i&E Magazine Winter 2013

MEDENCENTIVE: THE CURE FOR WHAT AILS U.S.

Innovators & Entrepreneurs

O K L A H O M A ’ S A D V A N C E D T E C H N O L O G Y M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R 2 0 1 3

LAND OF OPPORTUNITYArdmore Development Authority uses location as key marketing element SPINOUTS WANTEDProof of Concept Center to help move technologies from lab to marketplace

I N S I D E 4-7 i&E Up & Coming Profiles

Check out eight of Oklahoma’s emerging companies that are

bringing innovative new products to the marketplace.

8-11 Cover StoryMedEncentive aims to make health care affordable for America with its

innovative, evidence-based cost containment platform.

12-14 OutreachIt’s location, location, location for Ardmore Development Authority

in its recruiting of new businesses to the area.

15-16 Proof of Concept CenterAn innovative cross-state

collaboration promises to hasten the pace of new technologies spinning

out of university labs.

17-19 Success StorySelexys Pharmaceuticals takes a

giant step forward when it closed a $25 million investment round that

will carry its sickle cell drug through Phase 2 clinical trials.

20 New LeadershipScott Meacham is bringing a vision

for i2E that draws on his experience in the banking industry to connect more Oklahoma entrepreneurs to our services and funding sources.

24 Partners

Oklahoma Business Roundtable900 N. StilesOklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104405-235-3787

Bryan GontermanRoundtable Chairman AT&T – Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Business Roundtable serves as the state’s major economic development support organization.

We are a collaborative non-profit organization whose sole purpose is advancing Oklahoma’s economic development – through business recruitment, business expansion, start-up and quality improvement activities.

Comprised of over 170 top Oklahoma corporations and business organizations, the Roundtable assists our state’s business and government leaders, Department of Commerce, and key economic development groups. Roundtable members also network with key business prospects and site location consultants.

During the past 21 years, the Roundtable has supported hundreds of state and national business promotion activities resulting in millions of dollars of corporate investment throughout Oklahoma. The group also funds efforts to enhance our workforce and entrepreneur pipeline – such as sponsorship of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition, The Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation, the Oklahoma Bio Association and more.

Oklahoma is a great state for business. Our members are committed to growth and diversification of our state’s economy. We believe that the best is yet to come.

We’re Proud to Help

We invite you to join us in our efforts! Contact us today.

www.okbusinessroundtable.com

Roundtable ad 2012.indd 1 11/2/12 3:35 PM

innovators & Entrepreneurs is produced by i2E, Inc., manager of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center. For more information on any content contained herein, please contact i2E at 800-337-6822.

I N S I D E 4-7 i&E Up & Coming Profiles

Check out eight of Oklahoma’s emerging companies that are

bringing innovative new products to the marketplace.

8-11 Cover StoryMedEncentive aims to make health care affordable for America with its

innovative, evidence-based cost containment platform.

12-14 OutreachIt’s location, location, location for Ardmore Development Authority

in its recruiting of new businesses to the area.

15-16 Proof of Concept CenterAn innovative cross-state

collaboration promises to hasten the pace of new technologies spinning

out of university labs.

17-19 Success StorySelexys Pharmaceuticals takes a

giant step forward when it closed a $25 million investment round that

will carry its sickle cell drug through Phase 2 clinical trials.

20 New LeadershipScott Meacham is bringing a vision

for i2E that draws on his experience in the banking industry to connect more Oklahoma entrepreneurs to our services and funding sources.

24 Partners

Oklahoma Business Roundtable900 N. StilesOklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104405-235-3787

Bryan GontermanRoundtable Chairman AT&T – Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Business Roundtable serves as the state’s major economic development support organization.

We are a collaborative non-profit organization whose sole purpose is advancing Oklahoma’s economic development – through business recruitment, business expansion, start-up and quality improvement activities.

Comprised of over 170 top Oklahoma corporations and business organizations, the Roundtable assists our state’s business and government leaders, Department of Commerce, and key economic development groups. Roundtable members also network with key business prospects and site location consultants.

During the past 21 years, the Roundtable has supported hundreds of state and national business promotion activities resulting in millions of dollars of corporate investment throughout Oklahoma. The group also funds efforts to enhance our workforce and entrepreneur pipeline – such as sponsorship of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition, The Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation, the Oklahoma Bio Association and more.

Oklahoma is a great state for business. Our members are committed to growth and diversification of our state’s economy. We believe that the best is yet to come.

We’re Proud to Help

We invite you to join us in our efforts! Contact us today.

www.okbusinessroundtable.com

Roundtable ad 2012.indd 1 11/2/12 3:35 PM

innovators & Entrepreneurs is produced by i2E, Inc., manager of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center. For more information on any content contained herein, please contact i2E at 800-337-6822.

