Event Detail

2nd Annual CBC Business Plan Competition

Innovate - Compete - Create

DATE: May 29, 2009
TIME: 9:00 AM - 1:00 AM
LOCATION: Lurie Cancer Center, Northwestern University Downtown Campus

Description
Each spring the CBC sponsors and hosts a business plan competition inviting graduate student teams of participants from the Business Schools at the three member institutions (Northwestern, University of Chicago and UIC). The participating teams of graduate students are invited to submit biomedically relevant business plans in order to compete for a grand prize of $10,000. Biomedical business endeavors engage in the life science industries and work toward solutions in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, and healthcare.

VesselTek Biomedical, an innovative vascular products company, was selected as the grand prize winner of the 2009 competition. The Company's novel, biocompatible coating alone or when combined with an FDA approved drug promotes the safety and long-term success of vascular repairs. A synthetic graft with the biocompatible coating will reduce thrombosis and may be on the market in 2 years. A drug-eluting version, aimed at making artificial graft procedures as successful as those using natural vessels, will follow. These grafts will have a major impact on patients with peripheral arterial disease and patients undergoing hemodialysis. VesselTek's team is also working to apply its technology to coronary bypass grafts and drug-eluting stents.

The company's founders include Guillermo Ameer, an Associate Professor in the Biomedical Engineering and Department of Surgery at Northwestern University; Melina Kibbe, Associate Professor of Surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern and a Staff Physician at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center; and Antonio Webb, a recent PhD graduate from the laboratory of Dr. Ameer. Dr. Webb is the company's first employee in the role of Senior Scientist/Development Engineer. Their business advisors include Andrew Cittadine, co-founder and CEO of American BioOptics; and Jim Bray, Assistant Director of the Research Discovery Program at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute.