U.Va. Spin-off PluroGen is a Burning Success

When George Rodeheaver, Ph.D., and his colleagues in the Department of Plastic Surgery began developing a new topical gel to treat burns and open wounds in the 1970s, they did not consider themselves burgeoning entrepreneurs, they just wanted to provide the best possible treatment to suffering patients. 

The gel Rodeheaver came up with has unique and highly beneficial properties, in addition to being very water soluble, body temperature thickens the gel while rinse water temperatures liquefy it.  These distinguishing characteristics make it superior to other burn and chronic wound therapies because it remains in place to deliver healing medication when needed and then is easily and much more painlessly removed. 

Rodeheaver attained approval to use the promising gel within the University of Virginia Health System.  The gel’s successful use on 2,000 patients with either burns or chronic wounds prompted Rodeheaver and colleague Adam Katz, M.D., to start looking into commercializing the product.  “We treated a person who had a chronic wound for six years and we were able to get it closed in six weeks—that is impressive,” says Katz.  He also cites the case of a patient who drove to Charlottesville all the way from Tennessee every month to get refills of the gel.  “This gives us an extremely strong impetus to get it out in the real world,” he says. 

Many faculty inventions begin this way, answering a need or solving a problem that current products do not.  Yet turning a novel idea or discovery into a marketable product can be a long and complicated process, and neither faculty member had business experience.  Fortunately, the team was able to tap into resources that U.Va. has in place to assist faculty members in moving their products from concept to commercialization.

Rodeheaver and Katz began by patenting and licensing the technology with the U.Va. Patent Foundation.  Then they looked to Spinner Technologies—a for-profit branch of the Patent Foundation that exists to encourage faculty start-up companies.  Through the help of Spinner, and with the aid of a Darden M.B.A. student, they completed a business plan and named their company PluroGen Therapeutics.

PluroGen’s business proposal went on to win the Batten Institute’s Business Plan Competition, earning the company $10,000 and a spot in the Darden Progressive Incubator, which secured them access to expert business advice, office space, and a summer intern.  With the help of Darden students, Plurogen poised itself to begin an ambitious marketing campaign in order to achieve funding to cover early start-up expenses.

Finally, Katz and Rodeheaver tapped into the T100 Alumni Mentoring Program, based within the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.  T100 matches alumni business experts with emerging companies to further facilitate commercialization.  Through T100, PluroGen received mentoring and financial support to help them further refine their business plan, network, and hire their first CEO and President, Neal Koller. 

These important steps ultimately led to PluroGen’s acquisition of crucial financing to move forward. PluroGen successfully raised $1.7 million in 12 months from investors including Cato BioVentures, two organized angel network groups—Jefferson Corner Group and the Virginia Active Angel Network, and others.  Now armed with this seed funding and an advisory team of international experts, they are moving their first product, a topical antimicrobial gel, to the pivotal Phase III clinical trial stage.

Rodeheaver notes that each of the gel’s ingredients have separately achieved FDA approval.  And since the gel technology has been successfully used for years within the U.Va. Health System, “much of the risk and uncertainty has already been eliminated for our investors,” says Neal Koller.  Koller expects that the product could be available in as little as 18 months and he anticipates that the entire burn market will convert to the product within five years.  In addition, PluroGen has plans to use its gel technology platform to develop products for the chronic wound market—an area growing rapidly as the population ages.  In fact, the second PluroGen gel product has already been used with superior results in a dressing format for chronic wound patients.  They will need to seek additional funding for these endeavors but the company is well on their way.

“This is a successful University partnership story,” says Rodeheaver.  “We are proof that the conceptual pathway of technology transfer works.  We have continued to pursue the path and we have continued to be successful.”

For more information, go to PluroGen's website.