Longtime readers of this publication no doubt have noticed a leadership change in this edition by the photo and name at the bottom of this welcome letter. i2E has been making a difference for Oklahoma small businesses since 1998, and I am excited to join the team as of January 1. In a few short weeks, I have already seen some exciting new concepts and met several of the entrepreneurs who are working to create jobs and wealth for Oklahoma. Let me highlight several that are featured in this magazine. One of those is Oklahoma City’s MedEncentive. The company recently launched its patented, Web-based medical cost containment platform nationwide and signed its first large preferred provider organization as a client in Seattle-based First Choice Health. I invite you to turn to page 8 and learn why MedEncentive founder and CEO Jeff Greene says his company has the answer to the nation’s dilemma of runaway health care costs. Another company that has made big news in the past few months was Oklahoma City-based Selexys Pharmaceuticals. The company announced in September that it had closed on a $25 million investment round and a $665 million acquisition of the company pending successful Phase 2 trial of its therapeutic for Sickle Cell Disease. Read more on page 17 about how Selexys has advanced this groundbreaking drug over the past decade. This edition of i&E magazine also contains a special Up-and-Coming section on some of Oklahoma’s most promising startups. Beginning on page 4, we take a brief peek at 12 of tomorrow’s success stories while they are still in the early stages of their development. Oklahoma entrepreneurs are building businesses around everything from smart phone apps to nanomedicine to water filtering, and this is an early look at some of them. Another recent development: the launch of the Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center, which is a multi-partner collaboration created to increase the number of spinouts from technology breakthroughs on the campuses of Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. Find out what the collaborators envision for the Center beginning on page 15.

Without question, another Oklahoma success story is that of the Ardmore Development Authority and the city that benefits from its innovative economic development efforts. Led by long-time President Wes Stucky, the Ardmore Development Authority has helped recruit and maintain businesses large and small to Ardmore. Successes include the Michelin North America tire manufacturing plant, as well as Amethyst Research Inc., which is an R&D company that’s developed new and more efficient ways to manufacture low light equipment used by military and law enforcement officials. Beginning on Page 12, Stucky talks about how the Development Authority has built successful marketing efforts around Ardmore’s strategic location midway between Oklahoma City and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Finally, this edition of i&E magazine contains a short feature that speaks to why I chose to join the i2E team and my goals for the company as an economic development force for Oklahoma. You will find the story on page 20. i2E is not standing still. It has implemented new programs, expanded old ones and added to the team. The best is still to come. – Scott Meacham

ABOUT i2Ei2E TEAM

The i2E management and staff is composed of professionals with extensive experience in technology commercialization, business development, venture investing, finance, organizational.

Scott Meacham President and CEO

David Thomison Vice President, Investments

Rex Smitherman Vice President, Operations

Sarah Seagraves Vice President, Marketing

Tom Francis Director, Investment Funds

Josh O’Brien Director of Entrepreneurial Development

David Daviee Director, Finance

Elaine Hamm Venture Advisor

Shintaro Kaido Venture Advisor

Mark Lauinger Venture Advisor

Richard Rainey Venture Advisor

Sonja Wilson CFO-In-Residence

Casey Harness Business Analyst

Kenneth Knoll Manager, Concept Investments

Scott Thomas IT Manager

Grady Epperly Marketing Manager

Michael Kindrat-Pratt Coordinator, SeedStep Angels

Jay Sheldon eMedia Specialist

Jim Stafford Communications Specialist

Katelynn Henderson Events Specialist

Cindy Williams Investment Assistant

Jennifer Buettner Executive Assistant

Kate Nelson Administrative Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Roy Williams, Chairman Greater Oklahoma City Chamber

Michael LaBrie, Secretary McAfee & Taft

Howard Barnett, Jr. OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS

Leslie Batchelor The Center for Economic Development Law

Robert Brearton American Fidelity Assurance Company

C. James Bode Bank of Oklahoma, N.A.

Bill W. Burgess Vortex, Inc.

Michael Carolina OCAST

Bob Craine TSF Capital, LLC

Steve CropperCarl Edwards Price Edward & Company

Philip Eller Eller Detrich, P.C.

Jim Fram Tulsa Regional Chamber

Suzette Hatfield Crawley Ventures

Philip Kurtz Benefit Informatics

Hershel Lamirand III Oklahoma Health Center Foundation

Merl Lindstrom Phillip 66

Scott Meacham Crowe & Dunlevy

Fred Morgan The State Chamber

David Myers Ponca City Development Authority

David Pitts Stillwater National Bank

Mark Poole Summit Bank

Stephen Prescott OMRF

Meg Salyer Accel Financial Staffing

Darryl Schmidt BancFirst

Wes Stucky Ardmore Industrial Development Authority

Richard Williamson TD Williamson, Inc.

Duane Wilson LDW Services, LLC

Don Wood Norman Economic Development Coalition

Walk through the doors at i2E’s Oklahoma City and Tul-sa offices and among the first things you notice are the large colorful posters lining the walls. The posters show-case a broad spectrum of companies that i2E has helped bring innovative new products to the marketplace over the years. i2E, Inc., grows successful Oklahoma companies that add jobs and create wealth for all of Oklahoma. Some of the i2E clients contribute to the success of other businesses through Internet-based software; some add convenience to life for consumers with the development of an easy to use smart phone app; still others are world changing new medical devices or drug therapies for ge-netic diseases. i2E’s relationships with Oklahoma innovators often begin when a concept is nothing more than an idea in the mind of an entrepreneur. i2E’s venture advisors help entrepreneurs research the market to see what competi-tors they may face and who their potential customers are. They work with them to create compelling business plans, develop marketing and financing plans and, when necessary, help them locate executives such as a CEO, CFO or a Marketing Director to round out the senior staffing for their new organization. The relationships often continue long after client companies have generated millions of dollars in revenue and hired hundreds of people. i2E administers various investment funds that make critical early stage and start-up investments in dozens of small businesses each year. The not-for-profit company manages five state- and federally- appropriated investment funds as well as the SeedStep Angel group, which provides angel investments for new ventures and has grown to more than 30 members in just three years of existence. i2E’s commitment to building Oklahoma’s economy through successful small businesses also includes an en-trepreneurial development program that annually reach-es hundreds of Oklahoma college students. Each year, nearly 200 aspiring entrepreneurs from college cam-puses across the state compete for more than $200,000 in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup competition. They learn to research the market, write a business plan, create a presentation and then pitch it before a panel of Oklahoma business and civic leaders. Many go on to work at Oklahoma entrepreneurial businesses or start up their own companies. i2E also contributes to the ongoing education of Okla-homa students with its i2E Fellows program, which pays Oklahoma college students a stipend for 10 weeks of work-ing on exciting projects specifically designed for their skill sets at an Oklahoma City or Tulsa area startup company. Walk through the doors at i2E’s Oklahoma City or Tulsa offices and introduce yourself to the team. Take a long look at the posters lining the walls, consult with the venture advisors and then change the world with your own idea for a new company.

