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ANNUAL REPORT
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Introduction
Contents Introduction......................................4 Engaging Our Colleagues........6 Industry Partnerships and Outreach....................................12 Entrepreneurial Education............................................17 Startup Profiles................................22 The University of Utah’s Economic Impact...........................32
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Introduction
A Message from Vice President Jack Brittain It was another extraordinary year for Technology Venture Development at the University of Utah. In their annual university ranking, Forbes ranked Utah number 15 in commercialization dollars generated per research dollar. You also may have heard that for the second year in a row, the University of Utah (the U) was ranked second in the country at starting technology companies based on its research according to annual rankings issued by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). According to that same survey, the U ranked 20th in revenue production. Universities also in the top 25 include Michigan, the University of California System, Florida, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Columbia, Emory, MIT and North Carolina. We’re in good company. It is gratifying to be recognized for these achievements, but it is just as important that the companies founded on University technology thrive. Of the 83 companies launched over the past 4 years, 78 are still operating. This is a much higher survival rate than one would expect based on average business failure rates. Seventy of these companies are operating and growing in Utah. These companies collectively raised over $156 million in seed and venture capital and over 40 percent of them have received external investment from either corporate, seed or venture partners. Since our founding in 2005, Tech Ventures has established programs that are achieving national and international recognition. We continue to develop new initiatives that support the U’s faculty and students, including our Entrepreneurial Faculty Advisors, our Entrepreneur in Residence program, and new seed venture funds that support the steady stream of entrepreneurial technologies arising from the University of Utah. We are not taking our success for granted. With the team we have supporting the University’s incredibly talented faculty entrepreneurs, I am convinced the best is yet to come.
photo opposite page: Lawrence Boye
Jack Brittain, Vice President Technology Venture Development The University of Utah
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“... companies founded on University technology thrive.�
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Why a Scientist Might Sell Her Soul in Corporate America By Cynthia Furse, Ph.D.
Well, I guess that title caught your attention, didn’t it? Scientific academics, me included, often pride ourselves with being above the ‘base’ desires of making money, courting customers, and running a business. Instead, we are motivated by the thrill of scientific discovery, the challenge of creating something new and novel, the wonder of analytical reasoning to find/prove/discover something special, perhaps finding something unexpected. Imagine my surprise over the past eight years as I have discovered that pure academics and corporate America are not so very divergent after all. In 1998 I happened upon an idea, an invention if you will, of using a coded cell phone signal to locate intermittent electrical faults on aircraft wires while the plane is flying. Most faults happen in the air (vibration, moisture, stress, heat, cold …) and many disappear before the plane lands, thus leading to the frustrating and potentially dangerous ‘no fault found’ condition where a maintainer knows something is probably wrong but cannot find it. After some large and clunky lab tests proved out the basic idea, my first Ph.D. student, now Dr. Paul Smith, built a sleek and functional board to demonstrate the system and work out the theoretical constraints. Cool! Publication-publication-publication. A couple of patents. Some conference presentations. And that is where my typical world of National Science Foundation (NSF) funded academics would normally have stopped.
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But it didn’t. The demand for this technology as a product was clear. The Centers of Excellence program came to my aid just when my Department of Defense (DOD) and NSF program managers were strongly encouraging me to set up a company to move the technology to the next level, and eventually to a product they could purchase for their fleets. From my academic position, ‘development’ did not look half as interesting as ‘research’. Little did I know, development is often the instigator of much more research. Paul Smith, then recently graduated, and I, along with two business partners, John Bennion and Bob Sherwin, created LiveWire Test Labs, LLC to commercialize the technology we originally developed at the University. Eight years, a few grants and major government funding later, the technology is truly maturing into a product sought after by major avionics manufacturers and aircraft producers around the world. Besides the sheer magnitude of what, who, when, and how, I think the thing that surprised me most was how little we knew when we started and how much pure, raw , funded academic research was waiting in the wings, as well as how many really cool problems we would have missed had we stopped at the end of the traditional academic cycle.
Engaging Our Colleagues
“I forgot the fundamental principle that the more you know the more questions you raise.”
For instance, real wiring harnesses have branches and connectors and lightning protection circuitry and loads and all kinds of things that ‘pollute’ the reflectometry signal we were seeking. Analyzing all of those elements has led to three master’s theses, several publications and a really cool academic question: Just how low can we go? What is the fundamental limit of the sensitivity of this system? Is it possible that there is no theoretical limit, but that the hardware configuration is all that limits its sensitivity? This led to some fascinating studies (and more master’s theses along with part of a Ph.D. and multiple publications) on how to push the noise level down low enough that we can find faults in prestressed concrete anchors for dams and early-stage corrosion on connectors. The signal processing is also a good academic research project: How can we extract our coded pseudo noise signal from everything else, the coded needle in the aircraft haystack, efficiently and effectively? Challenges in low power to make the system battery operate led to my current research collaboration with Dr. Steve Blair on an optical correlator that can do the same job instantaneously with miniscule power using light. So as you see, the more we know, the more questions are created. One of the most fascinating recent unanswered questions is what really happens when a wire short circuits? The sputtering, burning, spitting short typically lasts less than a millisecond, often more like a few hundred microseconds. The heat and plasma flume are highly variable with time, and they do affect
the reflections that are observed. The company has developed some really good algorithms to deal with this, but the academician in me wants to take it further – to a real understanding of the micro-explosion that occurs . I want to know what happens to the wire, what happens near the wire, how this affects the instantaneous signals on the wire, and how this impacts our test system. It seems that no one really understands the electrical environment around a short circuit micro-explosion, so we are currently preparing a collaborative research grant to study this intriguing issue. This is yet another thing that I didn’t anticipate when we ‘finished’ our first academic research and moved on to development. Somehow, I very naively assumed that development meant the research was done. I forgot the fundamental principle that the more you know the more questions you raise. Development helps us know more, and simply through the act of forcing us to really apply what we have learned, development has been an excellent catalyst for more pure research, research that has continued to fund students, publications, and conferences. So, no, I don’t think I had to sell my scientific soul when I straddled the academic to corporate divide. Instead, the corporate challenges have added soul to my academic research, soul that could otherwise have been so easily missed.
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Engaging Our Colleagues
Seasoned Entrepreneurs Engage with University Startup Companies The Entrepreneur in Residence Program Announced It has been said that wise people learn from others’ experiences. This is the genesis of the University of Utah’s new initiative: The Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program. The plan is to align seasoned entrepreneurs with young University startup companies to help the new companies as they develop business plans, acquire financing, and begin operations. University startup companies not only help move research forward through the licensing royalty revenue for the University, they provide jobs for the people of Utah and help to strengthen the economy of the state. “We strive to support University startup companies rather than leaving them to struggle on their own,” says Jack Brittain, vice president of technology venture development. “A little extra attention, connection with experienced entrepreneurs, and simple operational support are sometimes all that is needed.” Tech Ventures has amassed a group of veteran entrepreneurs to help the startup companies make it through initial growing pains. These business trendsetters are then paired with various young startup companies. As the entrepreneurs and companies become acquainted, the mentors work as advisors. They assist with market analysis, product evaluation and placement, capital acquisition, and other general startup activities. Their goal is to help new and often unstable companies gain sure footing. University startup companies participating in the EIR program include those based on software, energy, diagnostic testing, and drug delivery technologies.
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EIR member Stan Kanarowski has over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience, including founding and running multiple startups. He also has experience sitting on the opposite side of the entrepreneurial table providing venture financing. “As an entrepreneur and investor, I have looked at hundreds of companies and talked to a variety of research schools. The University of Utah really stands out as an institution at the forefront of trying to create successful companies,” says Kanarowski. “This new program is a great way to connect executives and experienced entrepreneurs with the advanced business ideas being incubated at the U.” All University startup companies participating in the EIR are at a very early stage and some don’t have any employees or product sales yet. Even so, that’s an ideal time to make sure they succeed. “We want these companies to establish a strong foundation,” says Brittain. “That is why, instead of leaving these companies to fend for themselves, we’re investing experienced human capital in them.”
