The Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) www.TEDCO.md has launched its new “Medical Device Product Acceleration and Commercialization by Executives” referred to as (mdPACE) http://tedco.md.program/mdpace program.
TEDCO provides funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to support Maryland’s innovation ecosystem and frequently is ranked as one of the most active seed/early stage investors in the U.S.
TEDCO was awarded a three year $500,000 grant from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration’s www.eda.gov Office of Innovations and Entrepreneurship, to use mdPACE to accelerate the development of a medical device cluster in the state. The program will provide continual hands-on assistance and help participating entrepreneurs receive FDA www.fda.gov clearance for their technology.
“Receiving FDA clearance is a major value inflection point for the typical medical device start-up but the process can be challenging,” according to Jason Kirkness, Co-Founder of respEQ, http://respeq.com a medical device start-up based on Johns Hopkins technology.
TEDCO hopes to work with 5 to 7 medical device start-ups that are candidates for the FDA 510 (k) regulatory pathway. For more information, go to http://tedco.md/program/mdpace for an overview of the mdPACE program along with the Request for Applications.
Another new program involving TEDCO was recently launched to help researchers and entrepreneurs further develop ideas and businesses. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) www.nist.gov and TEDCO have just announced a new grant program to help researchers turn promising NIST technologies and know-how into entrepreneurial high tech businesses.
The new program “NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program” called N-STEP http://tedco.md.program/n-step will be administered by TEDCO and will offer about ten grants for up to $112,000 for a specific project to be completed within 12 months. Eligible researchers include former NIST employees and current employees nearing the end of their term of employment such as post-doctoral fellows and guest researchers from other institutions.
The NIST Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) www.nist.gov/tpo will identify inventions available for licensing that are most appropriate for commercialization, especially by start-ups and early stage firms.
TEDCO and local economic development organizations can facilitate the creation of start-up companies to license and commercialize NIST’s inventions. NIST will also provide access to their research and development expertise, equipment, facilities, and materials.
During the one year grant period, awardees will receive entrepreneurial training available through the National Science Foundation I-Corp www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps, University of Maryland’s Mtech www.mtech.umd.edu program, the Foundation for Advanced Education in Science at NIH http://fdes.org, and the Rocky Mountain Innovation Center http://rmc.innovate.com, plus professional business mentoring.
If researchers are interested in applying for an N-STEP grant, a whitepaper must be submitted providing a brief overview of their envisioned company, technology, and product, or services. Whitepapers will be accepted on a continuing basis until N-STEP program funds are fully committed.