February 24th, 2009 - The Daily Oklahoman
Steve Lackmeyer
OrthoCare Innovations is teaming up with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to seek $10 million for an Oklahoma City prosthetics technology center.
OrthoCare, a prosthetic technology firm with a laboratory in the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park, previously launched a research partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab to transfer advanced technologies from the military and national security to medicine.Doug McCormack, chief executive officer, said his company hopes to go further to establish a manufacturing operation in Oklahoma City allowing cutting-edge prosthetics from Defense Department studies to enter commercial production.
OrthoCare hopes to see the $10 million project included in the Defense Department's 2010 fiscal year budget.
"In the United States there is really not a center that focuses on the transition and commercialization of these technologies," McCormack said. "There are pockets of activity around the country ... like Chicago ... but the focus tends to be more academic in nature."
McCormack said some prosthetic technologies "do not have a great track record" of going into commercial development.
McCormack's Johns Hopkins partner is Stuart Harshbarger, a member of the principal professional staff at Johns Hopkins. Harshbarger also serves as the program manager for the $70 million, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-sponsored Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 Program, which develops technology OrthoCare hopes to bring the public.
"This center would address a real void," Harshbarger said. While the numbers of war veterans in need of such prosthetics and technology is greater than desired, the demand is too small to justify traditional civilian sector investment, he said.
Newstex ID: KRTB-0148-32202978
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