Engaging Our Colleagues
The Utah-Inha Advanced Therapeutics and Drug Delivery Joint Global R&D Center (Korea)
The University of Utah and Inha University in Korea are combining their expertise to accelerate the research and development of advanced therapeu-
“We strive to support
tics that will benefit the world. The Utah-Inha Advanced Therapeutics and Drug Delivery Joint Global R&D Center, located outside Seoul in the town of Incheon, is a non-profit research facility established in 2009. The University
University startup companies
of Utah’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry has vast expertise in drug delivery. This strength combined with Inha’s expertise and capabilities in conducting clinical trials, and funding available through the Incheon Free Economic Zone authority, have made the formation of the joint research and
rather than leaving them to
development center possible. The College of Pharmacy’s David Grainger, You Han Bae, and Steven Kern represent the University of Utah on the center’s joint board.
struggle on their own.”
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Engaging Our Colleagues
Te c h n o l o g y V e n t u r e D e v e l o p m e n t | U n i v e r s i t y D e p a r t m e n t s S e r v e d | F Y 2 0 0 9
Department Served
Faculty Outreach
CSR
CS Clinical Trials
IP Protection Disclosures 1/
Educational Program Engagement
School of Business n College of Engineering 2 n n n 26 n Bioengineering n 3 n Chemical Engineering n 11 n Civil and Environmental Engineering School of Computing 4 n 16 n Electrical and Computer Engineering n n 6 Material Science and Engineering n n 14 n Mechanical Engineering College of Fine Arts College of Humanities n College of Law College of Mines and Earth Science n n n Geology and Geophysics n 11 Metallurgical Engineering Meteorology n n Mining Engineering College of Science n n 4 Biology n n 16 Chemistry n Mathematics n 8 n Physics College of Social and Behavioral Science n College of Architecture and Planning n n College of Education College of Social Work n n 4 n Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute n Marriott Library 1 n Academic Outreach & Continuing Education Information Technology Services 1 Sr. VP Health Sciences 1 College of Health CVRTI 2 n n n 6 Human Genetics n 6 School of Medicine Neurobiology and Anatomy 2 n 1 n Anesthesiology n 1 Biochemistry n n 4 Oncological Sciences n Family and Preventive Medicine n n n 1 Dermatology n Biomedical Informatics Molecular Medicine 1 n n 2 Neurology n 2 Obstetrics and Gynecology n 9 Pathology n 4 Pediatrics n n 4 Psychiatry n n 1 Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation n 1 Physiology n 5 Radiology Radiation Oncology 1 n 3 Neurosurgery n 6 n Orthopedic Surgery n 2 n Ophthalmology n n 9 n Internal Medicine n n n 7 Surgery n n 5 n Huntsman Cancer Institute ARUP 5 n n College of Nursing n n n 23 n College of Pharmacy Note: 1 Disclosures counted for each depar tment. When multiple depar tments are involved in a disclosure the count is included for each depar tment.
Departments served: University Colleges and Departments
53 61
% Served
87%
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Engaging Our Colleagues Total Revenue Total Revenue $80,000,000 $70,000,000 $60,000,000
Intellectual Property Disclosures
$50,000,000
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180 $40,000,000 160 $30,000,000 140
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$20,000,000
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80 $10,000,000 60 40$0 20
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■ Royalty & Equity Income ■ Private Clinical Trial Revenue FY 2008 FY 2009 ■ Commercial Sponsored Research
FY 2007
Total Total Revenue Revenue
FY 2008
FY 2009
Commercial Sponsored Research Revenue Private Contracts Private Clinical Trials Royalty & Equity Income Total Revenues
37,405,026 6,881,610 26,211,372 70,498,008
32,344,144 8,180,760 11,253,690 51,778,594
New Inventors Inventors New
University Research Progressing as India Initiative Continues
The India Initiative was officially launched in Fall 2007 alongside Utah Gover-
80
nor Jon Huntsman when Memorandums of Understanding were signed with
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four Indian companies, including Global Health Ltd (MediCity) and Manipal
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AcuNova, to accelerate University technology commercialization through
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partnerships with select Indian companies. 2009 marked a productive year for
30 20
the initiative, as clinical trials involving MediCity and AcuNova were initiated
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at the University under the direction of Dr. Amit Patel, a cardiovascular surgeon
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specializing in cardiac regenerative medicine. Cardiac stem cell and chronic limb ischemia studies with MediCity and Acunova exemplify the University’s focus on research to benefit patients, and Dr. Patel’s emphasis on commer-
Intellectual PropertyDisclosures Disclosures Intellectual Property
cialization activities that maximize clinical outcomes is perfectly aligned with
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India Initiative goals.
180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 FY 2005
FY 2006
FY 2007
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FY2009
Revenues Commercial Sponsored Research Revenue Private Contracts Private Clinical Trials Royalty & Equity Income Total Revenues
37,405,026 6,881,610 26,211,372 70,498,008
32,344,144 8,180,760 11,253,690 51,778,594
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Public-Private Partnership Makes Innovative$5 million Therapeutics Possible NIH grant will help bring therapy to human clinical trials A team of Utahns is collaborating on a stem cell therapy to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. With $5 million dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Linda Kelley, Ph.D., director of the University of Utah’s Cell Therapy Facility, James Campanelli, Ph.D., of University of Utah spin-out Q Therapeutics, Inc., and Utah native Nicholas Maragakis, M.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, have teamed up to bring the cell-based therapy to the point of human clinical trials to treat this deadly disease. The four-year NIH grant will enable critical manufacturing and testing requirements necessary to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for human clinical trials. Kelley, principal investigator on the grant and professor of internal medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said the project is a collaboration in the truest sense. “While the University will be home to the grant, the stem-cell technology that
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Q Therapeutics brings to the table and the clinical expertise of Dr. Maragakis are essential to the project. We are pleased to help bring this groundbreaking therapy toward human use,” Kelley said. “Our collaboration is a terrific example of how public-private partnerships can make innovative therapeutic products a reality.” According to Jack Brittain, University vice president for technology venture development, “The translational research that this funding supports–beyond basic research, but not yet in clinical trials–has been traditionally very difficult to fund. This award validates the approach being taken here at the University of Utah toward emerging technologies, such as regenerative medicine. This kind of collaboration between the University and its commercial spin-out companies is something we strive for and enthusiastically support.” ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that kills certain nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. As these cells degenerate, they lose the ability to send impulses that control muscle movement for speech, breathing, limb movement, and other functions,
Industry Partnerships and Outreach
“Our collaboration is a terrific example of how publicprivate partnerships can make innovative therapeutic products a reality.”
with death from respiratory failure typically occurring from two to five years after diagnosis. ALS affects roughly 30,000 people in this country. The cell-based ALS therapeutic originates from research at the University of Utah by Mahendra Rao, M.D., Ph.D., a co-founder of Salt Lake City-based Q Therapeutics, Inc. “Q Therapeutics is delighted to be working with the University of Utah Cell Therapy Facility and Dr. Maragakis on this groundbreaking project,” said Campanelli, senior director of research and development for Q Therapeutics. “The Cell Therapy Facility is one-of-a-kind in the Intermountain West. We are fortunate to be able to work so closely with Dr. Kelley and her team. The close proximity of our two groups has allowed us to readily address manufacturing and processing issues that would have been a challenge to overcome had we needed to go outside Utah.”
the current economic climate, this type of grassroots effort is critical to both near-term job preservation and long-term development of Utah’s life sciences industry,” said Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “This project is perfectly aligned with the state’s targeted economic cluster for the life sciences and is a model for public and private collaboration.” Maragakis, a Salt Lake City native and graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine, added, “This is an important milestone in the development of therapeutics to treat those who suffer with ALS. Given the lack of good treatment alternatives for this fatal disease, this project could lead to a first-in-class therapy that significantly alters the course of disease for many ALS patients.” Maragakis and his team of researchers at Johns Hopkins recently published results of their work in ALS on Nature Neuroscience, showing that a specific type of brain stem cell therapy can be effective in an animal model of ALS.
In bringing together cell therapy and neurology, the collaboration focuses on two of seven life science industry sectors identified by the state of Utah for long-term development. “Given
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Industry Partnerships and Outreach
U of U Joint Venture Designed to Make Utah Home of Clean Carbon Energy
Headwaters Clean Carbon Services is the U’s first USTAR startup
The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is paying off in a big way for Utah. The University of Utah (the U of U) and Headwaters Incorporated (NYSE: HW) have entered into a joint venture to offer carbon management services to CO2-emitting companies, from carbon storage engineering to risk and liability management. While global concerns about the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reaching a tipping point, many experts believe CO2 storage is one of the best ways to significantly decrease CO2 emissions without adversely impacting our standard of living. The first project for the joint venture, Headwaters Clean Carbon Services (HCCS), will be to develop and operate a regional CO2 storage site that will serve several power plants in central Utah. HCCS engineers estimate that the proposed regional CO2 storage site could permanently store as much as 1 billion tons of CO2. That’s enough storage to sequester the emissions from at least six 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants for 50 years. This project should create jobs and expand the tax base in Utah. In addition, because of its location, the state’s School and Institutional Trust Land Administration should be able to collect lease fees for CO2 storage, which will help fund Utah’s school systems. The concept of injecting CO2 into the earth is not new. Oil companies have been doing it successfully for 30 years to enhance the recovery of oil. Based on technical knowhow developed by engineers in HCCS, the company is ready to take liquefied CO2 from coalfired power plants and store it at least a mile below the surface of the earth in porous rock formations lying under dense “seal” rock formations that will keep the CO2 in place forever; much like naturally occurring CO2, oil, and gas. With the nation getting half of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, this clean energy approach is a realistic way to help protect the environment while keeping energy costs down.
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Headwaters Incorporated, the managing partner in the joint venture, is a strong Utah company dedicated to making more efficient use of natural resources, especially fossil fuels. The University decided to join this collaborative venture and license its technologies to Headwaters because the company has a proven track record for successfully executing large projects and has strong relationships with coal-fired power plants in the United States. “CO2 capture and storage is a natural fit for us,” says Kirk Benson, CEO and chairman of Headwaters. “Headwaters is doing everything possible to make the coal value chain cleaner and more efficient. We reclaim waste coal piles and ponds, we turn coal combustion products, such as fly ash, into green building products and now we are taking positive steps to solve the CO2 emission problem.” The technology behind HCCS is a direct result of USTAR. The measure has provided funding for strategic investments at the U of U to recruit world-class researchers as well as to build state-of-the-art disciplinary research and development facilities and to form first-rate science, innovation, and commercialization teams. The carbon sequestration technologies were developed under the U of U’s fossil energy research team, led by USTAR faculty recruit Brian McPherson, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. Graduate students at the University of Utah’s Lassonde New Venture Development Center helped perform market research and developed initial business models for the carbon sequestration technology. The Lassonde Center was instrumental in identifying and bringing Headwaters into the joint venture. “The University’s innovative culture
Intellectual Property Disclosures 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20
Intellectual Property Disclosures
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140 120 100 80 continues to bring new technologies and ideas to enhance Utah’s economy,” said Jack Brit60 president for technology venture development at the University of Utah. “HCCS is tain, vice exactly40what the business community envisioned for USTAR. Utah ideas are being turned 20 jobs.” into Utah 0 FY 2005
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Intellectual Property Disclosures Startup Companies Executed Licensing Agreements New Inventors
195 23 63 51
179 23 64 44
FY 2008 FY 2009 Commercial Sponsored Research Commercial Sponsored Clinical Trials Total Agreements Facilitated
39 5 44
61 6 67
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Executed Licenses, Amendments & Options Executed Licenses, Amendments & Options Outreach Results Intellectual Property Disclosures Startup Companies Executed Licensing Agreements New Inventors
FY 2008 FY 2009 195 23 63 51
179 23 64 44
Industry Agreements facilitated by Tech Ventures FY 2008 FY 2009 Commercial Sponsored Research Commercial Sponsored Clinical Trials Total Agreements Facilitated
39 5 44
61 6 67
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
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Executed Licenses, Amendments & Options 70 60 50 40 30
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What’s the Key to Safe Driving? Almost all of us are guilty of it. It typically happens when driving home from work or running late to a meeting. Here’s the scenario: You’re driving in your car and you remember you were supposed to make a phone call. As your drive offers you a little downtime and the radio is playing those 80’s one hit wonders again, you pick up your phone and begin to dial. The phone starts to ring. As you put it to your ear and look up to the road, you notice that you’ve drifted slightly into the other lane. Only a little flushed in the cheeks, you pull your car back into your lane, continue your conversation and continue your drive home. Fast forward five minutes. You’re at a four-way stop sign and Mr. Red Audi just took your turn. As you honk and attempt to not get frustrated, you notice the person seemed to be texting while driving. Go figure. The fact is that 73% of adults admit to using their cell phones while driving. If that many people admit to it, how many people are actually doing it? The thought is enough to make anyone hesitate before handing the keys over to their teenagers. Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This percentage is expected to grow as much as 4% every year.
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At any given time, about 6% of travelers on the road are talking on a cell phone, while 10% of teen drivers are talking, or even texting. Cell phone usage while driving makes a person four times as likely to get into a crash. Unfortunately, hands-free devices aren’t necessarily the answer because they don’t significantly lower the risk of getting into a crash. So just telling teenagers to stop using their phones while driving will fix the problem, right? Wrong. In the spring of 2007, the state of North Carolina found that teenagers ignore such restrictions. They enacted a ban on the use of wireless devices by teenagers while driving. A study found that approximately 11% of teenage drivers observed departing 25 high schools were using mobile phones during the two months before restrictions were enacted; while about 12% of teenage drivers were observed using mobile phones during the five months after the restriction was placed. So what is the key to improving these statistics and ensuring that your teenage son or daughter – or that you – won’t text and drive? It’s a user-friendly, profile-driven key system, called Key2SafeDriving™ (K2SD), that limits cell phone usage while driving. The technology is actually an easy to install and cost effective intelligent mobile phone management system that knows when you are driving and prevents the use of your cell phone. Note that the system does allow emergency calls to 911 or other numbers that have been programmed by the guardian.
Industry Partnerships and Outreach
“ Only a year ago, the technology was a simple idea in the head of a worried father. The Key 2 Safe Driving is a prime example about how, with the right collaboration, a simple idea can be converted into a commercial product. ”
The device makes it so that teen drivers can’t talk or text while driving. Your teens need not “freak out” that their friends won’t be able to reach them en route — the technology reroutes calls directly to voice mail and will send automated texts to your child’s boyfriend explaining that she’ll call him back…as soon as she safely has reached her destination. The upsetting statistics, combined with two teenage drivers of his own, caused community member Wallace Curry to collaborate with University of Utah’s Xuesong Zhou in developing the Key2SafeDriving. Together, Curry and Zhou share a patent on the technology that is the platform for University of Utah startup company, Safe Driving Systems, which was founded just this year. Founded in 2009, Safe Driving Systems™ is leading the charge for technology-based solutions to reduce cell phone related driving distractions. The intellectual property was protected and a technology was commercialized through the help of the University of Utah’s Technology Commercialization Office and a joint venture with Accendo, a Utah-based business accelerator. Only a year ago, the technology was only an idea in the head of a worried father. The Key2SafeDriving is a prime example about how, with the right collaboration, a simple idea can be converted to a commercial product in a very short time. For more information, visit: w w w.safedrivingsystems.com
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Entrepreneurial Education
Student Competition Results Student involvement is a key part of Tech Ventures’ entrepreneurial mission, and competitions run by Utah college students for Utah college students give all involved an opportunity to meet and be mentored by industry and business professionals. Students learn how to take ideas through all the stages of development — from concept to startup. Over 800 students from the University of Utah campus and around the state of Utah participated in these competitions throughout the 2009 academic year. Tech Titans Winners An idea and design competition for college and university students in the state of Utah.
