BioE Students Are Finalists in MTECH Competition

Fischell Department of Bioengineering graduate students Matthew Dowling, Darryl Sampey and Peter Thomas are members of two teams among the finalists in this year's $50K Business Plan Competition. Conducted by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), the competition solicits submissions from young businesses with revenues under $1 million and substantial growth potential, particularly in niche markets. Teams must contain at least one member of the University of Maryland, College Park community who is a student, alumnus, faculty, or staff. The winning teams in three categories—emerging company, small business and concept-stage—will each receive a share of the $50,000 in prize money to help fund their endeavors.

Sampey is part of BioFactura, Inc., a biopharmaceutical development company focused on solving unmet medical and national security needs in the infectious disease arena.Key programs include human therapeutics and biomanufacturing technologies. The company's lead initiative is the development of a novel smallpox therapeutic composed of synthetic, fully human antibodies that have been demonstrated to neutralize poxvirus. This program is under development in close collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Md. Sampey's business partners are Alex Matschiner and Luis Branco.

Dowling and Thomas, along with business partner and fellow graduate student Bani Cipriano (chemical and biomolecular engineering) represents Remedium Technologies, Inc., a company developing active wound care products. Based on proprietary technology, Remedium utilizes nanometer-sized containers, anchored to a wound dressing, to deliver therapeutic agents to a wound in a time-controlled manner. Those agents can include both tissue regeneration and anti-infection products.

This year's $50K Business Plan Competition is sponsored by patent law firm Fish & Richardson, The Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, and Mintz Levin, a law firm specializing in science and industry.

For More Information:

Visit the $50K Business Plan Competition website »

Published March 29, 2007