www.i2E.org facebook.com/OKGOVCUPtwitter.com/i2E_Inc

Welcome Letter from the President

Longtime readers of this publication no doubt have noticed a leadership change in this edition by the photo and name at the bottom of this welcome letter. i2E has been making a difference for Oklahoma small businesses since 1998, and I am excited to join the team as of January 1. In a few short weeks, I have already seen some exciting new concepts and met several of the entrepreneurs who are working to create jobs and wealth for Oklahoma. Let me highlight several that are featured in this magazine. One of those is Oklahoma City’s MedEncentive. The company recently launched its patented, Web-based medical cost containment platform nationwide and signed its first large preferred provider organization as a client in Seattle-based First Choice Health. I invite you to turn to page 8 and learn why MedEncentive founder and CEO Jeff Greene says his company has the answer to the nation’s dilemma of runaway health care costs. Another company that has made big news in the past few months was Oklahoma City-based Selexys Pharmaceuticals. The company announced in September that it had closed on a $25 million investment round and a $665 million acquisition of the company pending successful Phase 2 trial of its therapeutic for Sickle Cell Disease. Read more on page 17 about how Selexys has advanced this groundbreaking drug over the past decade. This edition of i&E magazine also contains a special Up-and-Coming section on some of Oklahoma’s most promising startups. Beginning on page 4, we take a brief peek at 12 of tomorrow’s success stories while they are still in the early stages of their development. Oklahoma entrepreneurs are building businesses around everything from smart phone apps to nanomedicine to water filtering, and this is an early look at some of them. Another recent development: the launch of the Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center, which is a multi-partner collaboration created to increase the number of spinouts from technology breakthroughs on the campuses of Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. Find out what the collaborators envision for the Center beginning on page 15.

Without question, another Oklahoma success story is that of the Ardmore Development Authority and the city that benefits from its innovative economic development efforts. Led by long-time President Wes Stucky, the Ardmore Development Authority has helped recruit and maintain businesses large and small to Ardmore. Successes include the Michelin North America tire manufacturing plant, as well as Amethyst Research Inc., which is an R&D company that’s developed new and more efficient ways to manufacture low light equipment used by military and law enforcement officials. Beginning on Page 12, Stucky talks about how the Development Authority has built successful marketing efforts around Ardmore’s strategic location midway between Oklahoma City and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Finally, this edition of i&E magazine contains a short feature that speaks to why I chose to join the i2E team and my goals for the company as an economic development force for Oklahoma. You will find the story on page 20. i2E is not standing still. It has implemented new programs, expanded old ones and added to the team. The best is still to come. – Scott Meacham

ABOUT i2Ei2E TEAM

The i2E management and staff is composed of professionals with extensive experience in technology commercialization, business development, venture investing, finance, organizational.

Scott Meacham President and CEO

David Thomison Vice President, Investments

Rex Smitherman Vice President, Operations

Sarah Seagraves Vice President, Marketing

Tom Francis Director, Investment Funds

Josh O’Brien Director of Entrepreneurial Development

David Daviee Director, Finance

Elaine Hamm Venture Advisor

Shintaro Kaido Venture Advisor

Mark Lauinger Venture Advisor

Richard Rainey Venture Advisor

Sonja Wilson CFO-In-Residence

Casey Harness Business Analyst

Kenneth Knoll Manager, Concept Investments

Scott Thomas IT Manager

Grady Epperly Marketing Manager

Michael Kindrat-Pratt Coordinator, SeedStep Angels

Jay Sheldon eMedia Specialist

Jim Stafford Communications Specialist

Katelynn Henderson Events Specialist

Cindy Williams Investment Assistant

Jennifer Buettner Executive Assistant

Kate Nelson Administrative Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Roy Williams, Chairman Greater Oklahoma City Chamber

Michael LaBrie, Secretary McAfee & Taft

Howard Barnett, Jr. OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS

Leslie Batchelor The Center for Economic Development Law

Robert Brearton American Fidelity Assurance Company

C. James Bode Bank of Oklahoma, N.A.

Bill W. Burgess Vortex, Inc.

Michael Carolina OCAST

Bob Craine TSF Capital, LLC

Steve CropperCarl Edwards Price Edward & Company

Philip Eller Eller Detrich, P.C.

Jim Fram Tulsa Regional Chamber

Suzette Hatfield Crawley Ventures

Philip Kurtz Benefit Informatics

Hershel Lamirand III Oklahoma Health Center Foundation

Merl Lindstrom Phillip 66

Scott Meacham Crowe & Dunlevy

Fred Morgan The State Chamber

David Myers Ponca City Development Authority

David Pitts Stillwater National Bank

Mark Poole Summit Bank

Stephen Prescott OMRF

Meg Salyer Accel Financial Staffing

Darryl Schmidt BancFirst

Wes Stucky Ardmore Industrial Development Authority

Richard Williamson TD Williamson, Inc.

