Guyuron.

Along with Brad Pulver, the doctor founded Innovative Medical Equipment, the Cleveland-based company that sells the SootheAway Thermal Therapy System. Unlike traditional heat and ice packs, which are messy, clumsy and inconsistent, this small device -- it measures in at just 11 inches by four inches by four inches -- circulates thermostatically controlled water through therapeutic pads. Various pads target specific areas of the body, such as the forehead, eyes and neck.

Started just six months ago with two principles, Innovative Medical recently launched a website and is already filling orders from around the country.

"We're growing rapidly," says Pulver. "We are already up to five employees, and will be adding sales and marketing staff soon."

As SootheAway expands into other markets, namely orthopedics, physical therapy, and pre- and post-surgical, additional jobs will likely follow.

The company also markets Laser-Seal, a gel-based wound dressing that Guyuron invented.

Sources: Brad Pulver and Bahman Guyuron, Innovative Medical Equipment
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Better. Faster. Cheaper. That's the credo in most industries, and especially the mega-dollar energy and chemical segments around the world � segments that keep all the others humming.

Velocys Inc., of Plain City, helps processors speed their products to market in the most efficient way. The key is proprietary "microchannel process technology" covered by more than 100 patents.

"Velocys chemical processors are characterized by parallel arrays of microchannels, with typical dimensions in the 0.01- to 0.20-inch range. Processes are intensified by decreasing transfer resistance between process fluids and channel walls. This structure allows use of more active catalysts than conventional systems, greatly increasing the throughput per unit volume. Overall system volumes can be reduced by ten- to one hundred- fold compared to conventional hardware," the company says on its web site.

In the area of next-generation biofuels, for example, Velocys' smaller, modular systems streamline procedures at refineries. Likewise, "microchanneling" helps makers of pharmaceuticals, food products, adhesives, and personal care products improve the emulsification steps of manufacturing.

A group of scientists and engineers developed that technology at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility operated by Battelle Memorial Institute. They founded Velocys in 2001, and seven years later became part of Oxford Catalysts Group plc, a UK corporation which designs and develops specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels from biomass and waste, as well as fossil sources.

Last year Velocys earned a $5-million Third Frontier Research Commercialization Program grant for improving biomass-to-liquid facilities. Also, the company was part of a consortium awarded $2.7 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance processing of biomass feedstock.

The company employs 60. Its growth plans for 2010 include beginning operations of its first field demonstration unit.

Source: Jeff McDaniel, Velocys
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs