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Center for Entrepreneurship

Press Releases

TUESDAY • JULY 29, 2008 The Daily Reporter COLUMBUS’ ONLY DAILY BUSINESS AND LEGAL NEWSPAPER -ESTABLISHED 1896 Company born from OSU business class about ready to market product By RICK ADAMCZAK Daily Reporter Staff Writer A Powell-based company spawned from an Ohio State University business class four years ago is now preparing to have its medical device product hit the market. Vertebration Inc., formed by OSU Fisher College of Business master’s in business administration classmates Rick Karr and Henry Fabian Jr., a back surgeon, makes a spinal implant for the lower back. The device is designed to make spinal fusion in the lumbar region less invasive, via a procedure that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year. “We’re very close to moving it to market right now,” said Karr, who serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer and also has his undergraduate degree from OSU. He said the company will start training surgeons on the procedure later this year and the training will continue into early 2009. “It’s a typical process that most companies go through,” Karr said. The device itself, the XYcor implant, will be available on a limited basis by the end of the year. The concept for the product came from a business plan by Karr and Fabian that won Fisher College’s Deloitte Business Plan Competition in 2004 and the Fortune Small Business MBA Showdown Business Plan Competition later that year. “We felt there was a valid market for it and the (Fisher competition) showed that we should see a good opportunity,” Karr said. He said there haven’t been any major challenges in the development of the company so far other than the time and energy spent in developing the device. “The biggest bump has been the product development and engineering. The lead time ... getting the instrumentation engineered,” Karr said. The company received a lot of positive feedback when talking to surgeons at a spine conference in New Mexico last year, he said. The XYcor implant has several advantages over existing methods, including the fact that it can be implemented from the back of the torso. According to Karr, most similar procedures today are initiated through the front of a patient’s midsection. By making an incision in the back, the XYcor procedure is less invasive and requires less surgical work. It also requires a smaller hole to insert the implant. The procedure also, in most cases, results in more than twice the graft material that is available in current anterior and posterior implants. “More graft can get in there and you potentially will get a better results. Most surgeons will tell you the more graft, the better,” Karr said. The time to perform a fusion procedure likely will be reduced from three hours to two-and-a-half hours. Also, the Vertebration procedure will not require a facectomy, which is the removal of bone in the facet joint and is part of most existing procedures. Karr said the company chose Central Ohio for its operations because of his and Fabian’s ties to Ohio State. “It was a natural progression to keep the business here in Columbus,” said Karr, who before helping to start Vertebration worked for eight years at Microsoft Corp. as an account manager. He also previously worked for NCR Corp. and as director of business development for Affiliated Resource Group in Dublin. So far, more than $1.2 million has been invested in the creation of the company and more will be spent to get the product to market, but that is a relatively low pricetag compared to those of larger companies creating a similar product, in part because the larger companies have more overhead costs. The company also has two engineers and contracts with a Columbus company for some of its instrumentation work, and a Florida firm for the implant manufacturing and other instrumentation work. Karr said there are some other companies looking to develop new procedures to make such operations less invasive. “There are a lot of ideas on the board about how to fit the ship in the bottle. That’s always been a huge question in back surgery,” he said. The XYcor device, Karr said, is similar to how a pair of scissors opens and closes. The device is slipped into the approximately inch-long hole, then opens up like a pair of scissors. The procedure is used to repair herniated or degenerative vertebrae and disc injuries. “When the vertebrae collapses, height needs to be restored,” Karr said. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF THE DAILY REPORTER. FISHER NEWS