Duane Wilson LDW Services, LLC

Don Wood Norman Economic Development Coalition

Walk through the doors at i2E’s Oklahoma City and Tul-sa offices and among the first things you notice are the large colorful posters lining the walls. The posters show-case a broad spectrum of companies that i2E has helped bring innovative new products to the marketplace over the years. i2E, Inc., grows successful Oklahoma companies that add jobs and create wealth for all of Oklahoma. Some of the i2E clients contribute to the success of other businesses through Internet-based software; some add convenience to life for consumers with the development of an easy to use smart phone app; still others are world changing new medical devices or drug therapies for ge-netic diseases. i2E’s relationships with Oklahoma innovators often begin when a concept is nothing more than an idea in the mind of an entrepreneur. i2E’s venture advisors help entrepreneurs research the market to see what competi-tors they may face and who their potential customers are. They work with them to create compelling business plans, develop marketing and financing plans and, when necessary, help them locate executives such as a CEO, CFO or a Marketing Director to round out the senior staffing for their new organization. The relationships often continue long after client companies have generated millions of dollars in revenue and hired hundreds of people. i2E administers various investment funds that make critical early stage and start-up investments in dozens of small businesses each year. The not-for-profit company manages five state- and federally- appropriated investment funds as well as the SeedStep Angel group, which provides angel investments for new ventures and has grown to more than 30 members in just three years of existence. i2E’s commitment to building Oklahoma’s economy through successful small businesses also includes an en-trepreneurial development program that annually reach-es hundreds of Oklahoma college students. Each year, nearly 200 aspiring entrepreneurs from college cam-puses across the state compete for more than $200,000 in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup competition. They learn to research the market, write a business plan, create a presentation and then pitch it before a panel of Oklahoma business and civic leaders. Many go on to work at Oklahoma entrepreneurial businesses or start up their own companies. i2E also contributes to the ongoing education of Okla-homa students with its i2E Fellows program, which pays Oklahoma college students a stipend for 10 weeks of work-ing on exciting projects specifically designed for their skill sets at an Oklahoma City or Tulsa area startup company. Walk through the doors at i2E’s Oklahoma City or Tulsa offices and introduce yourself to the team. Take a long look at the posters lining the walls, consult with the venture advisors and then change the world with your own idea for a new company.

www.i2E.org facebook.com/OKGOVCUPtwitter.com/i2E_Inc

Welcome Letter from the President

4 i&E Winter 2013 Winter 2013 i&E 5

Up and Coming

BuzzamLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: SoftwareMarket: Buzzam created a smart phone app that appeals to millions of users who seek a listening experience built around their interests in music, news and the activities of their lives.

Buzzam is a personalized radio station – an “ExactCast” as opposed to broadcast – that combines listeners’ music and interests to build a custom listening experience. Users choose from a variety of sources for news, social network feeds, music and personal interests to create the personalized listening experience.

www.buzz.am

CleanNGLocation: Tulsa, OKIndustry: EnergyMarket: CleanNG produces high capacity compressed natural gas storage tanks for retrofitters and original manufacturers of CNG-powered vehicles in the United States.

With a mission to improve the safety and efficiency of natural gas vehicles, CleanNG has developed a next-generation, high-pressure vessel for storage of natural gas. CleanNG’s novel manufacturing process and design allows the fuel storage container to be operated at 5,800 pounds per square inch, a 50 percent increase over the current industry standard. The added capacity allows natural gas vehicles to travel farther between each fill, while increasing overall fuel economy by reducing the size and weight of tanks.

www.gocleanng.com

Coare BiotechLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Coare Biotech is developing therapeutics to treat certain cancers such as pancreatic cancer, which has a high mortality rate among the 37,000 people diagnosed annually.

Despite improvement in surgical strategies and chemotherapy regimens, there continues to be a high mortality rate for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Coare Biotech seeks to improve those mortality statistics using proprietary technology that kills cancer cells by using nano-particles to deliver drugs to the target cell.

Get CharitableLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Software/fundraisingMarket: When users of the almost 500 million Android smart phones around the world install the free Get Charitable app on their phone, they will feed one child in a Third World company every day.

The Get Charitable mobile app displays a sponsored advertisement as the Android phone’s wallpaper, with a portion of the revenue generated from participating advertisers feeding hungry children around the world through the Hunger Relief International organization.

www.getcharitable.com

Goldfire StudiosLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: SoftwareMarket: GoldFire Studios is developing a Web-based social gaming platform that connects gaming players all over the world.

Goldfire Studios launched the GoldFire Network in March 2012, advancing its goal of creating a social gaming platform where a community of gamers and true social interactions are the focus. It recently released CasinoRPG, which joins PokerRPG and BC Wars as the company’s flagship games within the GoldFire Studios network and aims to become a platform for other game developers to distribute their games and reach new players.

www.goldfirestudios.com

Great Plains MicrobiologyLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Bio PharmaMarket: Great Plains Microbiology is a food safety laboratory implementing new methodology that will decrease the cost of food safety testing for all food producers.

Founder Cyrus Zegrati has taken a molecular protein assessment process originally used in diagnostic testing for arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, and developed innovative new tests for food safety. The process allows for detection of multiple pathogens in one test, making food safety testing affordable for even the smallest of manufacturers.

www.coarebiotechnology.comGETCHARITABLE

Up and Coming

BuzzamLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: SoftwareMarket: Buzzam created a smart phone app that appeals to millions of users who seek a listening experience built around their interests in music, news and the activities of their lives.

