Cincinnati-based Researchers are Major Players in Third Frontier Funding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2005

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson today announced Third Frontier Project awards that will help accelerate the commercialization of new products and strengthen Ohio’s role in the knowledge economy. Three of the projects to be funded are based in part on work that will be conducted in the Cincinnati area.

“Through the Third Frontier Project, we are reclaiming Ohio’s culture of innovation,” said Johnson, who also serves as Director of the Department of Development and Chair of the Third Frontier Commission. “These grants build upon Ohio’s research strengths and focus on the development of new products in order to strengthen our economy and create good jobs.

AtriCure, Inc., a leader in the cardiovascular medical device industry, and the University of Cincinnati are collaborating with other institutions, including the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, to develop the Atrial Fibrillation Innovation Center. A Wright Center of Innovation (WCI) grant worth $15 million and a Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Partnership Program (BRTT), worth $8 million will enable the center to develop both surgical and non-invasive treatments to prevent and cure dangerous electrical disturbances of the heart that dramatically increase the risk of stroke and death.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital will partner with The Ohio State University Research Foundation and other institutions to build a Commercialization Platform of Immunotherapeutics for Multiple Sclerosis. The collaborators will utilize a $4.25 million BRTT grant to develop and commercialize new therapies involving the body’s immune system to delay and control the onset of multiple sclerosis.

Additionally, three Cincinnati-area businesses, A&P Technologies, GE Transportation, and Maverick Corporation, in collaboration with The Ohio State University Research Foundation and businesses across Ohio and the nation, will utilize a $22.5 million WCI grant to create the Ohio Center for Multifunctional Nanomaterials and Devices. The grant will provide for the acquisition of highly advanced equipment to develop new materials that will improve the strength and durability of components that will be part of automobiles and other manufactured products.

The Wright Centers of Innovation support large-scale world-class research and technology development platforms designed to accelerate the pace of new product development in Ohio. Wright Centers are characterized by collaboration among Ohio’s higher education institutions, non-profit research organizations and Ohio companies in the areas of advanced materials, bioscience, power and propulsion, information technology and instruments, controls and electronics. The proposals are independently reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences and selected by the Third Frontier Commission.

In addition to the Atrial Fibrillation Innovation Center and the Ohio Center for Multifunctional Nanomaterials and Devices, OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and its business collaborators will receive a $11.6 million WCI grant for the creation of an Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center. The Center will develop chemical conversion technologies to produce products such as lubricants and adhesive from raw materials grown in Ohio, including corn and soybeans, giving Ohio farmers a new market for their goods.

“The Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center is a perfect example of how the Third Frontier can benefit Ohio’s First Frontier, agriculture,” said Johnson. “High tech advances in polymers have the potential for opening up new markets for Ohio-grown products.”

The BRTT Program supports biomedical and biotechnology research intended to lead to job creation and improvements in the health of Ohioans. Awarded projects are collaborations among Ohio higher education institutions, non-profit research organizations and Ohio companies in the areas of human genetics and genomics, structural biology, biomedical engineering, computational biology, plant biology and environmental biology. Like the Wright Center awards, they are reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences and selected by the Third Frontier Commission. In addition to the Atrial Fibrillation Innovation Center, the awardees are:

Battling Breast Cancer and Beyond
Early detection can help breast cancer victims beat the disease. Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will receive a $4 million BRTT grant for Targeted Nanoparticles for Imaging and Therapeutics (TNIP), which will support the development and commercialization of sub-atomic particles to facilitate the early detection of breast cancers and new therapies for hemophilia.

Seeing a Solution
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation will use a $6 BRTT million grant for the AMD Initiative for Prevention and Cure, which will develop a diagnostic test to identify individuals at risk for Adult Macular Degeneration and to develop techniques for the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

High-Tech Tissues
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation will use a $4 million BRTT grant to create the Clinical Tissue Engineering Center (CTEC), which will create new therapies for the repair and regeneration of bone, cartilage, tendon and skin. Target diseases include osteoarthritis, fracture care, osteoporosis, traumatic or degenerative tendon rupture, and acute and chronic soft tissue wounds.

A 10-year, $1.1 billion initiative, the Ohio Third Frontier Project is the state’s largest-ever commitment to expand Ohio’s high-tech research capabilities and promote start-up companies to create high-paying jobs for generations to come.