LT. GOVERNOR APPLAUDS ADVANCES FOR OHIO AGRICULTURE
Union County serves as setting for Third Frontier Project announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2005

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson visited Scotts Miracle-Gro Company in Marysville today to announce the creation of the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center and six other Third Frontier Project awards that will help accelerate commercialization of new products and create new jobs that will strengthen Ohio’s role in the knowledge economy. Today’s awards include funding for three Wright Centers of Innovation (WCI) and four Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Partnerships (BRTT).

“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.”

Johnson chose to announce the awards in Union County at Scotts Miracle-Gro to demonstrate the Third Frontier’s impact on Ohio agriculture. Johnson highlighted one WCI project, the creation of the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC), as an example of this impact. 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.

“Ohio soybean growers have invested in their futures to develop new uses and markets for soy products. The opportunity to work with Ohio State and Battelle is exciting for all farmers in Ohio, especially soy producers, and we are honored to be part of today’s announcement,” said Amy Davis, Chair of the Ohio Soybean Council. The Ohio Soybean Council and Battelle are two of the Center’s Ohio collaborators. Others include the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council (Wadsworth) and Cooperative Business International (Columbus).

OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and its business collaborators will receive a $11.6 million grant for the creation of the Center. “The purpose of the Third Frontier is to take our agricultural and manufacturing strengths to the next level to improve our economy and improve our lives,” said Johnson.

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 Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, the other WCI awardees are:

A Boost for the Buckeye State
Ohio State University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will receive a $22.5 million grant to create the Ohio Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND). 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. CMPND will include a broad-based research, business and outreach program centered at OSU with regional sites at the University of Akron and the University of Dayton and more than 50 company collaborators across Ohio. The project will also have support from the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council.

Heart Healthy in Ohio
Approximately 100,000 Ohioans suffer from atrial fibrillation, an electrical disturbance of the heart that dramatically increases the risk of stroke and death. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s (CCF) Department of Cardiovascular Medicine will receive two grants for the creation of the Atrial Fibrillation Center, where doctors will develop both surgical and non-invasive treatments to prevent and cure this dangerous disorder. Ohio partners include Case Western Reserve University, the University of Cincinnati and AtriCure, Inc. in Cincinnati, which provides doctors with alternative, more effective surgical technologies. The Wright Center of Innovation grant is worth $15 million. CCF will also receive a grant for the Atrial Fibrillation Center through the Third Frontier’s Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Partnership Program (BRTT), worth $8 million.

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. 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 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.

Making Strides in MS Research
New, innovative therapies aimed at stopping the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis and cancer are in the works by a team of collaborators led by The Ohio State University Research Foundation. OSU will use its grant of $4.25 million for a Commercialization Platform of Immunotherapeutics for Multiple Sclerosis, which will develop and commercialize new therapies involving the body’s immune system to delay and control the onset of multiple sclerosis. Other Ohio collaborators include the Cleveland Clinic and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

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 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 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.