US-based healthcare services provider Cardinal Health and medical device maker Medtronic are set to collaborate on a $140m, four-year programme to develop drugs and devices to treat neurological disorders, Columbus Business First reported on Wednesday.
The Neurotechnology Innovations Translator will be led by Ohio State University and will involve the development of technology and medical device startup companies which can then be spun out.
Other partners in the initiative will include non-profit companies Battelle and MetroHealth, as well as several venture capital firms, other Ohio universities and hospitals, and the US Air Force.
The scheme will be boosted by a $21m grant from the Third Frontier bond programme, set up by the state of Ohio to support technological research centres.
Ali Rezai, the head of Ohio State University’s neuroscience programme, will act as principal investigator at the Translator.
The centre’s managing director will be Kevin Wasserstein, founder and principal at medical device business consultancy MentorCatalyst and an affiliated director for VC firm Versant Ventures, which is also among the investors in the Translator.