ANAHEIM, Calif.—The Lubrizol Corp. and Cleveland Clinic have announced a joint collaboration, where Lubrizol LifeSciences and Cleveland Clinic Innovations will aim to identify and speed up the development of products for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
Robert Miller, global business director at Lubrizol LifeSciences, said this partnership “gets us a little bit more insight and deeper relationships with the clinical setting. It's giving us access to doctors and clinicians that have the ability to help us tailor our polymers and tailor … our medical device solutions to better meet what their application needs are.”
Miller is attending the MD&M West Conference, which runs Feb. 10-12 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The joint collaboration hopes to connect the chemists and engineers who create the materials with the clinicians who identify unmet clinical needs and seek solutions.
Miller added that the Cleveland Clinic is local to the Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol and has “established itself as a well-recognized leader in delivering top notch clinical care.”
As Lubrizol has succeeded in the medical life science space, he said, it always has partnered with the Cleveland Clinic, but on a smaller basis, checking in with the clinic for one-off projects. But it hasn't collaborated with them on anything this large. He believes both companies are aiming do accomplish that now.
“Bringing the polymer expertise and the chemistry knowledge that Lubrizol has so deeply embedded in its culture, with the clinical expertise and the downstream knowledge that the Cleveland Clinic has so deeply embedded in theirs, we think there's a really nice crossover between them,” Miller said.
In addition, Lubrizol will have more opportunities to interact with medical professionals to understand how its products impact the lives of patients, Lubrizol said, ultimately creating better outcomes. Cleveland Clinic will have increased access to polymer scientists, material testing and new component designs.
“Cleveland Clinic Innovations is committed to the identification, development and commercialization of health care technologies with forward-thinking collaborations that can extend and improve human life,” Gary Fingerhut, executive director Cleveland Clinic Innovations, said in a news release.
“This is a mutually beneficial relationship that will enable both organizations to connect on complimentary initiatives that will ultimately benefit patients globally.”
Lubrizol LifeSciences said it will provide Cleveland Clinic an in-depth understanding of functional polymer solutions, including components, novel device systems and drug-delivery combination products for the health care industry.
In addition to providing access to world renowned physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and the partners in the Global Healthcare Innovations Alliance, Cleveland Clinic Innovations will provide expertise in evaluating, validating and commercializing medical technologies.