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• Grand Prize ($5000) – Sweet Seat of UU Sweet Seat is an adjustable, rotating child seat
• Second Place ($2000) – OptiStrain of UU A device for measuring in situ strains of tendons and ligaments during orthopaedic surgical procedures
• Third Place ($1000) – Super Sole of UU
novel low-cost load sensor using piezoresistive micromachined technology
• We’d Buy It! Award ($500) – Granitech of UU max range spring loaded camming device
• We’d Buy It! Award ($500) – Moose of UU User-configurable portable multimedia display stand
• Humanitarian Award – Adaptive Snowboard of UU Adaptive snowboard technology for disabled individuals
Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Winners Student business plan competition open to all college and university students in Utah.
• First Place ($40,000) – KT Tape of BYU Muscle pain relief, increased mobility and enhanced recovery for athletes
• Runner up ($5,000) – Hansen Industries of BYU/UVU/LDSBC Railroad ties from recycled tires
Mexican Entrepreneurial Competitions partner with the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge
The Utah Entrepreneur Challenge and the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business are currently developing a cooperative initiative with the Universidad Panamericana’s Entrepreneurship Program. Universidad Panamericana’s primary campuses are located in Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico. Its business school has been recognized among the best programs in Latin America
Intellectual Property Disclosures
by Forbes, Financial Times, Der Spiegel and The Wall Street Journal.
200 180
Five student winners of the Universidad Panamericana Entrepreneurship
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• Runner up ($5,000) – Veritract of UU 140 An optically guided feeding tube 120
contest were invited to attend the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Awards which was held April 9, 2009 at the University of Utah. The five students involved
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represented two different teams, one from UP-Guadalajara and one team from
Opportunity Quest Winners 80 An executive summary competition for University of Utah students. 60
UP-Mexico City.
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• First Place ($5,000) – UTES 20 • Second Place ($3,000) – ElutInc 0 • Third Place ($2,000) –FY Veritract FY 2005 2006
In addition to the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge banquet, all five students were FY 2007
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hosted in Salt Lake City by Technology Venture Development. The UP students had the opportunity to meet with the Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center. The
Entrepreneurial Education Program Student Participation FY 2008 FY 2009 Sorenson Innovation Center - Tech Titans Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center Lassonde New Venture Development Opportunity Quest Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Legal & Commercialization Intern Program Business Development Intern Program Total Students
Executed Licenses, Amendments & Options
students also had the opportunity to visit University of Utah Research Centers
172
83
including the Energy & Geosciences Institute, College of Engineering, and the
18 126 442 10 6 774
18 362 400 9 1 873
Technology Commercialization Office.
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Lassonde New Venture Development Center has a successful year This year was one of the most successful for the graduate students within the Lassonde New Venture Development Center. Led by the Entrepreneur Center’s director Troy D’Ambrosio and student director Michael Garff, the eleven MBA students, nine Ph.D. students and one law student took over nine technologies down the road to commercialization. The students performed market research, wrote business plans, and competed against the nation’s best.
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Seasonal Energy This startup is a company providing a cost effective, eco-friendly solution to heating and cooling buildings. The technology was developed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Kent Udell. • 1st Place in Opportunity Quest - $5000 • Finalist in the Stoel Rives Innovation Utah Competition • Top 10 Finalist in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Eagle Eye The technology, called “EagleEye, inside” is a system that detects whether tested subjects are lying based on an algorithm that analyzes both eye movements and pupil diameter. The technology was developed by John Kircher and Dough Hacker, both psychology professors, in collaboration with Ann Cook and Dan Wolz, cognitive psychologists in the same department. • Semi-Finalist in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge
Entrepreneurial Education
Congratulations Troy D’Ambrosio ElutInc The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry’s Dr. David Grainger developed an anti-infective bone graft material for the controlled release of antibiotics used at a surgical site.
2009 Best of State Medalist for Education Administrator Troy has been the director of the Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center working
• 1st Place in the Carnegie Mellon McGinnis Venture Competition - $20,000
directly with the students participating in the Lassonde New Venture Develop-
• Top Technology Award from the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge - $1,500
ment Center for the past eight years. As a successful entrepreneur, it’s only
• 2nd Place in Opportunity Quest - $3,000 • 1st Place in the Rice Elevator Pitch Competition - $2,750 CF3 The Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency device is an effective and portable non-invasive screening tool for diseases of the optic nerve. It was developed by Bradley Katz, M.D., Ph.D. from the Department of Neuro-Opthalmology. • Top 10 Finalist in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Veritract Through collaboration between John Fang, M.D., Robert Hitchcock, Ph.D. and Dylan McCreedy at the University of Utah, the Veritract Smart Feeding Tube was developed. The Veritract Smart Feeding Tube combines the power and utility of an endoscope with a simple feeding tube allowing real-time vision, full articulation and tube steering, and a traditional fluid pathway for feeding formula.
natural that Troy is taking what he has learned through his personal experiences, and teaching and mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs. Troy has guided over 20 startup companies from idea to launch – involving students along every stage of the process. Students are presented with a wide range of real-life learning experiences that include being involved with highly confidential negotiations, market research, board presentations, business plan development and implementation, intellectual property protection, business and financial models, and launch.
• 1st Place in the Invented in Utah Competition - $27,000 • 3rd Place in Opportunity Quest - $3,000 • 2nd Place in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge - $5,000
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From Civil War Building to Entrepreneurial Mecca Pierre Lassonde donates $1M to transform Fort Douglas Home The original Commanding Officer’s quarters at Fort Douglas has recently undergone a total makeover. Thanks to a $1M donation from University of Utah alumnus Pierre Lassonde, the historic landmark that has been vacant for over 50 years is receiving a face-lift. The 19th century building is the new home of the executive offices for the University’s entrepreneurial programs and Technology Venture Development. “Pierre’s incredibly generous donation has helped us to create this landmark facility,” said Troy D’Ambrosio, director of the Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center. “It’s just one more way that the University of Utah’s entrepreneur program is becoming one of the premiere programs of its kind in the country. It will be a University facility designated for purely entrepreneurial activities.” The bulding houses the executive offices for the University’s entrepreneurial programs and Technology Venture Development. Not only will is it capable of hosting large group events for each of these programs, but it will also be available for rental by other organizations. The stone portion of the commanding officers quarters was built in 1875. During the renovation, Ephriam Dickson, curator at the Fort Douglas Museum, made a surprising discovery. The rear wing of the building is built of adobe and is actually part of an earlier structure on the same site dating back to 1863 and the first years of the fort.
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“Who could image that after all these years we could still discover a Civil War-period building hiding at the post?” Dickson said. “This is probably the most historic structure surviving at Fort Douglas.” Shortly after Camp Douglas was established in 1862 on the bench overlooking Salt Lake City, soldiers began the arduous task of constructing quarters, barracks, and warehouses for the fort. Most were of a temporary nature, built of logs or adobe with soldier labor. One of the buildings constructed in the fall of 1863 was a large adobe office and residence for the commander of the District of Utah, Brigadier General Patrick E. Connor. Within a decade of their construction, many of the buildings at Camp Douglas had deteriorated so badly that Congress appropriated substantial funds to completely rebuild the post. Between 1873 and 1875, soldiers and local contractors demolished nearly all of the original Civil War structures and built a number of new red sandstone buildings, many of which are still standing today. Among the buildings added was a new home for the post commander, located on the site of Connor’s original residence and office. Examination of the building details during the renovation revealed that the newer stone building was added on to the front of one of the original wings of Connor’s residence. Until recently, only one Civil War-era building was believed to have survived the various expansions and demolitions at the fort. But now, a portion of a second Civil War building has been discovered, hidden as part of a later structure.
