OCTANe and the Southern California Center of Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics Announce Partnership Supporting Pediatric Research and Technology Commercialization

ALISO VIEJO, CA and LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 28, 2014) - Southern California innovation catalyst, OCTANe, has partnered with the Southern California Center of Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics (CTIP), a pediatric medical device consortium operated by Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA), to support product development and commercialization of innovative pediatric healthcare technologies, with the expressed goal of providing greater access to the CTIP's life-saving innovations for a wider patient population.

Under the terms of the agreement, OCTANe will establish operations at CHLA, offering its LaunchPad process of predictive analytics-based acceleration to innovators who are working with CTIP and seeking to commercialize pediatric medical devices.

"The opportunity to work with CHLA and CTIP underscores OCTANe's mission of connecting people and ideas with resources and capital and creating new jobs in Southern California," noted Matthew Jenusaitis, President and CEO of OCTANe. "Not only will this partnership help support our continued economic development," commented Jenusaitis, "but more importantly, this agreement will help a wider patient population gain access to the life saving technologies under development at CTIP."

CHLA's Center of Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics was formed in 2011 to address the substantial unmet need for novel pediatric medical devices. CTIP recently received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which enables it to bring together the best experts to accelerate the development of pediatric medical devices, a path with many obstacles due to the often small target populations and the challenges of addressing a vulnerable population.

"We are excited about the opportunity to work with OCTANe to accelerate the development of these critical devices for pediatric medicine," commented Jessica Rousset, co-director of CTIP. "OCTANe's process is well-suited for the innovative technologies currently under development at CTIP." Dr. Yaniv Bar-Cohen, co-director of the CHLA's innovation center added, "OCTANe's business acceleration will complement CTIP's other development activities so that we can become a model for innovation development and efficiently bring our technologies from research to commercialization."

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

About OCTANe

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology growth in Orange County. Its members represent Orange County technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and strategic advisors, all working together to fuel innovation in the OC. The organization has helped more than 800 companies via the LaunchPad™ SBDC accelerator. LaunchPad™ companies have received more than $420 million in investment and equity exits. OCTANe annually welcomes more than 7,000 people to its programs and events. More than 2,000 business leaders throughout the Orange County region are OCTANe members. For more information, visit www.octaneoc.org

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