A
recent life sciences seminar in Erlangen put Richmond's life sciences
sector on the global map -- and laid the
foundation for closer ties to the "MedicalValleyof Germany."
Anthony
Guiseppi-Elie blends an infectious,
"don't-worry-be-happy"
optimism with boundless energy and
scientific creativity. The
Trinidadian-born professor at the
VCU School of Engineering conducts
cutting-edge research into
biosensors: micro-fabricated devices
that combine the specific properties
of DNA, enzymes and antibodies with
smart materials to detect clinically
important analytes (molecules in the
human body). He runs a start-up
company, ABTECH Scientific, and he
leads a $3 million, Pentagon-funded
research effort to develop
microchips that can be implanted in
soldiers to ensure accurate medical
treatment on the battlefield.
With
one foot in academia and another in
the business world, Guiseppi-Elie
made an ideal ambassador from the Richmond
region to the American Life Sciences
seminar in Erlangen, Germany,
last October. There, he presented an
overview of VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity's
life sciences programs to an
audience of more than 80 German
scientists, business executives and
government officials.
The
Germans expressed keen interest in
what Richmonders are doing to
commercialize life sciences
discoveries and build a home-grown
biotech industry, Guiseppi-Elie
says. "The intersection between
business, life sciences and the
university is one they're trying
to develop as well." For his part,
he welcomed the opportunity to meet
peers at the
University
of Erlangen-Nuremberg who are
conducting world-class research in
medical imaging and bioprocess
engineering. In fact, he's
following up with one scientist, an
expert on artificial organs, in the
hope of developing a
student-exchange partnership that
will promote the sharing of
knowledge.
Greg
Wingfield addressing the American Life
Sciences Seminar in Erlangen.
Greg
Wingfield, president of the Greater
Richmond Partnership, would be
delighted if such academic ties
resulted from the life sciences
seminar, which the Partnership
organized. His foremost goal is to
persuade German companies from the
Erlangen-Nuremburg region of Bavaria,
known as the "medical valley
of Germany,"
to locate in the Greater
Richmond
region. But he recognizes that the smaller, entrepreneurial companies
he's targeting are more likely to
consider Richmond if they have first built relationships with institutions
like VCU or scientists like
Guiseppi-Elie.
This
is not your father's economic
development. Traditionally,
industrial recruiters have spent
their time and marketing resources
getting in front of site-selection
consultants and corporate real
estate managers in the hope of
steering the next big corporate
investment – usually a
manufacturing or back-office
operation – into their home town.
But, increasingly, companies in
technology-intensive industries like
biotech are less interested in
Interstates and industrial parks and
are more focused on gaining access
to specialized knowledge resources
like those found around universities
and research labs.
Established
technology centers like Boston,
the Silicon
Valley
and the Washington
metroplex have inherent advantages:
Tech companies prefer to hobnob with
similar businesses engaged in
world-class R&D and product
development. That leaves regions
with assets geared mainly to
old-line manufacturing, distribution
and fulfillment out in the cold.
As
a consequence, the nature of
economic development has changed
dramatically in recent years. When
Wingfield markets Greater
Richmond,
he's increasingly selling the
intellectual assets that reside in
VCU and the region's biomedical
companies. One of the best ways to
bring technology companies to the Richmond
region, he suggests, is to help
forge research relationships with
VCU or business partnerships with
other companies.More
>>
A
Chip in Time…
…may
save lives. Tony Guiseppi-Elie is
developing biochips that can be
implanted in soldiers to monitor damage
from battlefield trauma.
In
its "Future Warrior" program, Pentagon
planners are conducting outside-the-box
thinking about how to equip the U.S.
infantryman of 2025. In scenarios that
make the imperial storm troopers of the Star
Wars movies seem the products of impoverished
Guiseppie-Elie
imaginations,
futurists envision soldiers wearing
stronger, lighter body armor, helmet visors that display
data transmitted from headquarters,
microphones that provide 360-degree
enhanced hearing, chameleon-like
camouflage that literally matches
background colors -- and sensors that
monitor the physiological life-signs of
the fighter.
Some
of the research for the
warrior-of-the-future concept is taking
place here in Richmond.