Entrepreneurial Education
Located just opposite the chapel, the newly renovated building served for over five decades as the residence for the post commander, the highest ranking officer on the post. The two-story stone portion of these quarters displays the distinctive Gothic Revival Style of the period. The first floor included the parlor, drawing room and dining room, important for entertaining distinguished guests ranging from local officials to the President of the United States. During President Rutherford Hayes’ visit to the post, for example, he was photographed on the front porch of this historic building. Bedrooms were located immediately above. These quarters were the first home at Fort Douglas to be constructed with indoor plumbing, which included hot and cold water for the bathtub. Following a fire in 1927 that badly damaged the second floor, the home was remodeled into quarters for lower ranking officers and the commanding officer was relocated.
U of U Graduate Business Team Wins National Innovation Competition There’s no spring break for three University of Utah graduate students who spent their time off winning $20,000 in cash and $20,000 of in-kind services from the Carnegie Mellon McGinnis Venture Competition. The U of U team competed against 30 teams of graduate students from 24 colleges and universities over a 3-day period and dominated one of the nation’s premier new venture competitions. Charity Williams graduated in May with Juris Doctor; Sean Mills graduated with an MBA, and Justin Baker, a second-year bioengineering Ph.D. candidate, made up the three-student team from the Lassonde New Venture Development Center. The Lassonde Center team won the competition for a business plan they developed called ElutInc, a startup orthaopedic device company that improves orthopaedic surgeries and bone healing by creating implantable devices that can release (or elute) antibiotics and various drugs directly into a surgical site. The technology was developed by David Grainger, Ph.D. from the U of U’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. The technology will improve surgeries by reducing surgical site infections and promoting bone healing.
During President Rutherford Hayes’ visit to the post, for example, he was photographed on the front porch of this historic building.
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Startup Company Profiles
U of U 2nd to MIT, 2nd year in a row For the second year in a row, the University of Utah (the U) was ranked second in the country at starting technology companies based on its research. This is according to the latest survey of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), which ranks over 150 public and private research institutions throughout the country. The ranking is based on the U’s accomplishment of starting 18 new companies in 2007 from technologies based on its varied research. The average number of startup companies per universities across the nation is three. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with 24 new companies, was the only university with more startup companies than the University of Utah. The U’s accomplishment is made more significant due to the fact that MIT receives over four times as much research funding ($1,216,800,000 was reported from MIT; the U receives approximately $274,556,126). The U’s Technology Commercialization Office was also ranked among the top 20 universities in the country in almost every major category tracked by the national survey. This puts the U in good company with NYU, MIT, Columbia, Stanford, the University of Florida, and Emory. The annual AUTM survey tracks metrics on commercialization activities at all the major U.S. universities and is designed to present the outcomes from federally funded research. When compared with each school on the survey, the U came in above average in almost every major category, including startup companies, licensing income, and invention disclosures. “These results must be credited to the entrepreneurial culture of this university and its faculty,” says Jack Brittain. “It is the same entrepreneurial culture and innovative environment that allows faculty such as Mario Capecchi to win a Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking research. Our innovative faculty are always looking at the big picture impact of their research. This has been manifest by the results of the latest AUTM survey.” The Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) at the University of Utah evaluates almost 200 new inventions every year, some of which are nurtured and become new companies. Since the inception of a specialized Technology Venture Development Office in 2005, over 80 new companies have been started at the University, almost all of which still reside in Utah. These new companies represent advances in energy, medical devices, personalized medicine, graphic design, software, nanotechnology, disease diagnostics , and more.
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Startup Company Profiles Since the establishment of Technology Venture Development in 2005, over 80 companies have been launched from University technologies. These diverse companies range in field from the fine arts to pharmaceutical chemistry. Here is a sample of what the University startups have to offer:
Akadi Technologies
Multi-Purpose Web-Based Display & Alert Founded: February 2008 Originating Department: S.J. Quinney College of Law Industry: Digital Communications and Advertising Inventors: Aaron Dewald, Wes Christiansen, Daniel Gorrell http://www.akaditech.com
Angry Duck Productions Founded: 2007 Originating Department: Arts and Technology Program, College of Fine Arts Industry: Design Inventors: David Zemmels and Anthony Romrell
Akadi is a dynamic web-based service that allows our customers to generate new revenue (through advertisements) and increase sales through an easy-to-use digital signage system. Akadi Technologies was formed in 2008 out of the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Current digital signage technologies are expensive, bundled solutions with complicated and proprietary technology. Current solutions require the support of a designer, IT manager, and marketing specialist to design the sign layout, support the hardware and software, find internal advertising opportunities, and contact external advertisers. There is a need for simple, intuitive, and web-based information display and management capabilities. There is a need for a system that will allow users to find paying advertisers who want to target ads to the display owner’s customers. That solution is DAN. DAN is a copyrighted technology that simplifies creating, publishing, managing and sharing information.
Angry Duck is a new portal for art and technology students to receive real-world experience in creating works for real-world clients. The company can produce almost anything in the design world: websites, museum exhibit displays, full-length movies, marketing collateral; the list goes on. The company works in a cycle. They hire University students to produce works for clients. The students gain real-world experience and the company gains a profit. The profit goes towards educating more students within the College of Fine Arts. These educated students join the Angry Duck team and the cycle begins again.
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Catheter Connections Innovation in Infection Control
Founded: February 2008 Originating Department: Bioengineering Industry: Medical Devices - infusion therapy Inventors: James Mercer, Michael W. Howlett, Don Solomon, Robert Hitchcock Market Size: $2B http://www.catheterconnections.com
GlycoMira, Inc. From Life. For Life.
Founded: April 2008 Originating Department: Medicinal Chemistry, Internal Medicine Industry: Pharmaceutical/Life Sciences Inventors: Glenn D. Prestwich, Ph.D., Thomas P. Kennedy, M.D. http://www.glycomira.com
Glycosan BioSystem Inc.
“Hydrogels for Cell Therapy and Drug Discovery”
Founded: January 2006 Originating Department: Center for Therapeutic Biomaterials Industry: Life Sciences Technology Inventors: Glenn D. Prestwich, Ph.D. http://www.glycosan.com/
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Catheter Connections is leading a revolution to develop and commercialize newly conceived medical infusion accessory products. These products are designed to protect patients from acquiring infections during infusion therapy, prevent dangerous practices, and improve clinical outcomes. Hospital infections are the fourth largest killer in the United States. A device that prevents rather than treats infection is needed. The CathCon Technology Platform consists of a line of products based on the company’s antiseptic technology to prevent contamination leading to infections.
GlycoMira (“Amazing Sugars”) is a development stage pharmaceutical company targeting the topical treatment of inflammatory diseases affecting over 100 million Americans. GlycoMira’s motto is “From Life. For Life.” Our proprietary semi-synthetic glycosaminoglycans are uniquely safe and potent drugs that block inflammation. Our topical therapeutics have the potential to restore health and quality of life to those suffering from disfiguring diseases such as rosacea, psoriasis, eczema, acne, and actinic keratosis. Given systematically, GlycoMira’s new therapeutic agents offer potential treatments for arthritis, prevention of eye and kidney complications of diabetes, and prevention of cancer metastases.
In nature, cells don’t grow on a flat Petri dish. Glycosan’s technology allows both academic and commercial research groups to grow cells in a three-dimensional environment. 3-D cell cultures provide a more natural and more efficient environment in which to study cells. Glycosan has opened the door for researchers to study cells in a more natural environment, watching how they react and interact with other cells that surround them. This technology will not only help to study cell growth, accelerate drug discovery and evaluation, but it may also help in the growth and delivery of stem cells and other cell-based therapies.
