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September 29, 2006
Purdue's Technology Roadshow leads to 'Best New Product'WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A medical device with early beginnings in Purdue Research Foundation's technology transfer program has won recognition for breaking new ground in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury.
The Andara Oscillating Field Stimulator (OFS) device, a product of Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc., will receive the "Gold Electrode Award" for Best New Product from Neurotech Business Report on Friday (Sept. 29) at the Neurotech Leaders Forum 2006 at the San Francisco International Airport. The Andara OFS Device, about the size of a cardiac pacemaker, is intended to improve or restore tactile sensation and some movement in those with quadriplegia and tetraplegia due to recent spinal cord injuries by promoting nerve fiber regeneration.
"Neurotech Reports' editors believe the Andara OFS Device represents a groundbreaking advance in neurotechnology as potentially the first commercial neural regeneration stimulation system to reach the market," said James Cavuoto, editor and publisher of Neurotech Reports. "We were also impressed with the developers' efficient transition from university research to commercial development. Finally, we're pleased to see Cyberkinetics is pursuing this important market - offering hope and solid scientific progress for individuals paralyzed by spinal cord injuries."
The device was based on research by Richard B. Borgens, a co-founder of Andara Life Science who now serves a consultant to Cyberkinetics. At Purdue, Borgens is the Mari Hulman George Professor of Applied Neurology in the School of Veterinary Medicine and the founder of Purdue's Center for Paralysis Research, where his team conducted the initial research. Andara Life Science is a privately held company located at the Purdue Research Park that was sold to Cyberkinetics in February.
Andara was one of the first companies to participate in the Technology Roadshow offered through the Office of Business Development, a division of Purdue Research Foundation. Through this program, potential entrepreneurs and investors learn more about available Purdue technologies during presentations around the state.
"This is our best roadshow success so far," said Steven R. Gerrish, director of development for the Purdue Research Foundation. "The Technology Roadshows are designed to showcase Purdue's diverse technologies and find entrepreneurs and investment capital that will eventually get the product to market. In this case, it took slightly more than a year to take this small startup company through our Businessmaker process.
"This award proves we have a model program that's working."
The Businessmaker Process identifies alternative financing methods that can help startup companies get past the invention phase. Eighty percent of the startup companies that make it through this process are acquired by larger corporations, Gerrish said.
He then solicits experienced business people to be CEOs to help guide the companies through the maze of entrepreneurs and "angel" investors to get to the final phase of having a product on the market.
"I act as a wingman to the CEO to help predict and identify potential pitfalls," Gerrish said. "We find seasoned CEOs and line them up to work with investors and the company to set up management teams."
Mark A. Carney was selected to be CEO of Andara, and is now executive vice president at Cyberkinetics.
"There are many products in the crowded landscape of intellectual property that are trying to do what we did," Carney said. "I have managed enough acquisitions to know a successful one is more than luck. The process can be overwhelming to scientists or inventors who don't have business backgrounds. The infrastructure at Purdue Research Park arms small companies with information they need and expertise in areas such as marketing, consulting contracts, and conflict management. It's one-stop shopping for a budding startup company."
Writer: Maggie Morris, media relations, Purdue Research Park, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
About Neurotech Reports and the Neurotech Business Report Neurotech Reports serves the scientific, medical engineering and financial communities interested in developing the new field of neurotechnology. Neurotech Reports is dedicated to providing business and technology professionals up-to-date and forward-looking information about the field of neurotechnology and future developments that will affect the venture capital, research, and startup communities.
Neurotech Business Report is the first publication targeting the business of neurotechnology, the application of engineering techniques to human neural and information processing systems. The newsletter covers the ongoing technology transfer from medical devices to commercial products in emerging markets like computer interfaces and training/simulation, as well as technologies including neural prostheses, neural sensing and stimulation and brain-computer interfaces.
For more information, go online.
About the Andara OFS Device The Andara OFS Device has been shown in previous published, randomized, controlled, preclinical studies to restore sensation and some motor function. Results of a 10-patient clinical study were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine in January of 2005.
Designated as an Humanitarian Use Device by the FDA on Sept. 6, 2006, Cyberkinetics officials say they expect to file an Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) in the fourth quarter of 2006. If approved, Cyberkinetics could begin marketing the Andara OFS Device on a limited basis within 2007.
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