FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 4, 2005
Region's Research Muscle, Entrepreneurial Savvy
Spark Innovations in Advanced Medical Care
Research Triangle Region, N.C. - 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 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.
The region's economic development strategy, called "Staying on Top: Winning the Job Wars of the Future," is led by the Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP). RTRP is public/private partnership that promotes economic development for the 13-county region of North Carolina comprising Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake and Warren counties.
###
RTRP Report | News Releases | Announcements | Accolades
|