Startup Company Profiles
Headwaters Clean Carbon Services Founded: February 2009 Originating Department: The Energy and Geoscience Institute in the Department of Civil Engineering Industry: Carbon Sequestration Inventors: Brian McPherson, Ph.D. http://www.headwaters.com
The University of Utah and Headwaters Incorporated (NYSE: HW) have entered into a joint venture to offer carbon management services to CO2-emitting companies, from carbon storage engineering to risk and liability management. While global concerns about the effects of carbon dioxide emissions are reaching a tipping point, many experts believe CO2 storage is one of the best ways to significantly decrease CO2 emissions without adversely impacting our standard of living. Based on technical knowhow developed by engineers in HCCS, the company is ready to take liquefied CO2 from coal-fired power plants and store it at least a mile below the surface of the earth in porous rock formations lying under dense “seal” rock formations that will keep the CO2 in place forever, much like naturally occurring CO2, oil, and gas. With the nation getting half of its electricity from coalfired power plants, this clean energy approach is a realistic way to help protect the environment while keeping energy costs down.
LiveWire Test Labs, Inc.
Detecting faults while they’re happening
Founded: 2003 Originating Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering Inventors: Cynthia Furse, Paul Smith, John Bennion, Bob Sherwin http://www.livewiretest.com
LiveWire was founded in 2003 by Cynthia Furse, Paul Smith, John Bennion, and Bob Sherwin who were committed to discovering an advanced and easy-to-use method for identifying the location of faults in electrical wiring systems. Their technology, spread spectrum time domain reflectometry, can directly pinpoint intermittent wiring problems while the wires are live. This means simple problems that have the potential to be devastating can be located while target systems are live and operational. No more digging through miles of electrical wires to find problems. Live wire has focused its effort initially in military and aerospace applications but has recently found success integrating its technology into other industrial applications like mining and electrical grids. We are also in the research phase of providing solutions to next-generation alternative fuel vehicles. The pallet of applications continues to grow as the world becomes “more electric” and LiveWire has the technology to help make it possible.
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Startup Company Profiles
Marrek Inc. Founded: 2009 Originating Department: Cardiology Industry: Cardiac Arrhythmia Diagnosis and Treatment Inventors: Nassir Marrouche, Rob MacLeod Market Size: $2.0 billion
Navigen Founded: 2006 Originating Department: Molecular Medicine Industry: Pharmaceuticals Inventors: Dean Li and Kang Zhang
NeuroAdjuvants
Neuropeptides for Neurologic Disorders Founded: July 2005 Originating Department: Departments of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology/Toxicology Industry: Biotechnology/Drug Discovery Inventors: Grzegorz Bulaj, PhD and H. Steve White, Ph.D. Market Size: $3 Billion
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Marrek, Inc. was created to meet the large and growing demand for technologies to guide the treatment of an abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. The company’s objective is to automate and package guidance systems for installation in hospitals around the world, in addition to offering patient assessment as a remote service. More than 14 million Americans experience abnormal heart rhythms, and in 4-5 million of these people this arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which is characterized by an irregular and usually very rapid heartbeat. An interdisciplinary team of physicians and medical imaging experts led by U of U cardiac electrophysiologist Nassir Marrouche, M.D., is developing techniques based on magnetic resonance imaging that can characterize the stage of disease in patients with atrial fibrillation and guide the physician in selecting viable treatment - or retreatment - options such as catheter ablation.
Navigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was formed in 2006 to address the vascular instability that underlies a variety of important disease states. Navigen’s initial focus is on therapies to resolve hyperpermeability and neovascularization. Disease states that Navigen’s therapies address include, but are not limited to, acute respiratory distress syndrome, retinopathies [including both wet and dry agerelated macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy], arthritis, and cancer. The company is currently advancing two separate technologies. The first of these technologies surrounds the ligand Slit2N and its ability to prevent angiogenesis and vascular leak. The second is related to the discovery of the gene HTRA1 that, when over-expressed, significantly increases an individual’s likelihood for developing macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Navigen has received Centers of Excellence funding, four SBIR grants, and has in place a multimillion dollar research collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company.
NeuroAdjuvants, Inc. was formed in July 2005 to develop and commercialize novel neuropeptidebased therapeutics for the treatment of neurologic disorders. The company’s novel technologies facilitate the movement of neuropeptides across the blood-brain-barrier. NeuroAdjuvants is initially focused on developing therapies for pain and epilepsy. Epilepsy affects approximately fifty (50) million people worldwide with a market size estimated at more than $3 billion. Only 70% of patients are effectively treated with currently available anticonvulsant drugs. Thus, there is an unmet need for new therapeutic strategies for the symptomatic treatment of epilepsy. There are an estimated 40 million neuropathic pain patients worldwide with total sales exceeding $2.6 billion in 2006 and 10% expected annual growth. Neuropathic pain product sales are projected to surpass $7 billion within the next 10 years.
nFocus Microsystems
“Cameras Engineered after the Human Eye” Founded: 2006 Originating Department: Mechanical Engineering Industry: Nanotechnology Inventors: Ronnie Boutte, Ian Harvey http://www.nfocusmicro.com
Ever wondered why even really good cell phone cameras can’t compare to a real camera? This is because in order to zoom and focus, space is required to move the lenses for best focus and zoom. Cell phones do not have the space available to incorporate complex, moving lens systems. That’s where the idea behind engineering a camera after the human eye is so crucial. Boutte was inspired by the Olympic Arch to enter the Sandia National Labs microsystem design competition. Recall during the 2002 Olympics, the Hoberman Arch was the opening and closing mechanical curtain revealing the awards ceremony stage. Boutte wanted to use this same concept on a much smaller scale. With Drs. Florian Solzbacher and Ian Harvey of the College of Engineering as mentors, and using project-based courses for building prototypes, Boutte and his team began to realize their vision.
ResCue Medical Systems
“Real Time CPR Training Systems”
Founded: 2006 Originating Department: Bioengineering/Anesthesiology Industry: Medical Devices/Emergency Response Inventors: Dwayne Westenskow, Joe Orr, Frank Drews, Srinath Lingutla, Santosh Balakrishnan, James Agutter Etal Market Size: $3 Billion
The uses of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) are important steps in the chain of survival and need to be performed in the shortest amount of time possible. CPR and AED require training. However, errors in instructor feedback, evaluation, and high variability in the time devoted to skill practice significantly affect the quality of CPR/AED training programs. ResCue’s intelligent Basic Life Support System (BLSS) is a technically advanced, yet remarkably simple-to-use CPR/AED training device, constructed using readily available components. The BLSS provides accurate, cost-effective, fast and automated training while maintaining the much-needed consistency that is deficient in traditional instructor-based training. The person giving CPR receives immediate feedback on his or her effectiveness. The device is being upgraded to work in association with an AED and also function as a stand-alone unit for real-time use.
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RU Ready
Interactive Self-Paced Learning Founded: 2008 Originating Department: Academic Outreach and Continuing Education Industry: For Profit and Public Education Inventors: Charles Wight, Nava Livne, and Oren Livne Market Size: $1.17B Annually http://www.ruready.net
Seasonal Energy
Using Nature’s Heating and Cooling Cycles Founded: 2009 Originating Department: Mechanical Engineering Industry: Mechanical Engineering Inventors: Kent Udell, Ph.D.
RU Ready is an interactive and self-paced online learning program that truly engages students in learning the math necessary for college-level courses. RU Ready is the needed solution for bridging the academic gap between high school and college curriculum. Are high school seniors ready for college? According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, only 34% of students who graduate from high school are ready for college. For mathematics and other math-based courses, RU Ready has the answer. RU Ready’s technology empowers teachers to implement state and national curriculum standards while allowing customizing the learning process according to both the student’s needs and interests. RU Ready’s proprietary parser allows students to answer open-ended math questions in a way that is not possible in other learning systems. In addition to testing college readiness, the technology has broad application in areas such as standardized testing, workforce training, and extended learning programs.
