News
Ohio Third Frontier Dollars Move Innovations Forward
:: May 20, 2010
By Lynne Meyer, APR
Ohio Third Frontier dollars are fueling Northeast Ohio's medical innovations. In fact, more than half of the program’s award dollars have gone to companies or groups here.
Ohio Third Frontier grants have resulted in the creation of about 55,000 direct and indirect jobs and the creation or attraction of roughly 600 companies. Created in 2002, the initiative was established with a 10-year initial life span and a commitment of more than $1 billion. Third Frontier's goal is to help expand Ohio’s high-tech research capabilities and accelerate the pace of commercialization within the state. The focus is on developing new, innovative products by addressing technical and cost barriers that would otherwise block market adoption.
NeuroWave Systems Inc., a spin-off of Cleveland Medical Devices, is an example of the Ohio Third Frontier initiative at work. The program gave the company a $174,791 commercialization grant in 2004. The company is now poised to introduce its first commercial product – the NeuroSense Monitor. NeuroSense measures, analyzes and tracks brain function of sedated or anesthetized patients. It also qualifies this information by providing real-time feedback on both cerebral hemispheres. In this way, NeuroSense could improve patient safety and outcomes during anesthesia. Its products like these that can be showcased at Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center.
Another product with promise, thanks to Ohio Third Frontier grants worth $2 million through the Cleveland Clinic-led Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, is a stem cell factor from Juventas Therapeutics Inc. for heart failure. A Cleveland Clinic spin-off, Juventas has started enrolling patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of its leading stem cell factor for treating heart failure.
Also with support from Ohio Third Frontier, Cleveland’s Arteriocyte, a fully integrated stem cell-based research and development company, has initiated clinical trials for stem cell therapies for cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease.