Buzzam is a personalized radio station – an “ExactCast” as opposed to broadcast – that combines listeners’ music and interests to build a custom listening experience. Users choose from a variety of sources for news, social network feeds, music and personal interests to create the personalized listening experience.

www.buzz.am

CleanNGLocation: Tulsa, OKIndustry: EnergyMarket: CleanNG produces high capacity compressed natural gas storage tanks for retrofitters and original manufacturers of CNG-powered vehicles in the United States.

With a mission to improve the safety and efficiency of natural gas vehicles, CleanNG has developed a next-generation, high-pressure vessel for storage of natural gas. CleanNG’s novel manufacturing process and design allows the fuel storage container to be operated at 5,800 pounds per square inch, a 50 percent increase over the current industry standard. The added capacity allows natural gas vehicles to travel farther between each fill, while increasing overall fuel economy by reducing the size and weight of tanks.

www.gocleanng.com

Coare BiotechLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Coare Biotech is developing therapeutics to treat certain cancers such as pancreatic cancer, which has a high mortality rate among the 37,000 people diagnosed annually.

Despite improvement in surgical strategies and chemotherapy regimens, there continues to be a high mortality rate for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Coare Biotech seeks to improve those mortality statistics using proprietary technology that kills cancer cells by using nano-particles to deliver drugs to the target cell.

Get CharitableLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Software/fundraisingMarket: When users of the almost 500 million Android smart phones around the world install the free Get Charitable app on their phone, they will feed one child in a Third World company every day.

The Get Charitable mobile app displays a sponsored advertisement as the Android phone’s wallpaper, with a portion of the revenue generated from participating advertisers feeding hungry children around the world through the Hunger Relief International organization.

www.getcharitable.com

Goldfire StudiosLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: SoftwareMarket: GoldFire Studios is developing a Web-based social gaming platform that connects gaming players all over the world.

Goldfire Studios launched the GoldFire Network in March 2012, advancing its goal of creating a social gaming platform where a community of gamers and true social interactions are the focus. It recently released CasinoRPG, which joins PokerRPG and BC Wars as the company’s flagship games within the GoldFire Studios network and aims to become a platform for other game developers to distribute their games and reach new players.

www.goldfirestudios.com

Great Plains MicrobiologyLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Bio PharmaMarket: Great Plains Microbiology is a food safety laboratory implementing new methodology that will decrease the cost of food safety testing for all food producers.

Founder Cyrus Zegrati has taken a molecular protein assessment process originally used in diagnostic testing for arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, and developed innovative new tests for food safety. The process allows for detection of multiple pathogens in one test, making food safety testing affordable for even the smallest of manufacturers.

www.coarebiotechnology.comGETCHARITABLE

Winter 2013 i&E 7 6 i&E Winter 2013

Up and Coming

NarrableLocation: Tulsa, OKIndustry: Software/Information TechnologyMarket: Narrable has created a social photo sharing platform that allows families, teams or other groups to share their experiences and stories in ways that go beyond mere photos and text.

Founder and “chief storyteller” Dustin Curzon envisions Narrable as an online site on which people can easily add depth, context and perspective to their photos. Narrable.com users, along with their family members and friends, can add voice commentary to share the memories behind the photos.

www.narrable.com

RaiseMoreLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Software/fundraisingMarket: RaiseMore empowers organizations, volunteers and fundraisers to socially broadcast their fundraising events with a goal of raising awareness, donations and enhancing the experience.

RaiseMore’s smart phone application combines GPS interactive mapping technology and social networking that allows participants in fundraisers such as Race for the Cure to display their progress, post pictures and receive donations in real time from social network followers.

www.raisemore.com

ScaleReef, LLCLocation: Stillwater, OKIndustry: ManufacturingMarket: Scalereef provides hardwater scale prevention and reduction technology to restaurants, sport stadiums and arenas, entertainment parks and thousands of other venues worldwide.

Scalereef markets a proven technology that solves the previously unanswered problem of scale buildup from mineral residue in both industrial and residential water filtration systems. Scale buildup is a major cause of downtime and repair costs for dishwashers, hot water tanks and other equipment.

MesoBio Inc.Location: Stillwater, OKIndustry: Life sciences/biomedical researchMarket: MesoBio provides microRNA expression vectors that are used in bio-medical, genetic, immunological and cancer research.

MesoBio offers the most com-prehensive and accurate mi-croRNA expression vectors. Meso Bio’s products can greatly enhance the efficiency and pro-ductivity of therapeutics research across multiple areas, including cancers, stem cell, neuroscience and cardiovascular research.

www.mesobio.com

Nanomed Targeting SystemsLocation: Edmond, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Nanomed Targeting Systems is developing a drug delivery method using magnetically charged nanoparticles for patients suffering from a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.

Using propriety technology licensed from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and BBMS, LTD, an Israeli company, Nanomed is developing a way to attach drugs to magnetized nanoparticles and guide them magnetically to targeted tissue inside the human body.

www.nanomed-systems.com

NantioxLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Nantiox is developing an antioxidant nanotechnology compound for the $20 billion ophthalmic market that will help millions of people suffering from age-related vision loss to regain their sight.

Using technology developed at the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Ophthalmology research labs at the Dean McGee Eye Institute, Nantiox takes an innovative approach to treating disease by using nanomedicines to target serious sight-related diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Up and Coming

NarrableLocation: Tulsa, OKIndustry: Software/Information TechnologyMarket: Narrable has created a social photo sharing platform that allows families, teams or other groups to share their experiences and stories in ways that go beyond mere photos and text.