Seasonal Energy is a startup company providing a cost effective, eco-friendly solution to heating and cooling homes, businesses, and industries. Our system stores seasonal energy for future use; summer heat is stored for winter heating and winter chill is stored for summer cooling. Using our proprietary technology and expertise, we have created a heating and cooling system that is 99% carbon free, yet indistinguishable in ease of use and maintenance from traditional HVAC systems.
Sentrx Animal Care
Faster healing, less scarring, healthier animals. Founded: January 2006 Originating Department: Medicinal Chemistry Industry: Veterinary Health Products Inventors: Glenn Prestwich, Ph.D. Market Size: $25 M/year http://www.sentrxanimalcare.com
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In more than 30 animal studies, SentrX animal health care and wound healing products have been consistently shown to promote healing — even in the most difficult-to-treat cases. Why? It comes down to cells and their environment. When tissue is healthy, its extracellular matrix (ECM) provides support for cells and regulates intercellular communication. When an injury occurs, signals are released from the tissue that stimulate cells to repair the injury. Unfortunately, the process often leads to the formation of scar tissue rather than the appropriate new ECM. SentrX products provide matrices that work with the animal’s natural repair system to encourage enhanced production of the appropriate ECM, leading to new healthy tissue. SentrX wound care treatment products have been tested and have shown success in seven animal species, including birds, ferrets, horses, cats, and dogs. As of summer 2009, Sentrx Animal Care has released products for skin wounds, eye injuries, abdominal and tendon surgery, and bone repair. Use of SentrX products reduces time of treatment by 50% in several different applications.
Startup Company Profiles
Thermimage, Inc.
“Kids say goodbye to catheters”
Founded: February 2, 2007 Originating Department: Department of Surgery, Division of Urology Industry: Medical Devices, Diagnostic Inventors: Dr. Brent Snow, Dr. Patrick Cartwright, Dr. John Mansfield Market Size: $600 million http://www.thermimage.com
Trapeze Media Solutions
“Posters that present themselves.”
Founded: 2008 Originating Department: Medical Informatics, School of Medicine Industry: Publishing Inventors: Scott DuVall Market Size: Scholarly Publishing Market $17 billion http://www.trapezemediasolutions.com
One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Refux (VUR) each year. VUR is commonly associated with urinary tract Infections and can lead to reoccurring kidney infections and kidney damage. Currently, to diagnose VUR, a catheter must be passed through the urethra into the bladder. Thermimage, Inc. has developed a non-invasive method for measuring deep tissue temperatures within the body. Without a catheter or any other invasive techniques, a doctor can use Thermimage’s technology to heat urine in the bladder and detect the movement of urine to the kidneys (VUR). The patient does not have to ingest any ionizing radiation, the parent does not have to invest extra resources to see a specialist, and the pediatrician will be able to get to the diagnosis right within his or her office where today this procedure can only be completed at a hospital. Thermimage’s new diagnostic technology will be less costly, noninvasive, and painless.
Over five million posters are presented annually at conferences around the world. An important part of academic progress and career advancement is having your research cited by other authors. However, because posters are presented in a large printed format and typically highlight very early stage research they are usually only seen by those attending conferences and therefore do not attract the critical feedback they deserve. No longer do posters need to end up in dusty closets or forgotten corners. Trapeze Media Solutions’ unique software allows poster authors to capture and catapult their posters into rich media that can be shared with the world. This unique software allows authors to attach video, animation, audio, and data directly to the posters allowing them to present themselves. Trapeze is further developing the software that will let all posters to be cataloged in popular search engines allowing authors to feature their work in various locations such as blogs, Facebook, and other peer-review sites.
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Startup Company Profiles
Vestan Medical Imaging
“Making Cancerous Tissue Glow”
Company Name: Vestan Medical Imaging Founded: May 2005 Originating Department: Departments of Chemistry and Surgery Industry: Medical Imaging Inventors: Drs. James McGreevy, Charles Grissom, and Robert Andtbacka Market Size: $600-800 Million per year in the U.S. http://www.vestan-med.com/
VisTrails, Inc. Founded: Spring 2007 Originating Department: Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, School of Computing, College of Engineering Industry: Software (3D Animation Software and Scientific Computing) Inventors: Juliana Freire and Claudio Silva Market Size: >$650 M http://www.vistrails.com
One million operations for suspected cases of breast cancer are performed every year in the United States. While only 20 percent of those operations show that there is actual cancer in the breast, the other 80 percent find no cancer. Over one third of patients with malignant tumors who go in for a lumpectomy procedure end up needing a second surgery to remove additional cancer that was not identified in the first operation. Vestan’s technology will empower surgeons with new imaging techniques to aid in the visualization of tumors and lymph nodes in the operating room. After injection of the imaging drug, using the developed instrumentation, the cancerous tissue glows brightly helping surgeons easily identify where the cancer stops and where the healthy tissue begins. Doctors can help preserve healthy tissue because they no longer have to rely on old-fashioned measures to identify the cancerous tissue during surgery.
VisTrails, Inc. is at the forefront of provenance management research and technology development. The new functionalities that we bring to market will revolutionize the way people explore, analyze, and create data products. One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is to effectively understand and leverage the growing wealth of digital data. Be it to mine the data or to create insightful visualizations, animations, or simulations, complex multi-step computational processes are required. The VisTrails software system is a new provenance management system that provides breakthrough technology for data exploration, creation, visualization, and analysis. Although VisTrails was originally built to address the needs of exploratory scientific applications, the infrastructure it provides is general and applicable to a wide range of information technologies and applications. Our first commercial product, a Provenance Plugin for Autodesk’s Maya, has received the Utah Innovation Award and it will be released in August 2009.
VisualShare Image Collaboration
Founded: 2005 Originating Department: Radiology Inventors: Patricia Goede, Jason Lauman, and Chris Cochella http://www.visualshare.com
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VisualShare is a leading provider of on demand image collaboration software for diagnostic and life sciences imaging. VisualShare’s technology platform focuses on images as the basis for collaboration to accelerate medical diagnosis and scientific discovery. VisualShare’s initial product, TeleCAM™, facilitates interpretation of diagnostic images in medical cases of suspected child maltreatment. In the past, hospitals and clinics in rural communities did not have the local expertise and support to accurately diagnose symptoms of physical and sexual abuse. The VisualShare technology framework has expanded to provide solutions in clinical and life sciences to facilitate multiuser image collaboration and annotation with three main differentiators including the device agnostic; we consume images and metadata from most devices and modalities; synchronous viewing, panning and zooming of very large images (up to 3GB); and full history for auditing purposes, quality assurance, search and reporting.
Wasatch Microfluidics
“Innovative Biotechnology Solutions”
Founded: August 2005 Originating Department: Mechanical Engineering Industry: Biological Instrumentation for genomic and preteomic research Inventors: Bruce Gale Market Size: $600M http://www.microfl.com
Wasatch Microfluidics, LLC (Wasatch) develops pharmaceutical research devices that enable significant advances in the rapidly growing microarray markets. Wasatch’s Continuous Flow Microspotter (CFM) technology uses flow to print microarray spots. The CFM uses microchannels the size of a human hair to flow protein solutions over a surface. This allows more proteins to attach to the surface, thereby leveraging precious samples and allowing researchers to achieve dramatically enhanced sensitivity. Currently, researchers must purify their samples using a process that can take up to weeks of technician time and hundreds of dollars in consumables. The CFM allows researchers to flow a non-purified sample over the surface and “fish” the molecule of interest out of the mixture. For companies with large development libraries, the cost savings will be highly significant.
