Whether they’re concocting anti-aging makeup, or creating the tools to fight deadly diseases, the crop of new start-up companies emerging from the University of Washington’s Center for Commercialization (C4C) have the potential to change how we live. They’ve already changed how the University of Washington is perceived in the academic world.
This year the University of Washington catapulted into the top five universities in the country for commercialization efforts, up from 15th place only two years ago. This puts the university on par with such colleges as MIT, UCLA and Columbia University in using research acumen to incubate new businesses within the school.
At a press conference attended by Congressional delegations, tech industry leaders and local luminaries like Bill Gates Sr., UW President Michael Young announced that this was the most productive year in UW’s history for forming new companies. Seventeen new companies were unveiled, more than double the average number created over the past five years. According to Fred B. Holt, director of strategic initiatives at the C4C, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
“In previous years, the survival rates of these UW start-ups was roughly 50-50,” Holt said. “Now it’s closer to 80 percent surviving. Not only are we getting more start-ups going now, but we’re launching ones that will last, and have a greater chance of success.”
Holt attributes the dramatic jump in both start-up quantity and quality to the C4C bringing more outside, non-academic voices into the fray. The C4C is designed to help UW researchers commercialize their work, and recently the center has prioritized exposing researchers to entrepreneurs-in-residence and angel investor groups. Holt said these provide “tough but friendly voices” to push along the business pitches and prospects of worthy projects.
While he believes some of these start-ups have the potential to make their creators rich, Holt said that’s less of a priority for the university. Instead, he believes the achievement will help position the university to attract top talent, and to justify its status as the top federally funded public research university.
“When the world’s best researchers are looking into where they want to continue their career, they often ask what does a university’s incubator program look like, and how is it nurturing success?” said Holt. “The success of the C4C makes us competitive with colleges like Stanford, MIT and Carnegie Melon. Further, with increased federal focus on innovation research, the question is always 'Where are the results? How does this fit into real life?' These startups demonstrate and can deliver real-world impact.”
So what are these start-ups? We profile three of the most interesting below, dealing in cancer treatment, medical testing and energy efficiency:
Nortis
The problems with animal testing extend beyond the ethical. According to Dr. Thomas Neumann, UW post-doc and CEO of biotech startup Nortis, the results often don’t translate into humans. What’s okay for a monkey can be toxic for people, and that can lead to a lot of wasted money.
“When you’re developing a drug, it can take 15 years from the first findings to the product making it to the market,” said Neumann. “Most drugs, if they fail, fail right at the end of that process, in clinical trials. This means when the whole process of development they look good, including through animal testing. Then it turns out they’re poisonous.”
Rather than create better testing criteria, Neumann and his collegues developed a solution to the problem that cuts animals out of the equation altogether. Nortis has created silicon chips that are structured to emulate systems in the human body — such as the path chemicals take from the digestive system to the brain or heart — and can house specific human tissues. This new system means drugs can be tested on human-like systems early on in the process, instead of at the end.
While they planned to launch the product next year, Neumann says early demand has sped things up. They are now selling the chips to groups in Seattle and New York, who Neumann says are seeing promising results in their use. Next year they plan a national roll out.
SecondWind
Taken as a whole, some of the biggest energy consumers in the country are not people, individual businesses or even towns. They are massive commercial buildings, such as data centers, cooling towers and bio-medical facilities. These facilities range in use, but one thing many share in common is their need for exhaust systems.
According to Michael Kudriavtseff, founder of SecondWind, the unused exhaust that comes out of these systems represents a lost opportunity. That's why Kudriavtseff and his team have developed a turbine system capable of recovering up to 45 percent of the energy lost through that exhaust. Furthermore, through a system they’ve designed, they can tie the power those turbines capture directly into the building, unlike the more roundabout path taken by traditional solar systems.
“By using that more direct system, that can cut installation costs by up to 80 percent vs. normal turbine systems,” said Kudriavtseff. “This technology will help commercial users cut their energy costs drastically, and by targeting some of the biggest energy users, like data centers, we can affect energy consumption in a major, major way.”
SecondWind was one of the most advanced of the UW start-ups this year, with full commercialization launching in August. Kudriavtseff stated the components of the system are being manufactured locally, largely using the aeronautical expertise of Boeing sub-contractors to create the best possible system.
Stella Therapeutics
Brain cancer is rare, but also one of cancer's deadliest forms. This is largely due to the difficulty in treating it. Chemotherapy is notoriously toxic to surrounding systems, and in something as delicate and complex as the brain, that makes it a difficult proposition.
Stella Therapeutics is seeking to cure cancer, at least in this narrow field. The company’s lead scientist Dr. Eric Horne said they initially looked at how the chemical THC — most commonly found in marijuana — affected tumors. Its effectiveness in killing them, and making its way through the brain, made them consider new ways of treating the disease.
“We’re attempting to move into a new chemical space, in which we’ve developed small molecule drugs that can discover the receptor in the brain with anti-tumor capabilities, and then target it with new compounds,” said Horne. “So far our studies have show that our compounds are having a targeted effect on tumor cells, and leaving non-tumor cells alone. Compared with other drugs on the market, we’re currently seeing a 50 fold improvement in effectiveness, and a 1000 fold improvement in safety.”
While initial results are very promising, Horne said there are still many more tests needed before moving on to human subjects. Current plans are to begin clinical testing of the treatment early next year.
For a full list of new products, please visit: http://depts.washington.edu/uwc4c/news-events/university-of-washington-launches-a-record-17-start-up-companies-in-fy13-places-uw-with-top-five-universities-for-commercialization/
