Call us: 1.405.235.2305
info@i2E.org
  • Events
  • News
  • Resources
  • Library
  • Love’s Cup
i2Ei2Ei2Ei2E
  • About
  • Services
  • Investments
  • Development
  • Portfolio
  • Contact

A look back can show the way forward for Oklahoma innovation

    Home News A look back can show the way forward for Oklahoma innovation
    NextPrevious

    A look back can show the way forward for Oklahoma innovation

    By sarah | News | 0 comment | 18 April, 2018 | 0

    By Scott Meacham
    Copyright © 2018, The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

    If you are a regular reader of these columns, and I hope you are, you can tell that I like history. There are the lessons, of course, and the perspective we gain from looking back. And there are the celebratory moments. There’s always an “aha” moment in history, although we may not recognize it at the time.

    This year, as i2E is celebrating our 20th anniversary, I got to thinking about what we’ll be remembered for another 20 years from now.

    Over 20 years, it is easy to misplace the details of some of our state’s greatest stories. Take Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, founded by William Canfield, MD, PhD, formerly a scientist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and taken through a much-heralded exit by CEO John Crowley.

    Canfield’s research made a breakthrough in the treatment of a rare genetic disorder called Pompe disease. It’s a form a muscular dystrophy that happens at birth and later in life and causes muscle weakness that typically leads to death, especially in children.

    Crowley, an experienced drug industry executive and the father of two children suffering from Pompe disease, came into Novazyme as CEO to hasten the progress of an FDA-approved drug. Genzyme acquired Novazyme and eventually achieved FDA-approval for the drug that Crowley credits with saving his children’s lives.

    The story of Novazyme and Crowley’s determination to develop a drug that would help his children has been told in books, adapted for Hollywood in the movie “Extraordinary Measures,” and highlighted in the 2017 State of the Union address.

    What doesn’t always get told as fully is the Oklahoma back story. Years of research and experimentation led up to Canfield’s discovery. Novazyme began in subsidized state-of-the-art lab space in the research park. And the first investor in Novazyme was i2E through the Technology Business Finance Program (TBFP) Concept Fund.

    Nearly 20 years ago, when, at the behest of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and the organization that was to become i2E, the Oklahoma legislature boldly gave the TBFP concept fund the green light, there was hope and belief that the concept fund would stand the test of time and become evergreen — and it has.

    Genzyme created a second drug that is used to treat all patients who suffer from Pompe disease. Canfield has started more companies; Crowley is a serial CEO of biotech firms, and the TBFP Concept Fund, which has been self-sustaining since 2011, has invested in 122 companies.

    That’s the kind of impact that innovation leaders had in mind in the late nineties when they pressed the Oklahoma Legislature to authorize state appropriations for a concept fund.

    To that, I say, “aha!”

    Scott Meacham is president and CEO of i2E Inc., a nonprofit corporation that mentors many of the state’s technology-based startup companies. i2E receives state support from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology and is an integral part of Oklahoma’s Innovation Model. Contact Meacham at i2E_Comments@i2E.org.

     

    Read the article at newsok.com

     

    John Crowley, Novazyme, Scott Meacham, William Canfield

    Related Post

    • Hands-on learning critical for STEM education

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2019, The Oklahoman Regardless of the state you live in or where your children go to school, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills are the key to career opportunitiesRead more

    • Innovation sparks success for local battery firm

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2019, The Oklahoman For a young company, it’s never easy and the hard work is never over. It’s a long, difficult battle full of fits and starts and failure beforeRead more

    • i2E helps OMRF as commercialization partner

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2019, The Tulsa World/BH Media Group The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is one of the finest biomedical research institutions in the world. I2E is honored to be a commercialization partnerRead more

    • Venture Capital success can follow many roads

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott Meacham Copyright © 2019, The Oklahoman Profitable exits are the holy grail of venture investing. The reason is fairly obvious. It typically takes an exit event for equity investors to get their originalRead more

    • Oklahoma slips in national science, technology ratings

      By sarah | 0 comment

      By Scott MeachamCopyright © 2019, The Oklahoman I value benchmarking. Whatever the goal, comparing metrics with industry leaders is the best way to test and improve results. Especially when the comparison is not what weRead more

    Leave a Comment

    Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    NextPrevious

    Archives

    i2E-300dpi-Trans-Light
    • Events
    • News
    • Resources
    • Library
    • Love’s Cup

    Oklahoma City Office

    840 Research Parkway, Suite 250
    OKC, OK 73104
    PHONE 405/235-2305
    Click HERE for printable map with directions.

    Tulsa Office

    618 E. Third Street, Suite 1
    Tulsa, OK 74120
    PHONE 918/582-5592
    Click HERE for printable map with directions.
    Copyright 2019 i2E, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
    • About
    • Services
    • Investments
    • Development
      • Love’s Cup
        • Forms
        • High Growth
        • Small Business
        • Timeline
    • Portfolio
    • Contact
    i2E