| The 2007 start-up of Healionics
Corporation represents a major leap forward in extending the impact of
research carried out at the University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials
(UWEB) Engineering Research Center. Healionics is a biomaterials
company whose mission is to partner with medical device manufacturers to
enhance the biocompatibility and performance of implanted medical devices.
The company, based in Redmond, Washington, has licensed the use of STAR
(Sphere Templated Angiogenic Regenerative) material invented by UWEB researchers.
STAR material inserted into the body during surgery encourages the growth
of new blood vessels and tissues to promote healing.
Healionics was named the
“most promising new biotech firm” by the Seattle Business Monthly, and
was awarded first place for best technology investment by the 2007 Zino
Zillionaire Investment Forum. The company, headed by Robert Brown as president
and CEO, is the first spin-off of the Ratner Biomedical Group (RBG), founded
in 2006 as an incubator of companies. RBG deploys its licensed intellectual
properties that are focused on medical devices, biocompatible materials,
tissue engineering, and drug delivery. RBG provides early-stage funding
for startups in its portfolio and helps them to develop the management
teams and the corporate partnerships that are necessary for sustained growth
and capitalization.
Dr. Buddy D. Ratner, Director
of the NSF-funded UWEB, serves as chair of the Science Advisory Board for
both Ratner Biomedical Group and Healionics. Many of RBG’s technologies,
like those applied by Helionics, are derived from UWEB research.
UWEB itself focuses on exploiting
specific biological recognition mechanisms in order to develop a new generation
of biomaterials for medical implants that will heal in the body in a facile,
physiologically normal manner. Through companies such as Helionics,
UWEB’s basic research and inventions will be further developed and applied
to medical implants that enhance healing. |