Founder and “chief storyteller” Dustin Curzon envisions Narrable as an online site on which people can easily add depth, context and perspective to their photos. Narrable.com users, along with their family members and friends, can add voice commentary to share the memories behind the photos.

www.narrable.com

RaiseMoreLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: Software/fundraisingMarket: RaiseMore empowers organizations, volunteers and fundraisers to socially broadcast their fundraising events with a goal of raising awareness, donations and enhancing the experience.

RaiseMore’s smart phone application combines GPS interactive mapping technology and social networking that allows participants in fundraisers such as Race for the Cure to display their progress, post pictures and receive donations in real time from social network followers.

www.raisemore.com

ScaleReef, LLCLocation: Stillwater, OKIndustry: ManufacturingMarket: Scalereef provides hardwater scale prevention and reduction technology to restaurants, sport stadiums and arenas, entertainment parks and thousands of other venues worldwide.

Scalereef markets a proven technology that solves the previously unanswered problem of scale buildup from mineral residue in both industrial and residential water filtration systems. Scale buildup is a major cause of downtime and repair costs for dishwashers, hot water tanks and other equipment.

MesoBio Inc.Location: Stillwater, OKIndustry: Life sciences/biomedical researchMarket: MesoBio provides microRNA expression vectors that are used in bio-medical, genetic, immunological and cancer research.

MesoBio offers the most com-prehensive and accurate mi-croRNA expression vectors. Meso Bio’s products can greatly enhance the efficiency and pro-ductivity of therapeutics research across multiple areas, including cancers, stem cell, neuroscience and cardiovascular research.

www.mesobio.com

Nanomed Targeting SystemsLocation: Edmond, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Nanomed Targeting Systems is developing a drug delivery method using magnetically charged nanoparticles for patients suffering from a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.

Using propriety technology licensed from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and BBMS, LTD, an Israeli company, Nanomed is developing a way to attach drugs to magnetized nanoparticles and guide them magnetically to targeted tissue inside the human body.

www.nanomed-systems.com

NantioxLocation: Oklahoma City, OKIndustry: BiotechnologyMarket: Nantiox is developing an antioxidant nanotechnology compound for the $20 billion ophthalmic market that will help millions of people suffering from age-related vision loss to regain their sight.

Using technology developed at the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Ophthalmology research labs at the Dean McGee Eye Institute, Nantiox takes an innovative approach to treating disease by using nanomedicines to target serious sight-related diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

For the past seven years, the MedEncentive “tool” has been tested in several real-world trial installations located in three states – Oklahoma, Kansas and Washington -- covering between 12,000 and 15,000 people. The company has prospects from coast to coast and recently added customers in Pennsylvania. “We have a very focused business strategy,” Greene said. “The company has been in proof-of-concept since inception in 2005. We wanted to first prove to ourselves that our system worked. We knew we then had to get independent validation, and we knew an independent examiner would want years of data, preferably in multiple trial installations. So we realized it was going to take time to aggregate the data. We also wanted to protect our intellectual property, and method patents take time.” Now MedEncentive has the data, the patent and the in-dependent validation. Studies conducted by the University of Kansas School of Medicine on two MedEncentive trials and a separate analy-sis by The Loomis Group, a Pennsylvania-based health plan administrator, confirmed the effectiveness of MedEncentive’s program. In effect, the findings of these studies were very sim-ilar. When MedEncentive is introduced to a population, pa-tients and their doctors participating in the program increase health literacy, improve medication adherence, and reduce hospitalizations. The reduction in hospitalizations and other factors produced enough cost savings to generate significant returns on investment for each of the health plan sponsors over multiple years.

There is a hint of evangelist in the voice of Jeff Greene as he describes an issue that has stirred a national debate and vexed policy makers, health care providers and in-

surers. It’s the affordability of health care for Americans. “The facts are that we have a huge problem that threat-ens to bankrupt our country,” says Greene, founder and CEO of Oklahoma City’s MedEncentive. “And if you look at why employers or small businesses don’t add jobs or why people don’t go out and become entrepreneurs, it’s because they are scared to death that they will go bankrupt over the health care benefit they know they have to have, and that’s a big drag on the economy.” MedEncentive was created eight years ago to provide a solution to what appears to many people to be an overwhelm-ing, unsolvable problem. “We can make health care affordable,” he says. “And the way we make health care affordable is by tapping into the doc-tor-patient relationship by means of intelligent incentives that inspire both parties to hold the other accountable for their health behaviors and performance.” Once upon a time, Greene was Chief Executive Officer at CompOne Services, an Oklahoma City-based physicians bill-ing and practice management company. From his position at CompOne, Greene saw doctors’ share of the health care reve-nue stream decline as costs soared for patients and payers. As

a self-insured business owner, these soaring costs were a real and present threat to his company’s viability and his personal livelihood. Greene conceived MedEncentive as the answer. It is a patented, Web-based cost containment platform that uses evidence-based guidelines for physicians, information ther-apy for patients and an incentive system that rewards both doctors and patients for holding each other accountable for adhering to the prescribed treatments or for offering an ap-propriate reason for non-adherence. Greene calls it “doctor-patient mutual accountability.” Doctors follow treatment guidelines. Patients educate them-selves about their health and follow the prescribed treatment. And both parties agree to allow the other party to confirm their adherence or reason for non-adherence to the performance standard. When MedEncentive authenticates these activities through its website, it initiates financial rewards funded by the health plan sponsor for one or both parties. In addition to the financial rewards paid by the health plan sponsor, that includes health insurers, employers and governments; plan sponsors also pay a monthly fee to MedEn-centive of roughly $3 per enrolled plan member per month. Plan sponsors fund these program costs with the expectation that the program will produce healthcare savings that exceed the cost of the program.

