Newsclip

UMass Lowell nets $150K to help med device entrepreneurs
February 23, 2007
by Christopher Calnan
Mass High Tech

The University of Massachusetts Lowell will launch a pilot screening program for entrepreneurs, who would then develop medical product prototypes at the university, funded by a $150,000 state grant.

The grant, from the John Adams Innovation Institute, was awarded to the Mass Medical Device Development Center, or M2D2, to consider 25 entrepreneurs seeking assistance with business plans. Four entrepreneurs will eventually be selected for the program with a projection of one or two successfully competing for federal or private funds, said UMass Lowell spokeswoman Renae Lias Claffey.

M2D2, which targets the state's smaller medical devices firms, is designed to help smaller companies attract venture capital. The center is designed to assist entrepreneurs from proof-of-concept to commercialization.

"We aim to help inventors move from idea to prototype -- and ultimately secure private backing," said Stephen McCarthy, co-director of the center and a UMass Lowell professor.

The center launched in 2005 with a $135,000 grant from the state's University Science and Technology Fund. To date, it hosts one med-device company.

UMass Lowell's plastics engineering department is teaming with UMass Worcester's clinical research department to manage the program. UMass Worcester's clinical trials capabilities will enable companies to conduct animal trials for new devices, said Sheila Noone, director of clinical research at Worcester and co-director of M2D2.

M2D2 steering committee chairman Hooks Johnston said the program is needed because investors are shying away from funding new ideas. "We will never know how many lives could be impacted by the new medical products that were never produced," he said.

The John Adams Innovation Institute is the economic development division of the quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The institute's chief operating officer, Joseph Downing, said the medical devices industry is a critical component of Massachusetts' life sciences sector.

The institute has distributed $18 million during the last three years to universities and civic institutions, he said.

The M2D2 grant will help fill a void in the funding system for medical devices, Downing said.

UMass "made a compelling case that was a need in the marketplace for this type of activity," he said. "We've invested our money to address that unmet need and create a match between investors and new product opportunities."

In May 2006, Perfusion Technology LLC became the center's first tenant. The small private company was founded in 2003 and previously had operated in Lawrence.