TORONTO
 (October
 14,
 2010)
 –
 Of
 the
 approximately
 300
 million
 people
 around
 the
 world
 who
 are
 diabetics,
 45
 million
 of
 them
 develop 
foot
 ulcers 
that 
bleed
 – 
and 
the 
infection
 from
 those 
ulcers
 can 
spread.

Working
 to
 halt
 this
 is
 Dr.
 Ping
 Lee,
 a
 professor
 at
 the
 University
 of
 Toronto’s (U of T)
 Leslie
 Dan
 Faculty
 of
 Pharmacy
 and
 GlaxoSmithKline
 chair
 in
 Pharmaceutics
 and 
Drug 
Delivery.
 He 
and 
his
 team
 have 
created 
a 
new 
sustained‐release
 form
 of
 nitric 
oxide 
(NO) 
that
 can
 not
 only
 stop 
the 
infections 
at
 wound
sites, 
but
 also
 has
 the
 potential 
to
speed
 up
 wound‐healing.

Still,
 the
 technology
 may
 have
 stayed
 on
 the
 shelf,
 even
 with
 three
 years
 worth
 of
 data
 demonstrating
 therapeutic
 relevance.
 The
 ultimate
 success
 of
 the
 technology
 is
 due
 to
 an
 effective
 collaboration
 between
 Dr.
 Lee,
 the
 Innovations
 and
 Partnerships
 Office
 (IPO)
 at
 U
 of
 T
 and
 MaRS
 Innovation (MI).
 Lee
 worked
 with
 IPO
 and
 MI to
 formulate
 a
 development
 plan
 in
 consultation
 with 
numerous 
industry
 advisors.

For 
Dr.
 Lee’s 
discovery 
to 
have 
a 
chance
 of 
helping 
those
 millions
 of
 diabetics, 
it 
had
 to
 move
 from
 the 
laboratory 
and 
be 
readied
 for
 the
 marketplace.
 The
 first
 step
 in
 that
 often
 long
 and
 harsh
 process
 took
 place
 in
 June
 of
 2009
 when
 U
 of
 T
 agreed
 to
 work
 to
 validate
 the
 new
 diabetic
 wound‐healing
 technology,
 with
 MI
,
 the
 commercialization
 agent
 that’s
 partnered
 with
 14
 leading
 Toronto
 universities,
 research
 institutes
 and
 hospitals
 to
 transform
 discovery
 research
 into
 new 
jobs,
 companies, 
opportunities 
and 
growth 
for
 Canadians.

An
 even
 bigger
 step
 took
 place
 last
 week
 when
 Cardium
 Therapeutics
 Inc.
 (Amex:
 CXM)
 of
 San
 Diego
 acquired
 the
 rights
 to
 use
 this
 Canadian
 discovery
 to
 expand
 its
 wound‐healing
 portfolio,
 which
 includes
 dressings,
 topical
 creams
 and 
gels,
 and
 electrospun
 fibres
 for
 bandages. 
The
 company
 already 
has 
a
 wound‐healing 
product
 in 
review 
with
 the
 U.S. 
Food
 and
 Drug
 Administration
 (FDA)
 and
 the
 new
 technology
 will
 give
 the
 company
 a
 platform
 to
 develop
 follow‐on
 products
 once
 FDA
 approval
 is 
obtained.

“Dr.
 Lee’s
 discovery
 was
 one
 of
 the
 first
 opportunities
 we
 committed
 to
 when
 we
 opened
 our
 doors
 just
 last
 year,”
 said
 Dr.
 Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein,
 president
 and
 CEO
 of
 MI.
 “There
 is
 a
 growing
 market
 for
 wound
 healing
 products
 and
 advances,
 given
 the
 unfortunate
 rise
 in
 the
 incidence
 of 
diabetes 
worldwide.
 We
 recognized 
the
need 
for
 innovation 
in 
this 
field 
and 
the
 real
 potential
 to
 help
 transform
 his
 research
 into
 pioneering
 product
 opportunities.
 What
 was
 needed
 was
 funding,
 market
 intelligence
 and
 a
 knowledge 
of
 deal‐making
 with 
multiple 
partners 
from
 different
 sectors.”

Peter
 Lewis, 
associate 
vice
 president
 of
 research 
at

 U of T 
and 
interim 
executive
 director 
of
 IPO,
 said:
 “With
 U
 of
 T’s
 commitment
 to
 research
 excellence
 and
 commercialization,
 our
 relationship
 with
 MaRS
 Innovation 
is 
crucial. 
We’re 
thrilled
 that
 it’s 
already
 successful.”

For
 Cardium
 Therapeutics,
 which
 works
 with
 multiple
 technology
 commercialization
 offices
 across
 North
 America,
 partnering
 with
 MI
 was
 beneficial,
 says
 Cardium’s
 CEO,
 Christoper
 J.
 Reinhard:
 “MI
 brought
 great
 business
 understanding
 to
 the
 process.
 The
 team
 understood
 our
 needs 
quickly
 and 
they 
worked
 efficiently 
to
get 
the 
deal
 done.”

Finally,
 praise
 from
 the
 inventor
 himself.
 “I’m
 a
 chemist
 and
 an
 academic,
 not
 a
 business
 strategist.
 I’ve
 been
 working
 with
 MaRS
 Innovation
 for
 over 
a
 year
 now
 and 
can 
say
 they
 understand
 the
 world 
of
 academic 
research
 and
 its
 requirements
 as
 discoveries
 are
 advanced
 from
 the 
laboratory 
to
 the
 marketplace.”