TREATING THE NATION’S BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

For the past seven years, the MedEncentive “tool” has been tested in several real-world trial installations located in three states – Oklahoma, Kansas and Washington -- covering between 12,000 and 15,000 people. The company has prospects from coast to coast and recently added customers in Pennsylvania. “We have a very focused business strategy,” Greene said. “The company has been in proof-of-concept since inception in 2005. We wanted to first prove to ourselves that our system worked. We knew we then had to get independent validation, and we knew an independent examiner would want years of data, preferably in multiple trial installations. So we realized it was going to take time to aggregate the data. We also wanted to protect our intellectual property, and method patents take time.” Now MedEncentive has the data, the patent and the in-dependent validation. Studies conducted by the University of Kansas School of Medicine on two MedEncentive trials and a separate analy-sis by The Loomis Group, a Pennsylvania-based health plan administrator, confirmed the effectiveness of MedEncentive’s program. In effect, the findings of these studies were very sim-ilar. When MedEncentive is introduced to a population, pa-tients and their doctors participating in the program increase health literacy, improve medication adherence, and reduce hospitalizations. The reduction in hospitalizations and other factors produced enough cost savings to generate significant returns on investment for each of the health plan sponsors over multiple years.

There is a hint of evangelist in the voice of Jeff Greene as he describes an issue that has stirred a national debate and vexed policy makers, health care providers and in-

surers. It’s the affordability of health care for Americans. “The facts are that we have a huge problem that threat-ens to bankrupt our country,” says Greene, founder and CEO of Oklahoma City’s MedEncentive. “And if you look at why employers or small businesses don’t add jobs or why people don’t go out and become entrepreneurs, it’s because they are scared to death that they will go bankrupt over the health care benefit they know they have to have, and that’s a big drag on the economy.” MedEncentive was created eight years ago to provide a solution to what appears to many people to be an overwhelm-ing, unsolvable problem. “We can make health care affordable,” he says. “And the way we make health care affordable is by tapping into the doc-tor-patient relationship by means of intelligent incentives that inspire both parties to hold the other accountable for their health behaviors and performance.” Once upon a time, Greene was Chief Executive Officer at CompOne Services, an Oklahoma City-based physicians bill-ing and practice management company. From his position at CompOne, Greene saw doctors’ share of the health care reve-nue stream decline as costs soared for patients and payers. As

a self-insured business owner, these soaring costs were a real and present threat to his company’s viability and his personal livelihood. Greene conceived MedEncentive as the answer. It is a patented, Web-based cost containment platform that uses evidence-based guidelines for physicians, information ther-apy for patients and an incentive system that rewards both doctors and patients for holding each other accountable for adhering to the prescribed treatments or for offering an ap-propriate reason for non-adherence. Greene calls it “doctor-patient mutual accountability.” Doctors follow treatment guidelines. Patients educate them-selves about their health and follow the prescribed treatment. And both parties agree to allow the other party to confirm their adherence or reason for non-adherence to the performance standard. When MedEncentive authenticates these activities through its website, it initiates financial rewards funded by the health plan sponsor for one or both parties. In addition to the financial rewards paid by the health plan sponsor, that includes health insurers, employers and governments; plan sponsors also pay a monthly fee to MedEn-centive of roughly $3 per enrolled plan member per month. Plan sponsors fund these program costs with the expectation that the program will produce healthcare savings that exceed the cost of the program.

TREATING THE NATION’S BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Q: How does it all work?A: We contract with health plans sponsored by employ-ers and health insurers to offer financial rewards to both doc-tors and patients when they declare or demonstrate adher-ence to performance standards that we present on our website, provided – and this is the key – that the doctor and the patient agree to allow the other party to confirm or acknowledge their adherence. The types of per-formance standards that can be adapted to our program are limitless, but begin with “evi-dence-based medicine” (EBM) treatment guidelines and “infor-mation therapy.” Physicians are compensated by our health plan customers when the doctors de-clare adherence on our website to these EBM guidelines and prescribe information therapy to educate and motivate their patients with each office visit. Patients are financially rewarded for responding to the informa-tion therapy prescriptions by accessing our website to learn how to self-manage their health and declare their adherence to what they learn. The kicker is that both doctors and patients must agree to allow the other party to confirm or acknowledge each other’s adherence to the EBM recommendations. This ap-proach creates “checks and bal-ances” between the doctor and the patient that we call “mutual accountability” – and this is what leads to better health, better healthcare and lower costs. In the process, our program aligns or “triangulates” the interests of the patient, the physician and the health plan in a win-win-win arrangement.

Q: And the results show that it works?A: Yes. What we’ve been able to offer through this platform is a tri-lateral motivation system that encourages adherence to better health and health care while promoting health literacy, all of which translates into sig-nificant cost containment and a real return on investment for employers and insurers. More specifically, independent ex-perts such the University of Kan-sas School of Medicine and The Loomis Company have discov-ered that by advancing health literacy and tapping into the motivational factors inherent to the doctor-patient relationship, our program produces a fairly significant uptick in medication adherence. This translates into a rather dramatic drop in hospital-izations. Other benefits include such things as a reduction in de-fensive medicine (doctors order-ing unnecessary tests), which ac-counts for a fairly significant per-centage of total dollars spent.

