With no major advances in understanding its underlying mechanisms, inhalational anesthesia is kind of a Victorian-era solution in a healthcare industry fueled by innovation. A medical and entrepreneurial collaboration is opening our eyes to improvements in effects, access and implementation of a new, safer class of drugs that are crucial in surgical suites worldwide.
Four years ago, veterinary anesthesiologist Robert Brosnan attended the , a four-day commercialization program offered by the 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis . There Brosnan met 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis alumnus and veteran entrepreneur Mark Holman, who was serving as a mentor at the academy. The pair started a conversation about Brosnan鈥檚 work on advancing anesthesia.
At the 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis , Brosnan and his team were probing a mystery of neuroscience: how general anesthesia works and why we can experience, in veterinary and human medicine, negative side effects of its use on respiratory and cardiovascular function. Holman鈥檚 eyes lit up as he realized the enormous opportunity of Brosnan鈥檚 research. By the end of the academy, they shared an ambitious goal: nothing short of revolutionizing an area of medicine and patient care that hasn鈥檛 changed markedly since before the U.S. Civil War.
Medical Game Changer
Brosnan, a professor in the , says his team has identified what they believe is a plausible molecular mechanism of action for these drugs, allowing them to 鈥渕ake predictions regarding new anesthetic agents that nobody has ever studied before.鈥 He foresees anesthesia with fewer side effects and more beneficial actions than current drugs because of his team鈥檚 ability to isolate agents and their effects.
That鈥檚 where Holman鈥檚 business know-how and his network enter. Holman saw a viable 鈥渓ab-to-market鈥 path and demand for better and more cost effective anesthesia. The start-up company he formed in 2013, Expanesthetics, with Brosnan as the chair of the scientific advisory board, has raised over $2.25 million from investors, many of whom are affiliated with 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis. 鈥淚 think the discovery would probably have died without somebody like Mark to help bring it forward,鈥 Brosnan said.
How the Start-up Company Started
Expanesthetics Expands
While the Expanesthetics team continues to work on offering superior choices of anesthesia, the start-up also discovered a drug that could lead to better pain treatment, opening up the possibility of a spinout company to raise additional funding, build a team and form local and international collaborations. Holman says the company is now sought out by 鈥済lobal animal health companies, the U.S. government, an international medical research institute, and others鈥 to further expand knowledge and services.
The Graduate School of Management describes Expanesthetics in detail .
Lab-to-Market Path
Lab-to-market paths for new drugs, medical devices and technologies start with building networks. The next is July 10-12, 2017. It offers:
- Tools to communicate the broader potential of research
- A test bed to explore market opportunities
- Mentoring and feedback sessions with veteran entrepreneurs and start-up experts
Related:
- What is Translational Research?
- Taking Tech to Heart
- Interdisciplinary Approach Alleviates Patients' Pain
is the executive director of marketing and communications for the .