The Columbus Dispatch reported on August 9th that the Ohio Third Frontier Commission selected Cleveland’s NineSigma to manage a competition to find solutions to the opioid addiction epidemic. The competition awards $7 million in grants for ideas aimed at treating opioid addiction, preventing overdoses, and producing alternatives methods of pain treatment.
The competition money is a portion of the $20 million generated from a bond fund promised by Ohio Governor John Kasich in a State of the State speech, and has already prompted over 40 medical companies, hospitals, universities, and other entities to submit letters of intent to attain a share. Notable examples include Ohio State University requesting $315,000 for a web-based intervention and referral tool for health care services, and the Cleveland Clinic requesting $750,000 for a temporary implantable device that blocks pain.
Ohio Development Services Agency director and Third Frontier Commission chairman David Goodman talked about the problem in the news article, saying, “The opioid crisis is touching everyone and we all need to be part of the solution. Taking ideas and advancing technology is one more way to ensure we leave no stone unturned in the fight against addiction.”
The process for submissions to NineSigma has not yet been announced.
