Kent State's tech reputation, grant spur Pathogen's plan to build local operations
By CHUCK SODER
A liquid crystal technology that left Northeast Ohio for Colorado more than two years ago is about to result in investment back home.
Pathogen Systems Inc., which is developing devices that use liquid crystals to detect disease-causing microbes such as E. coli or anthrax, is in the first phase of a plan to build its base of operations in Northeast Ohio, said CEO Bob Bunting.
The Boulder, Colo.-based company during the next 18 months plans to hire about 20 people in Portage County as it scales up efforts to develop, manufacture and sell the device, Mr. Bunting said.
Pathogen Systems already is looking to hire a scientist and a technician who will work out of a lab at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, where it now employs one technician. Kent State University and NEOUCOM developed the patent upon which the technology is based and licensed it to the company in March 2006.
Pathogen Systems plans to start building its manufacturing capabilities at Kent State's Centennial Research Park in about a year and would add sales employees as it draws closer to its first product release about two years from now, Mr. Bunting said.
More people could be added if the first devices take off, he said.
"The big ramp really comes when the product starts being delivered," he said.
Pathogen Systems will remain headquartered in Colorado, which houses four of the company's five current employees, including Mr. Bunting. The company has the equivalent of 12 full-time employees counting outside contractors, he said.
Pathogen Systems already has money for the expansion. The Ohio Third Frontier Project, a $1.6 billion effort to stimulate Ohio's economy through technology, last June awarded NEOUCOM, Kent State and Pathogen Systems $3 million, which the company plans to match with $3.7 million, said Mr. Bunting, who would not disclose the company's investors, none of whom are in Northeast Ohio.
The money will be used to hire people, buy equipment and refurbish 5,000 square feet Pathogen Systems will use at Centennial Research Park. It has an option on another 10,000 square feet there.
The company wanted to be close to Kent State and NEOUCOM, but the Third Frontier money was a big factor in its choice to expand in Ohio, Mr. Bunting said.
"We could've put the boxes together anywhere," he said.
Pathogen System's first device based on the technology would be used to look for bacteria in beach water, but future versions could test for anything from sexually transmitted diseases and bacteria on food to anthrax and other chemicals used in terrorist attacks, said Gary Niehaus, a NEOUCOM associate professor who works part time as Pathogen Systems' chief scientist.
"It's got very broad applications," Dr. Niehaus said.
The device tests for pathogens in liquid by adding antibodies that cause them to form clumps, which makes white spots appear in a liquid crystal matrix. It will be able to produce results in minutes, unlike lab tests that can take days, and most people could be trained to use it, Mr. Bunting said.
"It could be a lifeguard on a beach. It could be a medical assistant in a doctor's office," he said.
The company joins other nearby liquid crystal businesses such as AlphaMicron Inc., which is located in the same building; Kent Displays Inc.; and Oringen LLC, which licensed the same technology from Kent State and NEOUCOM.
Pathogen Systems' expansion puts the region closer to its goal of becoming a hub for liquid crystal companies, said Greg Wilson, associate vice president of economic development and strategic partnerships at Kent State.
"We're helping to create this critical mass of talent," he said.
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20081006/FREE/310069940
