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New corporation created to take potentially lifesaving invention into marketplace |
| By
Tobin J. Klinger |
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Feb 6, 2008 |
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An invention by a group of University of Toledo researchers is now the centerpiece of a new corporation, which aims to take the product out of the laboratory and into the marketplace.
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| UT President Lloyd Jacobs, right, and Michael Glemblourtt, president and CEO of ADS Biotechnology Corp., signed a licensing agreement between the University and the corporation as, from left, Dr. David Dignam, professor of biochemistry and cancer biology, and Dr. Joseph Shapiro, professor and chairman of medicine, looked on. |
On Thursday, Jan. 31, Michael Glembourtt, the president of the recently formed ADS Biotechnology Corp. who has a track record of developing pharmaceutical products, joined leaders from The University of Toledo to discuss their product and hopes for its future use at a news conference on Main Campus.
“We are tremendously excited by the potential for this invention,” said Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, president of The University of Toledo. “It’s efforts like this that can help to transform the economic climate in Toledo, while improving the human condition through medical innovation.”
The invention, a new liquid compound that is polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified albumin, has use during various medical scenarios where a patient’s blood vessels begin to leak, flooding surrounding tissue, with all-too-often critical results.
In simple terms, the PEG works with the albumin, a protein found in blood, to expand blood’s volume so it will not escape through holes in the blood vessels.
"ADS Biotechnology is very excited about completing this license agreement
with the University," said Glembourtt, president and CEO of ADS Biotechnology. "This discovery has great potential in the marketplace and more importantly may give physicians a much-needed tool to help desperately ill, trauma, burn and sepsis patients."
Three UT faculty members are credited with the product’s creation: Dr. Joseph Shapiro, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine and associate dean for business development; Dr. Ragheb Assaly, director of the UTMC Medical Intensive Care Unit; and Dr. J. David Dignam, professor of biochemistry and cancer biology.
“The creation of this corporation represents a great deal of work, collaboration and passion in an effort to help prevent the millions of deaths that occur around the globe as a result of these types of leaks,” Shapiro said. “While the solution may seem simple, it will take significant time and resources to maneuver through the process of earning approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ADS Biotechnology will help us make that a reality.”
“We are at a critical stage in the process,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, provost, executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “We have the drive and the momentum to get a product into the hands of clinicians around the world and have a significant impact on patient survival. This effort exemplifies what The University of Toledo stands for — our dedication to improve globally the human condition and to support the economy of northwest Ohio.”
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