Q: What if a doctor disagrees with a treatment guideline or determines that a guideline doesn’t fit a patient’s particular circumstances?A: Because our program uses the concept of triangulation to align the interests of doctors, patients and health plans; we are able to offer an “anti-cookbook” medicine feature that not only allows but encourages doctors to deviate from a guideline any-time they determine the guide-line is inaccurate, out-of-date or doesn’t fit a patient’s particular circumstances. The triangula-tion occurs when the health plan, represented through our program, stipulates that the doctor communicate the reason for non-adherence to his/her patient through a convenient menu of reasons offered on our website, and agree to allow the patient to judge with his/her rea-son for non-adherence. The doc-tors love this feature because they are compensated for using their clinical judgment regard-ing best practices. This concept works in the other direction as well in a manner that allows pa-tients to explain reasons for non-adherence to their doctors that can be useful in finding treat-ment alternatives that will work.

Q: Can you talk about what patents you own on the MedEncentive process?A: Our U.S. patent was ap-proved last year and we have another U.S. patent pending. Then we have international pat-ents pending in Europe, Canada and Australia. It’s a method pat-ent and involves seven or eight components that are combined in a fashion that procures the elusive Triple Aim outcome. The components include a doctor and a patient and a payer. Then you have an intermediary that manages the three-way contract among these key stakehold-ers with a database and a set of web-based applications. You have financial rewards and per-formance standards. And then, last but not least, you have the method that combines these components into a system.

In the wake of those studies, two of the nation’s top 10 reinsurance providers – IHC Risk Solutions and Chartis (AIG) Insurance – have an-nounced that they will offer discounts on medical stop-loss coverage to self-insured employers that adopt the MedEncentive program. Reinsurers provide “stop loss” insurance coverage for employers who want to protect themselves against catastrophic employee health care costs that could bankrupt the company. Institutionalized stop-loss dis-counts by the reinsurance industry for a wellness, care management or incentive service like MedEncentive is unprecedented. “Employers that integrate the MedEncentive Program with their employee health benefit plan are taking the right steps to con-trol their health care costs,” said Chip Studer, Zonal Vice President for Chartis Accident & Health Corporate Benefit Sales, now AIG Benefit Solutions. “The Program’s ability to engage both doctors and patients, interactively, reduces an employer’s exposure to high cost claims, which allows us to discount premiums.”

David Kettig, Chief Operating Officer of The IHC Group, echoed his counterpart’s words. “IHC prides itself on finding the most effective cost-containment innovations in the market,” Kettig said. “We believe that employers that integrate the MedEncentive Program into their employee health benefit plans will be taking the right steps to controlling their health care costs.” Momentum continues to build for MedEncentive. Greene an-ticipates other large reinsurers to offer discounts for adopting the MedEncentive system. Then new customers will climb aboard.

“When the reinsurance industry puts their money where their mouth is and says that ‘we will discount your premium if you adopt this program, and that’s what this program was designed to do, I don’t know what more I could say,” Greene said. “That is the mani-festation of seven years of trial and error, of independent studies that now have reached this stage. We are very proud of that, and it is going to manifest itself into big commercialization.” There is more momentum on the development front. The com-pany announced in May that Cecily M. Hall, the former Director of Employee Benefits for the Microsoft Corp., has joined MedEncentive as Executive Vice President. Hall spent 18 years at Microsoft and was responsible for manag-ing more than 65 benefit plans and programs, serving 140,000 em-ployees and family members. “We met at a conference in Washington, D.C.” Greene said. “Sat at the same table. She asked me who I was and I asked her who she was. And I described what I did and she had the ‘a-ha!’ moment. She eventually left Microsoft and was seeking a career change in small startups like ours. She’s quite a talent and highly regarded in lots of places.” In early October, MedEncentive announced that it had signed its first large prefered provider organization, Seattle-based First Choice Health, which is including the MedEncentive program in health coverage for all of its own employees. In January, MedEncentive and one of the nation’s largest re-in-surers, Sun Life Financial Inc., announced a deal in which Sun Life’s Employee Benefits Group will offer a discount to its stop-loss cus-tomers who use the MedEncentive Program. Greene has taken the MedEncentive story across the

nation, recruiting thought leaders and influencers such as academic researchers, economists, corporate executives, trade associations, physicians and physician groups. “We’ve grown in the number of influencers who understand us and what our tool is about,” Greene said. “We’ve spent a good bit of time educating folks who will help us grow the business in places like Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. We have what we call MedEn-centive Champions within some of the largest corpora-tion in the United States.” Growth is imminent. Two new senior level execu-tives in sales and operations are being recruited. A large financing round is in the process of closing. Then what?

“We have five employees today and envision hundreds, if not many hundreds in the future,” Greene said. “I would say we will achieve success when we are counting percentage of the market that’s covered by our program.” “We like to think that everybody ought to have the MedEncen-tive benefit attached to their health care coverage,” he said. “Ulti-mately, we envision that to be the case. We believe that this platform, this program, is the basis by which we can provide quality health-care coverage for everyone while preventing our country from going bankrupt in the process.” The evangelist in him is rolling now. And so is MedEncentive.

Jeff Greene describes Oklahoma City-based MedEncentive as a patented one-of-a-kind incentive system designed to accomplish what healthcare policy experts are now referring to as Triple Aim – better health, better health care and lower health care costs. MedEncentive has independent validation that its system actually accomplishes the Triple Aim. Here are some questions and answers with the MedEncentive founder and CEO about the company and its patented “evidence-based” approach to achieving the Triple Aim.

We believe that this platform, this program, is the basis by which we can provide quality

healthcare coverage for everyone while preventing our country from going bankrupt

in the process.