Events Calendar
In This Section
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Zips' Porter creates culture of success
Health reform passes hurdle in Senate
Lawyers compare four cases to Prade's
Visiting new Navy ship brings back memories for Doylestown man serves on USS New York in 1930s
Green High senior goes extra mile for those who walk and jog the park trails
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …
Akron Zips:
Akron trounces Howard to reach .500
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Team presents plan to use patented polymers for medical products, beats 5 N.E. Ohio schools
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Wednesday, Apr 09, 2008
An idea for a polymer-based drug delivery system won the University of Akron top honors at the second annual LaunchTown Entrepreneurship competition Monday night.
The UA team beat students from five other Northeast Ohio universities, who presented their plans for new businesses or products to a panel of judges for a grand prize of $5,000 cash and $10,000 in donated professional services.
At the John Carroll University event, the UA students outlined their plans for PureBalance Polymeric Solutions, which seeks to use patented polymers for a variety of medical products reaching multibillion dollar markets.
The main product uses a flexible polymer system that will deliver drugs ranging from common anti-inflammatory agents to complex molecules such as proteins and genetic components.
Medicine can be encapsulated within biodegradable polymer shells, made of nontoxic material that is found naturally in the human body.
The treatment can be released at a time and in quantities customized for each patient, whose needs can range from skin regeneration to cancer treatments.
The first initiative will fo
cus on a drug delivery system for postoperative atrial fibrillation (PAF) prevention, since there currently is no generally accepted prevention method for open-heart surgery patients, the team reported. There are some 700,000 open-heart surgeries performed each year, with 65 percent of patients developing PAF.
Teams from Kent State, Cleveland State, Ashland, Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll also competed for the prize.
Parth Shah, a UA doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering, is co-owner of the technology, filed in a provisional patent through the university.
Shah will be the acting chief executive of PureBalance until the patent is received and the search for a CEO with experience can begin.
Anand Parikh, another doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering, will work with Shah in developing the first product.
The other two students on the UA LaunchTown team — Tim Johnson (an MBA candidate in management) and Shana Horonetz (an MBA candidate in entrepreneurship) — will oversee the finance, marketing and operations aspect of the firm.
PureBalance's business plan outlined the need to partner with Northeast Ohio's medical community, investors, government and educational institutions. It predicted a plan that begins with a seven-year process to win FDA approval and ends with ''an increased demand for talent in the Northeast Ohio region.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
An idea for a polymer-based drug delivery system won the University of Akron top honors at the second annual LaunchTown Entrepreneurship competition Monday night.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
