Sotera Medical co-founder Bill Fuller and OrthoHelix founder Dr. David Kay are teaming up to form a new medical device company, dubbed Okapi Medical, according to a recent Crain’s Cleveland report.
The newly founded Akron, Ohio-based business aims to develop a new type of bandage using technology from University of Akron polymer researchers to enable better wound closure, according to the report.
“It’s a pretty significant advancement with regard to how wound closing is typically handled. It’s an adhesive. It actually uses very similar chemistry to what’s now commercially used. It’s just an advancement with some new polymer chemistry that’s added to an existing adhesive material,” Fuller told Crain’s Cleveland.
The adhesive product is designed to remain flexible to reduce tearing of the skin and improve the feel of the bandage, according to the report.
The founders have already raised more than $500,000 for their business, including funding from the city’s Akron Bioinvestments Fund II, according to the Crain’s Cleveland report.
“We have made entrepreneurship and innovation a cornerstone of our economic development in Akron. The ability of companies like OKAPI Medical to raise capital and thrive is critical to the long-term success of our city and our region,” Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said in a statement, according to the report.