NanoMed wins Deloitte Business Plan Competition A team of Ohio State students developing a device used to genetically modify cells and enable the rapid prototyping of new gene therapies took first place honors in the 2008 Deloitte Business Plan Competition hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship. The team, NanoMed, included Mihaela Jekic, a biomedical engineering PhD student, Bruce Caldwell, a student in the MBA for Working Professionals program, Eric Cochran, a physics PhD student, and Aaron Sander, a graduate physics student. They presented a business plan for the Zip-Disk Gene Delivery System, a device that could potentially help researchers create cures for cancer, autoimmune diseases and other debilitating disorders. Last month the team was one of three finalists at the 2008 Materials Research Society (MRS) Entrepreneurship Challenge, one of the nation’s most prestigious technology business start-up competitions. The Zip-Disc Gene Delivery System, developed by bioengineering researchers at Ohio State, will be initially marketed to cell research laboratories to enable rapid prototyping of cells. The technology dramatically reduces the waiting period to produce test results from three months to three days. Researchers have also experienced a 95 percent survival rate in the delivered cells, up from 50 percent. “The judges were impressed by the strong background of this team and its plan to bring this technology to the marketplace,” said S. Michael Camp, academic director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. “This is a great concept derived from an exciting technology from Ohio State and the primary opportunity will be determined by how quickly they can grow and become the standard in the market.” Another component of the technology, which is still under development, injects a disposable cartridge of 10,000 cells into a patient’s body for therapeutic purposes. Finishing second in the competition was XMRI, a medical device development company that presented a business plan for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible treadmills for use in exercise stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. ThermoBuffer, a company developing new technology that addresses temperature control in containers for food and liquids, finished in third place. Elliott Endsley of American Recyclers earned the Top Young Entrepreneur Award for the best effort by an undergraduate student or team. American Recyclers is developing a system to reduce the strain on landfills by salvaging recyclable materials from garbage and then grinding and disposing the remaining waste. The top three finishers and the top undergraduate entrepreneur will share more than $145,000 in start-up funds and services. This year’s competition attracted 72 entries.

Traycer Diagnostic Systems wins 2007 business plan competition
Published: 2007-05-21
A team of Ohio State graduate students developing a new approach to detect breast cancer took top honors at the 2007 Deloitte Business Plan Competition hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship.
Traycer Diagnostic Systems (TDS) consisting of physics doctoral student H. Lee Mosbacker, mechanical engineering graduate student Arindam Ghatak and MBA student Jeff D. Martin won their second case competition of the year. MBA student Erwin Grabisna, Lawrence Burr Zimmerman, a chemical engineering doctoral candidate and Columbus entrepreneur Brad Beasecker served as the team’s advisors throughout the competition. (Brad Beasecker has been named CEO of TDS)
Last month they won the 2007 Materials Research Society (MRS) Entrepreneurship Challenge, (see below) one of the nation’s most prestigious technology business start-up competitions.

The team presented a business plan for new medical imaging technology, Traycer Diagnostic Systems. The system, still under research and development, would eventually have the capability of detecting cancer without painful compression that accompanies mammography.
The system proposed would utilize an array sensor for medical imaging based on a spintronic functional polymer, developed by Arthur Epstein, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry. Epstein’s technology was patented through the Office of Research’s Technology, Licensing and Commercialization (TLC) team and was made available by the office to the Center for Entrepreneurship.
“The judges liked that the team was able to deliver a great solution for state-of-the-art technology in breast cancer detection, which required them to maneuver through many technical hurdles,”said Michael Camp academic director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.
“The judges recognized a strong IP platform, a strong developing partnership with Ohio State’s Technology Licensing and Commercialization Office, strong technical and entrepreneurial leadership and huge market potential to save lives and cut cancer treatment insurance claims,” he said. “Most exciting is the difference this disruptive technology can make in saving lives.”

Second-place finisher, Global Dimensions is aiming to help U.S.-based companies to participate and succeed in foreign trade shows. RPack's business plan proposed selling insulated carriers made with high-performance micro-fiber material to military personnel and outdoor enthusiasts. A non-profit group, Single Mothers Independently Living Everyday (S.M.I.L.E.), earned the Top Young Entrepreneur Award for the best effort by an undergraduate student or team. Robert Nicholson, an undergraduate business major, founded S.M.I.L.E to provide services to single parents to reduce financial burdens and improve their quality of life.
The top three finalists will share more than $147,000 in start-up funds and services. This year’s competition attracted 60 entries.

News Release

Contact: Patricia Allen, Nick Houser

(allen.965@osu.edu) (houser.85@osu.edu)

OhioStatestudents win coveted international technology business competition

COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 24, 2007)--A team of Ohio State graduate students offering a new approach to medical imaging for detecting breast cancer that would replace painful biopsies and the stress-inducing mammography won one of the nation’s most prestigious technology business start-up competitions, the 2007 Materials Research Society (MRS) Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Physics students Michael Hetzer and H. Lee Mosbacker; Fisher College of Business MBA student Erwin Grabisna and Lawrence Burr Zimmerman, a chemical engineering doctoral candidate, brought back the laser-etched crystal trophy and $3,000 grand prize award to Columbus. The team was mentored by Michael Camp, academic director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Fisher.

