PowerPoint (3 MB)

UWAPL & CIE

Invention to Start Up

Jack GallagherPierre Mourad

Agenda

• How We Got Started

• University Resources

• Intellectual Property

• Building a Team

• Business Plan

• Funding Sources

• Research Process & Evolution

• Research Concept Findings

• Questions

How We Got Started

• Random meeting with Allez PhysiOnix

• Started research at UW in August 2003 (WTC Grants)

• Negotiated exclusive license to UW technology (Tech

Transfer)

• First patent published in 2005 (Tech Transfer)

• Funding from founders, private investors (Angels &

Venture Capital), WTC research grants, NIH Phase 1 and

2 SBIR grants

University Resources

• Applied Physics Laboratory

• Department of Neurological Surgery

• Schools of Dentistry and of Public Health

• Office of Technology Transfer

• Washington Technology Center (WTC)

• Washington Research Foundation (WRF Capital)

Intellectual Property

• Get a good patent attorney

• Extensive review of 500 patents before started

• Patent filed November 2003 (published May 05)

• Additional patents filed in 2006

Building a Team

• Start with Technical Types

• Build & prove out technology

• Need 1 Business / Marketing Type

• Build vision of future, negotiations, legal

work, fund raising • Start part time; eventually convert to full time

Business Plan

• How big is the market

• What is your reason for being i.e. competitive advantage

• What is your anticipated market share

• Projected pricing

• Estimated spending by year

• Planned exit (Sale, IPO)

• Capital requirements by year

• Fund raising strategy

Funding Sources

• Need a strategy

• Founders

• Washington Technology Center (WTC)

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Angels

• Venture Capital

Research Process

Evolution of Research

2004-2006

Optimize Parameters:

what is the optimal

technology design?

2006-2007

External Testing: independent

confirmation of safety &

effectiveness

Internal Testing:

what are the primary benefits?

2005-2006

Concept Testing:

does the concept deliver a benefit?

2003-2004

University of Washington

WTC Grants

Univ. of Wash.

& Ultreo

NIH SBIR Phase I Grant

Ultreo, Inc.

NIH SBIR Phase II

Grant

Ultreo, Inc. & Universities

NIH SBIR Phase II

Grant

pierre’s turn

some details of the research

• What is old, and how and what old does

• What is new, and how and what new does

• More of what new does

• Summary statement of some partnering lessons I’ve

learned

manual brushes

• manual brushes move several times per second and clean

only at the point of bristle contact

power brushes

• power brushes move their bristles several hundred times per

second and clean primarily at the point of bristle contact, in a

manner vastly more efficient than manual brushes.

power brushes

• However, even the best power brushes still leave behind significant

amounts of plaque in your mouth, much of it in areas where the bristles

don’t contact.

www.studentbmj.com/issues/00/10/education/369.php

• Therefore, the world needs an even better toothbrush.

here it is.

what is special about the Ultreo

• we’ve added optimally configured and delivered ultrasound to

a power toothbrush foundation.

what is special about the Ultreo

• the Ultreo’s bristles scrub on time scales similar to that of

other power toothbrushes - hundreds of times a second.

Thanks to the ultrasound-activated bubbles, the Ultreo also removes plaque bacteria where the ultrasound and dental slurry intersect, including where the bristles may not reach.

a sense of gentleness

some of our earliest prototypes

we’ve come a long way• a testimony to the initial vision, the initially applied resources and alacrity of

SAP/APL/Neurosurgery/Pediatric Dentistry/Periodontology/Public Health,

and the subsequent and considerable effort and expertise utilized at Ultreo,

along with continuing efforts of UW.

vs

• so, does it work?

ultrasound from a stationary brush rapidly removes a ‘line’ of plaque bacteria.

• Artificial teeth with bacteria dyed pink before (left) and after (right) application

of ultrasound without bristle contact. Discrete bacteria colonies along a band

stretching from lower left to upper right were removed by the ultrasound

activated bubbles, in a shape corresponding to the shape of ultrasound

emitted from the face of the stationary brush head.

plaque bacteria removal via combined sonic & ultrasound processes

• Artificial teeth with bacteria dyed pink before (left) and after (right)

treatment with a sonically vibrating brush head that emitted ultrasound

in the presence of sonically produced bubbles, 2-3 mm from the

artificial teeth. Discrete bacteria colonies were reduced or removed

across the entire tooth surface after only 5 seconds of application of

the prototype.

sonic & ultrasound versus sonic only

• Artificial teeth with bacteria dyed pink before (above) and after (below)

treatment with (AA’) a sonically vibrating brush head that emitted

ultrasound in the presence of sonically produced bubbles or (BB’) a popular

power toothbrush, each acting 2-3 mm from the artificial teeth. Bacteria

were removed across the entire tooth surface after only 5 seconds of

application of the prototype.

• So, does it work?

yes!

partnership lessons

• assuming sufficient technical skills, it is the character of the

people with whom you work that matters the most.

• start your research with the clinical problem in mind.

• be open to new perspectives and to new knowledge.

• appreciate the opportunities afforded by serendipity and be

willing to act, quickly!, in response to those opportunities.

• surround yourself with (interdisciplinary) people who sufficiently

interact and are open to the fruits of those interactions.

• make sure your environment facilitates and nurtures those

interactions.

Questions?