Cleveland/Northeast Ohio : Innovation + Job News

"The traditional paradigm in regenerative medicine consists of injecting stem cells into injured organs so that the damaged tissue can begin to repair itself," explains Juventas Therapeutics president Rahul Aras. "Ours is a more simplified approach that moves away from extracting and reinjecting stem cells."

Based on the research of Cleveland Clinic cardiologist and Juventas co-founder Marc Penn, the biomed company developed an innovative technology that offers a fresh way of looking at regenerative therapy. Penn discovered that it wasn't a lack of stem cells that made an organ's natural repair process ineffective, but rather because the molecular signals that recruit those stem cells are too short-lived.

The key molecule that serves as the beacon for stem cells is Stromal�cell Derived Factor 1 (SDF�1). Injecting SDF-1 into damaged tissue, they found, restarts a patient's natural repair process.

Presently, Juventas is in Phase 1 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using SDF-1 to improve cardiac function following a heart attack. But in the future, adds Aras, the same repair biology likely can be used to treat other diseases as well.

Thanks to help from the State of Ohio's Third Frontier initiative, Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center and JumpStart, Juventas spun out from the Cleveland Clinic in 2007. The Cleveland-based company currently employs four full-time and two part-time members. But as the technology moves into other disease applications, Aras anticipates exponential growth.

Source: Rahul Aras, Juventas Therapeutics
Writer: Douglas Trattner

People who suffer from chronic pain could someday toss their painkillers into the garbage. For good.

Neuros Medical is developing a device that uses an electrode to deliver high-frequency stimulation to sensory nerves in the peripheral nervous system. Basically, pain signals in the spine just won't make it to the brain.

The Willoughby-based company was founded in 2008 using technology invented by two Case Western Reserve University doctors.

Jon Snyder, founder and CEO of Neuros Medical, says Northeast Ohio has become an international hub for researching � and producing � neurostimulation devices.

"There's a great amount of this type of technology being discovered and refined here, especially with institutions in the area like the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western and the Functional Electrical Stimulation Center," Snyder says. "This region is very well-known for uncovering new uses for neurostimulation."

Neuros Medical is currently in the product-development stage, but the company's pace is moving quickly. Human studies are expected this year.

Investors have taken notice � to the tune of $1.8 million so far. That includes support from JumpStart ($275,000), North Coast Angel Fund ($200,000) and Ohio TechAngels ($200,000).

"In Ohio, we've got some great support organizations, to help companies get through their early stages of development," he says.

Neuros Medical employs three people, not including consultants that are hired regionally. Within the next few years, Snyder expects to have a product on the market � which will add even more jobs. However, the company could add as many as six positions within one year. "Maybe even more," he adds.

Source: Jon Snyder, Neuros Medical
Writer: Colin McEwen

Cleveland-based Nine Sigma is nurturing business growth in Italy.

The company announced recently that Finpiemonte SpA, an Italian public holding company that supports economic development and competitiveness in the Piedmont region, chose it for a three-year project to establish an open innovation program.

Nine Sigma, which also has offices in Belgium and Japan, is a 10-year-old company that specializes in helping Global 1000 companies -- "and other innovation-driven entities" look far outside their geographical and industrial boxes to adopt changes that can facilitate their success.

Earlier this year it announced a project to provide open innovation capabilities to Middle East and North Africa organizations. That project is being done in partnership with Innovation 360 Institute, an innovation training consultancy.

"The public and private sectors in the Middle East are hungry for new tools and capabilities that will enable them to fully leverage the global research and innovation community," Kamal Hassan, president and CEO of Innovation 360, says in a news release. "NineSigma's innovation search methodology, intelligence offerings and extensive network of experienced innovators, combined with Innovation 360's systematic innovation model, will help organizations in the Middle East find new technologies and innovative ideas."

Nine Sigma President Matthew Heim says open innovation already has been applied in many industries that are key to economic growth in the Middle East, such as oil and gas, clean and renewable energy, government services and health care. "Open innovation networks are an affordable and effective way to bolster internal R&D efforts."

Among the company's domestic clients: AkzoNobel, the Cleveland-based coatings and specialty chemicals corporation.

Source: Nine Sigma
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs

Northeast Ohio has expanded its business attraction efforts outside of Ohio, hiring a full-time director to lead an international marketing program designed to attract two to four new companies to the region in the next two years.

Team NEO, a business attraction organization that represents the region's largest chambers of commerce in a 16-county area, last month hired Bernardine R. van Kessel as Director, International Business Attraction. Team NEO also has contracted with PM&P Consultants of Germany to act on its behalf in Europe.

