Experienced
entrepreneurs and R&D resources in the Research
Triangle Region helped this advanced medical care
startup turn an innovative idea into a successful
new enterprise
A physician
at Rex Cancer Center wondered if there was a better
way than computerized simulations to measure the dosage
of cancer radiation therapy. He began talking about
the problem with an electrical engineer at North Carolina
State University.
The more they
talked, the more the possibilities excited them. What
if they could develop a sensor that could be implanted
inside a patient's tumor, one that could measure the
precise amount of radiation being delivered and transmit
the measurement wirelessly to the doctor - a device
that would move with the tumor if it should shift inside
the body?
In 1999, oncologist
Charles Scarantino and biomedical and electrical engineering
professor Troy Nagle formed a corporation, Sicel Technologies,
to develop their ideas. Experienced entrepreneurs based
in the Research Triangle Region soon joined the team.
As the research progressed, the company found the region
rich with the specialized research engineers it needed
to hire.
Sicel quickly
outgrew its business incubator space at N.C. State's
Centennial Campus and moved to a Morrisville office
park. Today the firm has more than 30 employees with
one product already on the market - an adhesive patch
that measures the amount of radiation at the surface
of a patient's skin and transmits the measurement to
a monitor. Now the company's wireless, implantable radiation
sensor is in human clinical trials, an advanced step
toward approval by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.
"The radiobiology
of tumor treatment is fairly exacting, and physicians
want to be plus or minus five percent of their target
dose of radiation," says Bob Black, Sicel's CEO. "What
we're able to do with the implanted sensor is actually
measure that, rather than just relying on computer predictions."
For patients,
that means getting the right amount of radiation to
kill cancer cells, not too much, which causes side effects,
such as damaging healthy tissue.
Sicel is a prime
example of how research and development resources in
the Research Triangle Region is sparking innovation
in advanced medical care, one of 10 targeted clusters
in the region's economic development strategy.
The region's
R&D capabilities and workforce help transform ideas
into successful businesses that create high-paying jobs.
"Within 30 minutes
of each other, you've got two world-class medical schools,
three biomedical engineering degree programs and one
of the 28 veterinary schools in the United States,"
says John Nelms, director of existing industry for Wake
County Economic Development. "Not many areas have all
of that. When you throw in the workforce and the presence
of large employers, like GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and
others, it's really powerful."
Nelms is coordinating
a networking forum for the region's medical device industry,
a major component of the advanced medical care cluster.
The medical devices and equipment market, in excess
of $150 billion, expects to grow by 7 percent 2003-2007.
Nelms sees plenty of room for the region to capture
a larger share of this industry.
Sicel's radiation
sensor underwent animal trials at the N.C. State vet
school, where it was used to help treat dogs with cancer.
The concentration of world-class hospitals and medical
researchers in the Research Triangle Region makes it
an ideal setting for medical device clinical trials,
says Black.
World-leading
medical device companies often acquire successful startups.
When those firms make acquisitions in the region, Black
says, they are likely to maintain their presence here
and may eventually decide to expand, particularly for
research and development of other products.
It is through
this dynamic that the region expects to significantly
expand its advanced medical care cluster over the next
10 to 20 years. Combined advances in several fields
- medical devices and diagnostics, drugs and drug delivery
systems, genomics and proteomics, biotechnology, telecommunications,
and informatics - will revolutionize medical care in
coming decades.
The region
also offers strong R&D in other key fields that
support advanced medical care, such as genomics/proteomics,
gene therapy, medical devices, medical diagnostics,
sensors, informatics, information technology and communications.
|