Waste Water Compliance Systems
Effective & Economic Wastewater Solutions
Founded: 2008 Originating Department: Civil Engineering Industry: Wastewater Treatment Inventors: Professors Kraig Johnson and Lawrence Reaveley Market Size: $2.5 Billion (US) http://www.wcs-utah.com
Many challenges exist for wastewater lagoon operators due to insufficient colonies of bacteria to consume the dissolved compounds, resulting in non-compliant discharge water. Wastewater Compliance System’s Poo-Gloo technology takes a cost effective approach to wastewater treatment. The company’s technology provides an economical means to increase diverse bacterial colonies using drop-in devices that can be readily retrofitted into existing lagoons. The patented aeration devices are submersible nested domes that increase bio-film surface area and provide all requisite conditions to allow beneficial bacterial colonies to flourish. WCS’ three-part product-servicing includes evaluation of unique needs and circumstances of each lagoon environment, design and install of code-compliant solutions, and monitoring of lagoon performance to ensure continuous compliance with all regulatory codes.
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The University of Utah’s Economic Impact
The University of Utah’s Economic Impact Technologies coming out of the University of Utah do more than treat patients and accelerate computer performance. They have a direct impact on the economic health of the state of Utah. Many faculty members have a dream that their research will impact society. What many are beginning to understand is how deep that impact can go. The fact is, with great ideas comes an abundance of research funding. That funding helps further develop ideas that are later licensed to existing companies or become the basis for new startup companies. When existing companies license technologies, their companies thrive, expand their market share, introduce new products and reach new customers. When companies thrive, employees thrive and jobs become secure and abundant. When new companies are started from University of Utah technologies, these companies typically stay in Utah. They attract funding to Utah from out of state and become thriving businesses that hire employees. Thriving ideas translate to thriving employees.
The University of Utah has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Tech Ventures was established to accelerate this spirit and facilitate University efforts towards commercialization success. Although significant startup company success has been seen in recent years, the University has been launching companies for decades. From Myriad Genetics to Evans & Sutherland, the companies started at the U compile an impressive list of the University’s entrepreneurial legacy. (See opposite page.)
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photo opposite page: Lawrence Boye
“The U has a commitment to ensure innovation and technology development are as robust over the next 30 years has they were in the previous 50,” says Jack Brittain, vice president of Technology Venture Development. “While it is impossible to know exactly what technologies will emerge 30 years in the future, it is clear that the technologies under development at the University of Utah today will play a major role in daily life in 30 years and innovative entrepreneurs will continue to find Utah an outstanding place to work, live, and grow companies.”
Economic Impact 1970 to Present 2009 BlackRock Branching Tree Headwaters Clean Carbon Services n n n Joint venture with Headwaters Inc. in 2009, UEC 2008 Top 10 Energence Partners n Ergonomic Tool Development n H20 Tech n n HiFunda n Honde Integratech n n JSK Therapeutics Keys 2 Safe Driving Marrek n Miracotech Nanomedic n Optema n Purple Energy n RNA Biosciences Sci-U Seasonal Energy n 1st Place OQ 2009, UEC 2009 Top Ten Sera Prognostics n TheraRenal TheraTarget n Waste Water Compliance Systems n n n
2008 Advanced Signal Detection n n Akadi LLC n n 2008 UEC Top 10 Allegro Diagnostics Baby Jock BioEnergenix Catheter Connections n n Celux Technologies Epitel Inc. n Geo Mind LLC n GlycoMyra n n n HeavyStone Labs n n I2S Nanonc Inc. n
n n
The Lassonde New Venture Development Center Technology Commercialization Project Award
Nano-Oxides n n n n PFO Technologies LLC Philotek LLC n n n Riggalya Inoperable RU Ready n n 2008 UEC Top 10 Surfagen Inc n Trapeze Software n n ViroPan n n 1st Place UEC 2008 VisTrails LLC n n n Wasatch Nanopore Sensors, LLC n n
2007 Angry Duck Productions n n BioFuels Development Corp Boulder Technology Development Labs Central Logic Clean Carbon Solutions n ContraDyn, Inc. n ImageTeck n Larada Inc. n n n n UEC Top Ten LV Partners n Navigen n n n nFocus n n Inoperable Osteoseek Inc. PowerMems Rescue Medical Systems Inc. n n n UEC and OQ Runner-Up 2006 SORT/RayScale n n Thermimage n n UEC Top 10 2006 UGEN
2006 Heightened Technologies n 1st Place OQ 2007 Carbalyn n n n Glycosan n n n
n n
USTAR Company Center of Excellence
Exeven n Fuels Development Group Intan Technologies LLC Intellivis LifeScan Live Wire Test Laboratories n n Sigma AlloCure Neuroadjuvants n n Respiris n Sentrx n n TechnoImaging Vestan n n Visual Share LLC n n n Wasatch Microfluidics Inc. n n n n 1st Place UEC 2005 Xapio n n n Zicthus
2005 Lineagen n ecoTEACH, Inc. Globalmatics, Inc Inoperable Goldfinger Inoperable Milcin Therapeutics N-ERGY, LLC
2004
Inoperable
2001 Sensicore Tramontane, Inc. Universe Partners
2000 Aciont Allvivo Vascular Attensity Corporation Acquired Genta Inoperable NuSkin/Pharmanex ParSiTech Sonic Innovations
1999 Fiore Automation MedQuest Products Acquired by WorldHeart Mineral Technologies TheraDoc ThermaCom
1998 Echelon Biosciences, Inc. n Acquired by Frontier Scientific Spectrotek Zars
Coherex
1997
2003 Applied Medical Visualizations n n n Q Therapeutics
Amirsys Hydra Biosciences Versa Power Systems Visual Influence n Acquired by Numira Wyoming Research Innovations
n
Manticore Pharmaceuticals Acquired by Infloblock Signature Immunologics
2002
n
Cyberkinetics
Virtual Incubator Project Grant SBIR/STTR Grant Support
1996 Cimarron Software Acquired Rosetta Inpharmatics Viewpoint Manufacturing
n n
Micro Grant Venture Bench
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The University of Utah’s Economic Impact
1995
1991
E&S
1980
Diacor
Femtoscan
Acquired by Rockwell Collins
Bunnel
ErgoWeb
Inoperable
Inoperable
Idaho Technology
Ceramatec
1986
Acquired by Coors Brewing Company
Anesta
Handtronix Corporation Inoperable
1990
Acquired by Cephalon
1977
Process Instruments
MicroMath
DataChem Lab, Inc.
Iomed Acquired by Private Group
1994
1989
1985
BioCentrx
MacroMed
Rocky Mountain Research
Inoperable
Acquired by Protherics
Techniscan Medical Systems
Cognetix
Parvus Corporation
Inoperable
Acquired
1984
ENECO, Inc.
Watson Pharmaceuticals
ARUP
Innovative Caregiving Resources
1988
Postnova Analytics
Advanced Composite Materials Metals Manufacturing
EGS
1970
Medtronic Gastro/Uro
TerraTek
1993
Darbick Instructional Software
HerediLab
J. Bunger & Associates
1983
PartNet
NPS Pharmaceuticals
Datex-Ohmeda
Tepnel Lifecodes Com.
Sarcos
1992
Acquired by Raytheon
Cardiowest Technologies
1987
Inflabloc
A.D.A.M.
Myriad Genetics
Inoperable
n n
The Lassonde New Venture Development Center Technology Commercialization Project Award
1973
n n
USTAR Company Center of Excellence
n n
Virtual Incubator Project Grant SBIR/STTR Grant Support
n n
Micro Grant Venture Bench
Companies Over Time StartStartup Up Companies 25 20 15 10 5
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
0
.036
.037
Technology Venture Development www.techventures.utah.edu 801-587-3836 Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Center www.lassonde.utah.edu 801-585-3836 Faculty Outreach 801-587-3836 Technology Commercialization Office www.tco.utah.edu 801-581-7792
techventures@utah.edu
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