Cincinnati Grabs Stake In High-Tech Startup From Tennessee: $2 Mil In Venture Cap Funds Lures New Biz To City

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The company is called Nanodetection Technology, or NDT. It has invented a system for quickly detecting pathogens, DNA and other biomarkers. Investors who put up the $2 million include CincyTech, which has a $250,000 stake.  CincyTech said NDT's sensors could be used in emergency rooms and doctor's offices to diagnose infections in minutes rather than days.  The technology also has potential in spotting threats from terrorists, who may use bio-weapons like anthrax or other diseases in efforts to attack U.S. cities.  Here's what NDT says it does:

"NanoDetection Technology is an early entrant into the diagnostic segment of biochip sensor technology. While the term ‘biochip’ has come to mean many different things, biochips typically combine integrated circuitry and genomic technologies for basic biological research, drug research and disease diagnosis. NanoDetection’s ‘biochip’ is a patented microchip biosensor, based on multiple phototransistor integrated circuits, that detects light (e.g. fluorescence or luminescence) emitted as a result of a chemical reaction caused by DNA hybridization or an antibody/antigen pairing. Unlike historical advances in the diagnostic device sector where new technology simply automates or upgrades conventional methodologies, biochip devices will make obsolete the traditional diagnostic protocol and allow for nearly real-time detection. 

"As the overwhelming majority of public biochip companies focus on the biological research and drug research market, NanoDetection is one of the first few companies to leverage this technology for diagnostic purposes in veterinary diagnostics, bioterrorism and food safety. NanoDetection’s initial markets enable lower technology development and refinement costs because of easy access to biological samples and lower regulatory hurdles and oversight."

The company has been in Oak Ridge.  With the $2 million, NDT plans to finish clinical trials and hopes to lauch its product in the health-care market by 2013.  It is looking for lab space in Cincinnati.  CincyTech invests in startup business in bioscience, information technology and advanced manufacturing.  It is financially supported by Ohio's Third Frontier, foundations and corporate grants.  The goal is to grow the regional economy and jobs market.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Research Scores Big Win: New Drug Quickly Approved, Shrinks Kids' Brain Tumors



Children's Hospital



CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced today in Europe the FDA granted accelerated approval for a new drug that shrinks brain tumors otherwise requiring surgery.  The drug was tested on 28 patients at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and nearly a third had a reduction in the size of their tumors.  Doctors say the drug should fill an unmet medical need.  All of the patients were being treated for subpendymal giant cell astrocytoma, known to physicians as SEGA, an inherited disease related to a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis.  Tuberous sclerosis can cause severe mental retardation and seizures.  Novartis credited the breakthrough to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in an announcement from Basel today. Early approval came because the results in Cincinnati were so dramatic. Still, Novartis said more studies are taking place:

 
"The accelerated approval of Afinator [generic name everolimus} is based on an open-label, single-arm 28-patient study conducted by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The effectiveness of Afinator is based on an analysis of change in SEGA volume. A Phase III study is under way that compares Afinator to placebo to explore the clinical benefits of Affinator for patients with treatment associated with TS. 

"Prior to this FDA approval, the only treatment option for growing SEGAs, which primarily affect children and adolescents, was brain surgery. Tuberous sclerosis is a genetic disorder affecting approximately 25,000 to 40,000 people in the U.S. that may cause tumors to form in vital organs. SEGAs, benign brain tumors, occur in up to 20% of patients with TS."

Cincinnati Children's opened its clinic for tuberous sclerosis in the early 1990s and it now has a team of researchers battling the genetic disorder. Dr. David Neal Franz is the clinic director and you can learn more about him by clicking here.  Franz did not start out to become a physician.  He went to Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and majored in history and literature.  That small liberal arts school set Dr. Franz on the path, though, that should help make life a little bit easier for many people on this planet.

Wall Street Sees Ohio's Bond Rating As Stable: More 'Third Frontier' Paper Headed To Financial Markets

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- So far, the entire project has created less than 6,000 jobs in six years. There has not yet been a home run. Now the state plans to sell another $40 million worth of bonds in early August to finance Third Frontier projects that are supposed to push and shove Ohio's economy into a high-tech future. Fitch Ratings graded the bonds "AA+" today, which means they are going to market considered solid investments. And it praised Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and the GOP-controlled legislature for steady financial management in a time when the state economy is tanking. The Third Frontier is former Gov. Bob Taft's $500 million brainchild -- since 2002 it has created about 5,600 jobs.

Meanwhile, Wall Street's take on Ohio's economy, as delivered by Fitch, is quite gloomy. It did note the state's top political leadership has so far remained "conservative in response to economic weakening" -- meaning Strickland & Co. have been penny pinching and prudent managers of Ohio's budget. Still, there are dark clouds and Ohio has not turned around:

"Ohio's economic performance remains weak, with persistent declines in manufacturing now joined by decelerating service sector employment and a continued deep housing market downturn. Since the last recession, employment growth has been limited, rising 0.5% from 2004 to 2007, compared to U.S. growth of 5.9% over the same period. Total employment in 2007 fell 0.2% year-over-year, compared to a 1.1% increase nationwide. June employment is down 0.3% year-over-year, dragged down by job losses in manufacturing and construction, while services growth remains weak. Personal income, though growing, continues to underperform comparable national figures: Personal income rose 4.7% in Ohio in 2007 vs. 6.2% nationally; first quarter 2008 personal income rose 3% vs. 4.8% nationally."