The initiative is financed by a $1-million, two-year grant from the Cleveland Foundation and is intended to reach out not only to European companies but to business interests in Canada and China for renewable energy, biomedical and advanced manufacturing opportunities.

Carin Rockind, Team NEO's vice president of marketing and communications, noted that a new Team NEO report issued last month demonstrated that northeast Ohio is well-positioned for "clean tech" growth. Those industries now represent $12.5 billion, or 7.5 percent of northeast Ohio's economy, but are expected to grow more than 20 percent in the next five years.

"Northeast Ohio in particular has the benefit of tremendous access to transportation systems in terms of rail, highway and port access," she says. "Then, our workforce is accustomed to these particular (high tech) industries."

Rockind says Team NEO has set a first-year goal of 10 "hard leads" (a company that could bring at last 20 new jobs to the region and commit to at least $1 million in capital investment) -- and a goal of 12 such leads in the second. The organization also is developing a process to work with foreign businesses that aren't ready to open new offices here but are interested in U.S. partners.

Sources: Carin Rockind, Team NEO and http://www.clevelandplusbusiness.com/
Writer: Gene Monteith

NorTech's vision for a thriving advanced energy cluster in northeast Ohio just got a boost.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration awarded NorTech $300,000 to fund a series of "roadmaps" leading to a cohesive regional strategy.

It's hailed as the first competitive federal grant to northeast Ohio for development of an advanced strategy.

Kelly South, NorTech's senior director, communications, says the grant will "help us and the region do a deeper dive in four advanced energy sectors that we think have real promise. These roadmaps are going to help us assess the assets that exist in the region and what (we need) to do to get from point A to point B."

She says NorTech Energy Enterprise, the organization's energy initiative, will lead the effort and focus on energy storage, smart grid development, transportation electrification (think electric cars) and biomass.

It's not the first dollar in the pot for NorTech, a regional nonprofit tech-based economic development organization that serves 21 counties in northeast Ohio. Last fall, the Fund for Our Economic Future, a regional economic development philanthropy, committed $1.7 million over two years to NorTech to lead an advanced-energy initiative.

"So we received a sizeable grant in September to really launch our advanced energy initiative and be a focal point for driving growth in the advanced energy industry," South says.

Efforts include education, advocacy and forming collaborations, she says, in addition to helping form groups like the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., which is focused on commercialization of wind power in Lake Erie. The organization named its first president, Lorry Wagner, last week.

Source: Kelly South, NorTech
Writer: Gene Monteith

JumpStart, formed in 2004 to give fledgling companies in northeast Ohio the resources needed to eventually fly on their own, has seen its first portfolio company leave the nest.

Yardi Systems, a Santa Barbara, Calif. company with offices in Broadview Heights, announced May 5 that it had acquired DIY Real Estate, a Broadview Heights-based property management software developer.

JumpStart, through its JumpStart Ventures arm, invested $340,000 in DIY in fall of 2008. The sale provides a return "in the 20 to 30 percent range," says Cathy Belk, JumpStart's chief marketing officer.

"The JumpStart Ventures group invests in companies with the full intention that we are the first investor and that the company will eventually have an exit event," Belk says. "We started working actively with them in the fall of 2008, so it wasn't that long ago."

She notes that an average time for a venture-backed company to exit through either merger or acquisition, or through an initial public offering, is a little more than eight years. "And we are an investor that comes in earlier than a venture capital firm."

Bob Lasser, Managing Director of Danville Partners and former chairman of DIY, says the company enjoyed more than 100 percent compounded growth between 2007, when it was formed, and 2009. He says the company's three Cleveland-area employees intend to remain and that there are plans to add additional support personnel.

JumpStart, based in Cleveland, is a non-profit organization that provides resources and assistance to entrepreneurs leading high-potential early-stage companies. JumpStart Ventures has made 60 investments in 47 companies.

Belk says "This is the first of many (exits) that we want to duplicate," adding that another couple of JumpStart-invested companies could follow suit later this year. "The model's coming full circle."

Sources: Cathy Belk, JumpStart, and Bob Lasser, Danville Partners
Writer: Gene Monteith

At Tremco, it's not only about being a part of the "green" movement. It's about staying ahead of the curve.

The Cleveland-based company is creating a photovoltaic roof that is both functional in creating energy and protective of the building's integrity � the latest sustainable product in Tremco's long history.

"Sustainability has become one of the most important subjects in the construction industry, if not the most important," says Deryl Kratzer, Tremco's roofing and building maintenance division president. "If we don't focus constantly on helping our customers meet their sustainability goals, we will lose a competitive advantage that we have built over 80 years. We will also be disrespecting our founding principals."

