Three companies developing medical-related products and treatments are the first tenants accepted into New York Medical College”™s biotechnology incubator in Valhalla.
The $5 million specialty business incubator, BioInc@NYMC, was launched last fall in a 10,000-square-foot wing at 7 Dana Road, a newly renovated, 129,000-square-foot laboratory and research building that stood vacant for several years on the Grasslands campus. New York Medical College officials said the incubator initially includes about 4,500 square feet of finished laboratory and office space and shared infrastructure, and the remaining space will be developed as the initial spaces are filled.
The medical school announced its pioneer tenants are Conversion Energy Enterprises Inc., a company run by a husband-and-wife team that develops and prototypes laser products for medical uses; MB Group USA, a supplier of sugar-substitute products derived from rare fruits for diabetics, chemotherapy patients and sugar-avoiding consumers; and MOE Medical Devices LLC, a maker of cold electrical plasma therapies to treat diseases.
Conversion Energy Enterprises was co-founded in 1993 by its CEO, Barbara A. Stoltz, a former research director at the McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Co. optoelectronics center in Elmsford, and Robert Stoltz, a former electronics engineer at McDonnell Douglas. The company uses proprietary laser technology to develop light-activated wound healing products and laser-controlled biological bonding agents designed to lower the risk of infection and improve or replace conventional methods of tissue repair, such as sutures.
New York Medical College officials said CEE plans to soon expand its facilities and staff. The company on its website lists an office in Spring Valley in Rockland County and a laboratory at the Commercialization Centre of New Jersey in North Brunswick.
“Working in an energetic, intellectually supportive environment that fosters innovation and development will help us to continue the work that we do and bring our company to the next level,” Barbara Stoltz said in the school”™s announcement. “We look forward to working alongside fellow entrepreneurs with similar goals and aspirations, and are grateful to New York Medical College for this opportunity.”
MB Group USA produces two trademarked food products, MiraBurst and MiraSweet, for chemotherapy cancer patients with taste buds altered by treatments, diabetics regulating blood sugar and people cutting down on sugar in their diet.
The company on its website says its MiraBurst products are derived from “miracle berries” grown in Ghana that contain a protein called miraculin. The protein binds to and temporarily alters taste buds so that sour and acidic foods taste sweet. MiraSweet is described as an all-natural, zero-calorie sugar substitute.
NYMC officials said the incubator”™s third tenant, MOE Medical Devices, is developing cold electrical plasma systems and treatments to target and destroy pathogens and abnormal tissues while avoiding damage to surrounding healthy tissue in patients. The company is running several clinical trials and pre-clinical studies for the treatment with plasma applications of fungal infections of the toenails or fingernails and pre-cancerous lesions found in many areas of the body.
“Our vision is to build interdisciplinary collaborations among clinicians and engineers to enable creation of innovative energy-based therapeutics for difficult-to-treat conditions,” said Marc Zemel, CEO of MOE Medical Devices. “We look forward to expanding our partnership and activities with the entire NYMC community.”
“These companies have already achieved great success and we look forward to seeing them continue to flourish in their new home,” said Randi Schwartz, interim director of BioInc@NYMC and associate dean for academic administration at New York Medical College.
