Lanx launches Lumbar Motion Monitor Commercialization project in Ohio

Colorado biomedical company, Lanx Inc., has chosen Ohio as the location to launch its Lumbar Motion Monitor Commercialization project. The company, which chose Ohio over other Midwest states, said the state's biomedical industry and support from programs like Ohio Third Frontier were key to the decision.

"Ohio is an attractive location for the Lanx Diagnostic division because of its existing strengths in the biomedical industry and resources such as Ohio Third Frontier and TechColumbus," said Stuart Born, Director, Lanx Diagnostic. "These benefits coupled with the close proximity to our collaborators, allow us to further develop an important innovative new tool that will essentially help surgeons and other clinicians further optimize patient care."

In June, Ohio Third Frontier awarded Lanx $1 million for its Lumbar Motion Monitor Commercialization project. Lanx, currently located in Broomfield, Colorado, will form a new Ohio-based division located in Columbus, Ohio to finalize the design and commercialization of a device to measure range of lumbar motion in patients with back injuries. The new device will provide physicians with more detailed, objective information to more accurately diagnose the location and extent of injury to enable more effective treatment. Lanx is working in collaboration with Ohio-based organizations such as The Ohio State University Biodynamics Laboratory, OrthoNeuro a multi-specialty Center of Excellence and the Cleveland Clinic Center for Spine Health, under the Directorship of Gordon Bell, MD.

"Grounded in a long history in Ohio, the biomedical imaging industry is enjoying a resurgence in our state, partly due to the targeted, well-timed investments made by Ohio Third Frontier," said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development. "With state-of-the-art research institutions, world-class companies that are both large and small, and a growing base of talent, Ohio's biomedical imaging cluster is becoming a powerhouse of new innovation and a magnet for the attraction and expansion of leading imaging companies throughout the world."  

Ohio Third Frontier, and the strategic investments made by the program to bolster Ohio's biomedical imaging industry, serve as a national model for success and are the primary reason behind Ohio's position as a national hub for innovation and opportunity in the thriving biomedical industry.

As of December 2009, Ohio Third Frontier has awarded more than $358 million dollars to Ohio's biomedical sector alone, which is made up of at least 91 core companies and four of the five major biomedical imaging equipment manufacturers in the world.

In addition to the biomedical cluster, Ohio Third Frontier has fostered the emergence of new technology clusters across the state, including fuel cells, photovoltaics and liquid crystals/flexible displays.

According to the 2009 "Making an Impact" report conducted by SRI, Ohio Third Frontier's strategies for investing in Ohio's high-tech clusters contain all the elements associated with global best practices in technology cluster development, and indicate that these investments are already generating positive economic outcomes for Ohio's economy in terms of growth in technology sector employment, output and wages. Since its inception, the Ohio Third Frontier has created, capitalized or attracted more than 600 companies, has created nearly 55,000 direct and indirect jobs and helped create $6.6 billion in economic impact in Ohio, a 9:1 return on investment.