TERRY COLLEGE MBA STUDENTS WIN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION WITH NEW PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGY

ATHENS, Ga. — A team of three University of Georgia MBA students won the 2000 InfoUSA International Business Plan Competition held in Lincoln, Neb., with their plan for commercializing a new pharmaceutical technology called the Ternary Melt System.

The Dermamax Technologies team from the Terry College of Business was awarded $10,000 for first prize, beating out nine other MBA teams, including the second-place team from the University of Texas and the third-place team from the University of Manitoba. The victory was the fourth in the past seven years for Terry MBA teams at the Nebraska competition.

By winning the February 24-27 competition, Dermamax team members Joseph Wagner of Decatur, Ill., John Abernathy of Monroeville, Ala., and Pratush Gupta of Meerut, India, also earned an automatic entry to the 2000 International Challenge of Moot Corp, the season-ending business plan competition held annually in Austin, Texas. At Moot Corp, the Dermamax team will compete against 24 other teams from throughout the world including a second team, yet to be named, from the Terry College.

"Along with participating in business plan competitions, we are also moving forward with Dermamax as a real business entity," Wagner said. "We have met with venture capitalists and a pharmaceutical firm to develop the first round of financing."

The Dermamax plan revolves around a pharmaceutical advancement - the Ternary Melt System - developed by H. Won Jun, a professor in UGA's Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, and his graduate students. According to the business plan, the technology converts substances that normally exist as solids at room temperature into an oily state without raising the temperature, thereby significantly enhancing their ability to penetrate the skin. This breakthrough will aid the development of an entirely new class of topically applied medications. Dermamax would first plan to market a topically applied Ibuprofen product aimed at arthritis sufferers.

Dermamax focused its plan on the U.S. arthritis market based on the serious side effects caused when large amounts of Ibuprofen are taken orally, Wagner said. Last year, more than 16,000 Americans died from Ibuprofen overdoses, a large percentage of those individuals suffered from chronic arthritis. Based on Jun's research, most of these deaths and other side effects could be eliminated through the use of an effective, topically applied Ibuprofen product. That's because lower dosages are needed when the medication is applied directly to painful joints.

Charles Hofer, a management professor who coaches UGA's business plan teams, said, "We are obviously quite proud and exceptionally pleased with the performance of the Dermamax team and wish them well in Moot Corp. Our larger hope, however, is that it will be possible to get Dermamax Technologies started as a real business so that arthritis patients around the world will be able to benefit from Dr. Won Jun's innovative new technology. There are a wide variety of other topical medications that the company might develop once the Ibuprofen-based product has been successfully launched."

"Close collaboration between scientists and business planners is critical to bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical applications. The University of Georgia is facilitating this process at many levels," said Jun at the College of Pharmacy.

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