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First Round of EDGE Funding Goes to Medical, Meteorology Fields

Oklahoma City - One of the first multimillion-dollar awards from a state-funded economic development program will help Orthocare Innovations establish a major orthopedics hub with a new manufacturing plant in Oklahoma City, executives announced this week.

'It's really kind of pivotal for us, allowing us to bring a lot of product we have in our pipeline to market,' Orthocare Innovation's Chief Technology Officer David Boone said of the $1.6 million his company will receive.  

'We are really focused on making the operation here a focal point for the whole country.  This particular field of prosthetics doesn't have that,' he said.  'There are companies scattered throughout the country handling different bits and pieces.  We already have the largest R&D team in the field in the country; we want to build on that to become the pre-eminent developer and product manufacturer as well.'

The research and development company was one of the five technology-based proposals approved for more than $11 million in awards this month through the EDGE policy board.  The awards come from the earnings of a $150 million endowment approved by the state Legislature in 2003 that established EDGE, or Economic Generating Excellence Board.  The awards are expected to become an annual process, officials said.

Other award winners include Charlesson LLC, which will use its funds to develop and produce nanoparticle-mediated drugs for eye injections to treat macular degeneration and other eye diseases.  And two companies, Hyalose and Cytovance Biologics, will work together on one project to produce sugar-based therapeutics for evaluation, sale and licensing, EDGE officials said.  

In weather sciences, a project is being funded through the University of Oklahoma and associated business partners to develop the wind energy industry with highly precise weather assessments and forecasts.  And in the aerospace industry, another OU researcher is developing hardware and software for advanced testing and manufacturing of replacement parts for the military and commercial interests.

Nearly 100 proposals were evaluated by the EDGE policy board and technical experts before the final five were chosen.  Projects were weighed on their technical viability and good business investment potential.

The EDGE selection process focused on projects targeting the state's key business sectors, EDGE policy board Executive Director Paul Risser said.  

In the case of Orthocare Innovations, Boone said the company's Compas™, or Computerized Prosthesis Alignment System, will be the first product to be built with the funding in Oklahoma.  Compas™ is a system that helps create a more dynamic, sensitive gait for patients with leg prostheses.  'This action, coupled with other economic develpment efforts in the state, tells the world that Oklahoma is in the running for business development,' Risser said.

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