One of the features of the new solar roof will allow for the removal of the PV module from the protective roof membrane for maintenance and eventual recycling. If developing a useful renewable energy solution isn't green enough, Tremco will offer a "cradle-to-cradle" business model, allowing the leased roof system, at the end of its service life, to be deconstructed, recycled and reused as raw materials for a new roof.

The company's Roofing and Building Maintenance Division received a $1-million grant from the Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program toward the building-integrated solar project � a global market expected to exceed $1 billion next year.

Tremco (which belongs to parent company RPM Building Solutions Group) employs more than 1,100 internationally. More jobs in Ohio � many of them specialized positions � are expected, Kratzer says.

"We also expect to develop new processes and technologies which will help the system advance the cause of 'green' construction, and have a positive impact both on Ohio's economy and on energy costs for those using the BIPV system," he says.

Source: Deryl Kratzer, Tremco
Writer: Colin McEwen

In no other field is it as important to be perfect than the operating room, where increasingly complex procedures bring dwindling margins for error. One innovative Cleveland-based firm has stepped in to ensure doctors get all the practice they need.
 
Simbionix USA Corp. has become an international leader in simulation-based medical training and education simulators, allowing young doctors to gain experience in surgical procedures, veteran surgeons to hone their skills and all doctors to better visualize intricate procedures beforehand.

"It's made a huge difference in patient care, especially for procedures where it's critical, where there's little room for error," says Simbionix's U.S. Director of Marketing, Bill Lewandowski. "We have about 900 of our simulators in hospitals worldwide, mostly in hospitals that are associated with teaching institutions like the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic."

"We're on every continent but Antarctica. We just can't get any of the sales guys to go there," he jokingly adds. 

Simbionix's exponential growth � founded in Israel in 1997, it later moved to Cleveland to follow investment money � has mirrored hospitals' use of highly technical, minimally invasive surgery robotic systems. The most prominent, Intuitive Surgical's highly precise da Vinci surgical system, is a multi-armed operating room robot that allows for less invasive procedures, fewer post-surgical complications for patients and quicker recovery times. It also demands extensive training, which is one area where Simbionix's simulators have proven invaluable.

Using actual patient data, Simbionix simulators allow doctors to practice the surgery electronically beforehand, identifying possible problems before the first incision is made. 

The company has more that 70 employees, but because of a recent Ohio Third Frontier grant expects to surpass 80 and expand its Medical Education Divison in Cleveland.

Source: Bill Lewandowski, Simbionix
Writer: Dave Malaska

The users of Sunflower Solutions' device don't need to be experts in solar energy. They don't need superhuman strength. They don't even need to know English.

"As long as they're not colorblind," says Sunflower's founder Christopher Clark of his device's simple instruction manual.

Clark's vision is this: to bring low-tech solar power to the developing world. The 23-year-old, recent graduate of Miami University, says the idea sprouted from a project involving engineering students who were charged with developing a business plan for a human-powered well pump.

"I thought there has to be a better way to do these sorts of projects," Clark says. "If these areas had electricity, people could do a number of things, like have clean drinking water."

The result is EmPower, Sunflower Solutions' staple: a low-tech, lightweight solar device that follows the sun's rays to obtain optimal energy. The system is simple � there are no motors or microprocessors. To operate, there are a series of simple color-coded instructions. A truly DIY-approach to solar energy.

The system has already been shipped to places like Rwanda and Kenya. This summer, Sunflower will power a hospital in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Other than a $30,000 grant from Cleveland's Civic Innovation Lab, Sunflower Solutions has been completely self-sufficient. There are about 35 people who work for the company.  Clark calls the workforce a "community," a group of "solar evangelists" who believe in the good work of the company. There are plans to grow, with a larger sales force and a manufacturing facility.

Source: Christopher Clark, Sunflower Solutions
Writer: Colin McEwen

NDI Medical is taking a big step into the future of implantable surgical devices.

With its new FDA approval in-hand, the Beachwood-based firm is taking its newest product to market.

NDI Medicals' neurostimulation device will be implanted next month into the shoulder of a patient to alleviate chronic shoulder pain. Robert Strother, NDI Medical's vice president of engineering and chief technology officer, called implantable medical devices "an area of explosive growth."

As a member of the pacemaker family, the neurostimulation device � about the size of a silver dollar � works where conventional pharmacology stops short.

"Often, the solution is you take pill, it goes in the blood and goes everywhere. But sometimes there are side effects," he says. "With the device, if it has any problems it's going to be limited to where the device is."

The future, Strother says, is in the "deep brain" market. Products he says that could treat a number of maladies, ranging from Parkinson's disease to depression. "Our goal is to continue to use the technology and come up with other applications to provide alternatives to what else is out there."

