Imagine being able to inject a gel-like substance into a fractured bone to help it heal more quickly and ease the pain associated with the injury.
Shyni Varghese, PhD, a professor of biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering & materials science, and orthopaedic surgery, and Hunter Newman, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, teamed up to develop and commercialize this innovative technology.
Varghese, a self-proclaimed “lab rat,” and Newman, a budding entrepreneur, met when Newman was a PhD student in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke. He was interested in Varghese’s research and asked about becoming a student in her lab.
“I remember our first conversation when she asked, ‘Do you want to be a professor? Do you want to go into industry?’ And I said, ‘Well, no, I want to start a company.’” Newman says.
Four years later, that’s what they did. OsteoCure Therapeutics was born out of Varghese’s 10-plus years of research into bone healing and the use of biomaterials to deliver therapeutic molecules. This research has led to identifying adenosine, a naturally occurring small molecule that promotes bone formation while preventing fat formation. It can also ease pain following a bone injury or orthopedic surgery.
“Hunter was very excited about taking the technology out of the lab, bringing it to a separate entity, and getting it to the market to help patients,” Varghese said.