FRD and CIE launch MUSC initiative with Innovative Device Challenge

May 7 event to offer guidance on developing medical devices and is open to public

CHARLESTON, SC – An initiative to develop and patent medical devices from technology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) will kick off with an Innovative Device Challenge Thursday, May 7. While the challenge’s competitors are all affiliated with MUSC, the free kickoff event will also offer expert advice and is open to the public with advance registration.

Developing medical devices can present front-end challenges for their inventors because they require prototypes. Yet devices ultimately cost less and take less time to get to market than most intellectual properties coming out of the medical sector.

MUSC Foundation for Research Development (FRD) and MUSC’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) are spearheading the medical device initiative with up to $100,000 in new funds to assist faculty, students, staff and clinicians as they turn promising ideas into health care solutions. The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) has offered to contribute with matching funds.

The May 7 kickoff will run from noon to 4 p.m. in Room 355 of MUSC’s Basic Science Building, 173 Ashley Avenue, Charleston. Register online at frd.musc.edu, under “FRD News and Events,” or contact Tina Luke at [email protected], 843-876-2266.

Kickoff speakers will include Dennis McWilliams, CEO of Apollo Endosurgery, which was established partly with technologies invented by Peter Cotton, M.D., founder of the MUSC Digestive Disease Center.

MUSC President David Cole, M.D., FACS, will talk on “The Importance and Future of Innovation at MUSC.” The event will close with a networking reception and the announcement of the winner of the Innovative Device Challenge, which was open to entries from within MUSC.

As the university’s technology transfer office, FRD cultivates ideas emerging from MUSC for commercial use. The CIE provides assistance to startup companies based on MUSC technologies. SCRA Technology Ventures has joined them in presenting the Innovative Device Challenge, while other organizations at and outside of MUSC are also supporting the larger medical device initiative.

Forager Systems, Inc., a Charleston-based technology accelerator with an existing relationship to FRD through its work on the mobile tele-health technology, Zeriscope, was one of the first to sign on as a partner in the initiative. “Forager’s people, resources, and processes are specifically focused on commercializing high growth, early-stage opportunities in the health care, aerospace, and defense markets,” said Forager Systems CEO Sam Havelock.  “We look forward to collaborating with MUSC on new products going forward.”

Patrick Cawley, M.D., MBA, CEO of MUSC Medical Center and vice president for Clinical Operations for MUSC Health, welcomes the Innovative Device Challenge because of the opportunities it presents the people of MUSC. “This challenge is a place where clinicians, faculty, staff and employees can showcase great ideas to improve health care, and having the resources to further develop these ideas supports the MUSC mission.”

About MUSC Foundation for Research Development

FRD has served as MUSC’s technology transfer office since 1998. During that period, FRD has filed patent applications on more than 320 technologies, resulting in 126 U.S. issued patents.  Additionally, FRD has executed 148 licenses and spun out more than 46 startup companies.  MUSC startups have had products approved by the FDA and acquired by publicly traded corporations while attracting substantial investment dollars into South Carolina. Innovations from MUSC, including medical devices, therapies and software, are positively impacting health care worldwide. Please visit us online at frd.musc.edu