Since its founding in 2002, the incubation firm has attracted over $17 million in grants (including two from the Third Frontier and exited its first venture capital round � returning over 150 times the original investment back to shareholders. In 2008, the company sold its first product � a bladder pacing device called MedStim � to medical device giant Medtronic in Minneapolis for $42 million.

There are 25 employees at NDI including entrepreneurs, scientists and physician advisors. Strother says the company has plans to grow.

Source: Robert Strother, NDI
Writer: Colin McEwen

JumpStart Inc., a non-profit organization that provides critical resources to promising young companies in northeastern Ohio, helped create and retain 664 jobs in the past four years, says a newly released economic impact report by Cleveland State University.

That's 162 more jobs than had been created through 2008 and a 32 percent increase within the 21-county area JumpStart serves.

Not only did JumpStart's activities lead to more jobs, they helped boost household income for those workers to $39.8 million in 2009 -- up $19.2 million from 2008.

In releasing the report, Ziona Austrian, Director of Cleveland State's Maxine Levin College of Urban Affairs, said "JumpStart's impact . . . increased during a recessionary year because the companies it supports continue to grow and create jobs."

The report was released just days before Tuesday's vote to extend funding for Ohio's Third Frontier initiative. JumpStart, which currently receives nearly half its funding from the Third Frontier, noted the importance of the initiative in its announcement.

The report summarized the impact of JumpStart's activities in three areas: investment in start-up companies through JumpStart Ventures; investments in start-up companies by North Coast Angel Fund, whose creation JumpStart led northeast Ohio's first managed angel fund; and JumpStart services to support other entrepreneurs through JumpStart TechLift Advisors.

The report also took a look at JumpStart's impact on local output -- the value of goods and services produced in the economy -- as well as its effect on tax revenues. Cleveland State measured JumpStart-related output at $90 million in 2009, a 20 percent increase. Local tax revenues in 2009 rose by $5.1 million and federal tax revenues rose by $7 million as a result of JumpStart activities, the report says.

Source: JumpStart
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

The presence of mercury, as well as other heavy metals, in our drinking water can lead to serious physical injury over time. Fortunately, new regulations are strictly limiting the quantities of these metals that companies can discharge into waterways. And fortunately for MAR Systems, the Cleveland-based enterprise has developed a "faster, cheaper and greener" way to strip these contaminants from water.

Made from highly engineered but readily available materials, Sorbster is a granular media that removes heavy metals from any aqueous stream. As water percolates through the substance, mercury, arsenic and other metals chemically bond with the media, making conventional disposal safe, explains Melissa Hayes, business development manager.

"Because our product is extremely fast-acting, it requires a smaller footprint," adds Hayes. "And because it is so inexpensive and easy to use, it helps companies solve the conflict between industry and the environment."

MAR Systems, which was founded in 2008, is benefitting not only from more stringent drinking water standards, but also new testing procedures. "Mercury was always a difficult thing to measure in water," notes Hayes. "And if you can't measure it, you don't have to treat it. Now companies have to address mercury discharge."

The product is manufactured at the company's Solon lab, which will be in full commercial production sometime this year. At present, MAR Systems employs eight people, but that number is likely to jump to 15 by year's end. Hayes estimates that within a few years, the company will climb to 50 employees.

Source: Melissa Hayes, MAR Systems
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Does a metal stamping tool with the potential to revolutionize an industry sound ambitious? Maybe. Is it possible? Absolutely.

That's exactly what the founders of M.O.M. Tools have in mind for the metal fabrication business.

M.O.M. (Men of Miami) Tools was established in 2003 by two Miami University graduates, Anthony Lockhart and John Collier. The pair created a patented "Dual-Head" punch for the metal fabrication and fastener industries, with the idea to improve productivity and reduce tooling, maintenance and scrap expenses.

With their innovative product, Collier and Lockhart believe the industry can be revived � with jobs that will stay in Ohio.

Lockhart says the Cleveland-based company found a niche, offering a product that has a longer life and better quality of a "punched" hole than the current tools on the market.

Typically, when a hole is punched through metal, it wants to close itself. The entire process takes "just a milli-fraction of a second," not visible to the naked eye. M.O.M. Tools' Dual-Head system has two cutting mechanisms and a groove to catch excess "flow." And the tool can last up to 15 times longer then conventional tools on the market.

"We want to revolutionize the metal stamping industry," Lockhart says. "Hopefully, by our efforts, we can retain some of the business in this country."

That type of innovation is bound to attract some attention. The Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise (GLIDE) grant program awarded the company $25,000.

"Our goal is to continue to add jobs and continue to grow," Lockhart says. "And these are not minimum wage jobs by any stretch of the imagination."

Source: Anthony Lockhart, M.O.M. Tools
Writer: Colin McEwen