Events Calendar
In This Section
Famous hobby rocket begins new voyage at museum
UA stadium crews driving toward opening goal
10 runs barely enough in Tribe's win
Patrick McManamon: Varejao's $50 million deal isn't really $50 million
Hospital connects to patients online
Cavs, Varejao agree on six-year deal
YRC, Teamsters reach tentative deal on concessions
Most Read Stories
Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family
Woman, 75, charged with beating fawn to death
Akron woman found dead at Brimfield Township store
Man shot outside his Akron home during robbery attempt
Man shot in back near Akron park
Tragic day puts man on path to be Pinnacle owner
Suspect sought in Portage Path bar robbery
Blogs:
Pets:
Dogs' Bark: Not fair! Study shows pups get jealous
The Heldenfiles:
Who Will Get the Michael Media Treatment Next?
Patrick McManamon:
More on Varejao
Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Wedge challenges relievers
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
CIA Did Mislead Congress
Akron Law Café:
Breaking Story: CIA Lied to Congress about Secret Program
Varsity Letters:
East basketball update
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
First 24 'Guitar Hero 5' songs announced
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.

