ONY, Inc. is the owner of Infasurf® (calfactant), a lung surfactant developed and tested by academic scientists in Ontario and New York in the 1970s and 1980s.  The company is based in Amherst, N.Y. in the University at Buffalo's (UB)  Technology Incubator at the Baird Research Park, adjacent to UB's North campus.  Infasurf is a lung surfactant designed to treat and prevent neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS).  It is the only lung surfactant in the U.S. that is derived from natural surfactant, as opposed to lung tissue mince, giving Infasurf unique composition and characteristics, providing a high level of benefit for its newborn patients.  

Dr. Edmund A. (Ted) Egan is founder of ONY and its current President and Chief Medical Officer.  Prior to developing Infasurf and founding ONY to commercialize the drug in 1985, Dr. Egan was a professor of Pediatrics & Physiology at the State University of New York at Buffalo and Chief of Newborn Medicine at Womens and Childrens Hospital of Buffalo. He continues as a part time UB faculty member, participates as a panel physician on the State Health Department's Office of Professional Medical Conduct and is on the board of Autistic Services, Inc.   

Since its inception in 1988, the UB Incubator located in Baird Research Park has helped create more than 1,000 new jobs through partnerships with 63 companies that graduated from the incubator and 32 current tenants with annual revenues of $60 million. The program is run by UB's Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR). Other Buffalo Niagara Incubators include Ceramicscorridor.org, and Incubator.Fredonia.edu.  For a complete list of incubator space that best fits your business needs contact me.   

STOR works on behalf of the university and its researchers to identify, protect, and commercialize UB's intellectual property portfolio. Their portfolio contains 200+ technologies available for licensing. Business representatives and entrepreneurs can search the online listing to learn more about available licensing opportunities.    

The Western New York Venture Assoc. is another great resource. WNYVA holds networking meetings to facilitate the exchange of information between investors & entrepreneurs. The next event is Wednesday September 14th at the Buffalo Club and features presentations by Medical Acoustics LLC and SellingHive Corporations. View a listing of future meetings.  

Survey on region's workforce
Based on feedback from local companies in our region's target industry clusters (including life sciences), our partners at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership (BNP) are conducting an online survey of Buffalo Niagara employers to assess our region's workforce staffing and training needs.  The goal of this survey is to better understand employers' current and future workforce requirements and the local resources they use for hiring and training.  The results will be utilized in refining and improving existing workforce training and development programs and identifying possible gaps in this system, ensuring that companies like yours have a ready pool of properly skilled and qualified candidates from which to draw.

 
If you are an employer in the Buffalo Niagara region, please take a few minutes to fill out the online survey. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or Craig Turner of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership who is leading this effort. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to this important process.    

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise 

665 Main Street, Suite 200
Buffalo, New York 14203
(716) 541-1724 (phone)
1-800-916-9073 (toll-free)
(716) 842-1724 (fax)

arosenhoch@buffaloniagara.org