Magellan Systems in Chesterfield County is
ramping up production of M5, a super-fiber
that could supplant Kevlar in body armor.
(See "Phenomenal
Fiber" in the Greater Richmond
Catalyst.) Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, a
chemical engineering professor at the VCU School of
Engineering,
is developing microscopic
biosensors that can be implanted in muscle
tissue and transmit real-time data on
glucose and lactate levels that indicate
the severity of injury of a soldier who
has been wounded.
"Battlefield
surgery hasn't changed significantly
since World War I," says Guiseppi-Elie,
who runs VCU's multi-disciplinary Center for Bioelectronics,
Biosensors and Biochips (C3B). An ability to monitor a soldier's physiological status will
represent a tremendous breakthrough.
"Once someone has been hit," he says,
"triage decisions can be improved
through more precise information and more
rapid access to a wounded soldier's
physiological status."
More
>>
News
Business
Aderis
Pharmaceut-
icals
has reported positive results of a Phase
II trial of its selodenoson drug, a
selective adenosine A1 agonist being
investigated for the control of heart rate
in atrial fibrillation. In a 63-patient,
double-blind, placebo-controlled trial,
all six administered doses of selodenoson
demonstrated a statistically and
clinically significant decrease in
ventricular rate compared to
placebo. (Nov. 10, 2003)More.
Insmed
Incorporated has received orphan drug
designation from the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration for the treatment
of extreme insulin resistance. Insmed will
be granted seven years of market
exclusivity. (Dec. 15, 2003)More.
Insmed
Incorporated has
announced that its proprietary
anti-cancer compound, recombinant human
insulin-like growth factor binding
protein-3 -- rhIGFBP-3 for short -- has
shown promising results in the treatment
of breast carcinoma cells. (Dec. 3, 2003).More.
Alfa
Laval Inc.,
a global leader in high-speed
separators, and Millipore Corporation, a
multinational bioscience company, have
announced a joint marketing agreement in the
USAfor the integration of equipment used for
the recovery of biopharmaceutical proteins
generated by cell culture and fermentation.
Under the agreement, the partnership will
promote Alfa Laval’s high-speed
biotechnology centrifuges. Alfa
Laval USA's corporate offices
and Process Technology
Division are located in Richmond. (December
2003). More.
PhysioAdvantage,
a developer of healthcare monitors and
sensors, has announced a partnership with
Sleepmate Tech-
nologies,
one of the most well-established sales and
distribution networks in the sleep
diagnostic industry. (Sept. 29, 2003)
Lyotropic Therapeutics
Inc., has licensed a number of patents from San Francisco-based
AvMax, Inc., covering the use of essential oils and related natural compounds for increasing the oral absorption of drugs.
Lyotropic, which develops drug delivery formulations for cancer and pain management, has the exclusive right to use the patents in combination with lyotropic
liquids, liquid crystals and emulsions.
(Sept. 23, 2003)
Academia
Del.
Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond, has introduced legislation in the
upcoming General Assembly session to
create a new state income tax check-off to
support promising research at the VCU
Massey Cancer Center and the University of
Virginia Cancer Center. (Jan. 8,
2004) More.
Virginia
Common-
wealth
University immunologistsreport
that low levels of a molecule known as FcgRII
reduce the ability of the elderly to
produce antibodies to fight germs and
infections. (December 20, 2003) More.
The
State Council of Higher Education for
Virginia (SCHEV) has granted approval
for Virginia Commonwealth University to
spin off its Master's of Science in
Criminal Justice, Forensic Science track,
to a stand-alone M.S. in Forensic Science.
One of only 13 institutions in the country
to offer a forensic science degree, the
VCU program partners with the nationally
accredited Virginia Division of Forensic
Science. (December 9, 2003)More.
Virginia
Common-
wealth
University has
been selected to join a national consortium
of biomedical research institutions
established by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services to
help combat bioterrorism. One
of 60 institutions, VCU
will apply nearly $1 million of the grant
to decode the genome of Cryptosporidium,
a
parasitic protozoan in the gut of
vertebrates,
and identify potential vaccines for the
bioterrorism agent. (Nov. 21, 2003)More.