The MRS Entrepreneurship Challenge is an international competition that pairs students and professional materials scientists and engineers with business school students to develop concepts for materials-based start-up companies. The final round of competition was held at the 2007 MRS Spring Meetingin San Francisco on April 10.

“This competition was highly competitive and it offered a great opportunity to showcase the entrepreneurial and scientific expertise at OSU,” Mosbacker said. “The networking alone was extremely valuable as we met investors, scientists, educators and entrepreneurs from around the world. We hope that our efforts will solidify future collaborations at OSU and help promote commercialization in central Ohio.”

The team presented a business plan for new medical imaging technology, Advanced Digital Imaging System. The system, still under research and development, would eventually have the capability of detecting cancer without painful compression that accompanies mammography, according to the team. The business case forecasts that the new technology could increase revenue streams for hospitals and clinics and reduce billions of dollars in biopsy costs and treatment for late stage cancer treatment for patients.

The technology utilizes an array sensor for medical imaging based on a spintronic functional polymer. It was developed by Arthur Epstein, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry. Epstein’s technology was patented through the Office of Research’s Technology, Licensing and Commercialization (TLC) team and was made available by the office to the Center for Entrepreneurship. The Technology Entrepreneurship Commercialization Academy also provided support to the students.

“This was an extraordinary win for Ohio State and an example of students leveraging research expertise and resources across Ohio State to develop a project that impressed international and national scientists and business executives,” Camp said.

The graduate students joined forces in Fisher’s Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Academy, a graduate specialization program under the direction of Camp and the Center for Entrepreneurship.

There were two rounds in the competition that began with 18 teams last fall. Ohio State’s team was one of three universities selected for the final round based on their pitch presentations for materials-based technologies. Their presentations were evaluated by venture capitalists selected by the Society. Ohio State competed in the final round against teams from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Rutgers University.

“This is an excellent team of students and entrepreneurs who identified a technology and came up with an exciting new paradigm and identified a business application that was in reach of realization,” Epstein said. “They chatted with me directly to understand the technology on a deeper level. They met with people at the Technology Licensing and Commercialization group and found out what would be the potential market.”

The team has also advanced to the final round of the 2007 Deloitte Business Plan Competition, co-sponsored by Fisher College of Business,to be held on May 11.

About the Materials Research Society

The Materials Research Society is a not-for-profit scientific association founded in 1973 to promote interdisciplinary goal-oriented research on materials of technological importance. Membership in the Society consists of more than 14,100 scientists from industry, government, academia and research laboratories in the United States and nearly 50 other countries. For further information about the Materials Research, its products and services, contact Anita Miller at the Materials Research Society, 506 Keystone Drive, Warrendale, PA 15086; phone 724-779-3004 ext. 551; fax 724-779-8313; or E-mail at amiller@mrs.org. For the most up-to-date information, visit the MRS Web site at www.mrs.org.

About the Technology Licensing and Commercialization Team

Technology Licensing and Commercialization is the university unit charged with fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial culture; catalyzing faculty, staff, and student inventions; maximizing the value of OSU developments; and accelerating the transition of these developments into new products, services and jobs. They cultivate, negotiate, license and manage all commercialization-focused initiatives for the University. In addition, this team sponsors, or partners with others, to sponsor student projects with potential for significant economic development or commercialization results.

About The Center for Entrepreneurship

The Center for Entrepreneurship at the Fisher College of Business is an official academic center of The Ohio State University. Launched in November 2001, the Center supports academic research and education in entrepreneurship. In addition, the Center facilitates entrepreneurial learning and experiences that will impact a global economy and stimulates economic growth by assisting new company formation and graduating students

About Fisher College of Business

Ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top 25 business schools in the country, The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business offers full-time, part-time and executive MBA, Master of Accounting Master of Labor and Human Resources and Master of Business Logistics Engineering programs. The college of business was started in 1916, and was named the Fisher College of Business in 1993, in honor of Max M. Fisher, a noted philanthropist, industrialist and alumnus of the college.

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accredited by and founding member of AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Content provider: Center for Entrepreneurship; last modified on 2008-08-04 14:49:41.
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