Dr. Jason Marion from KCV partner institution Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) developed a low-cost test to detect E. coli in water. The test won the 2021 Global Health and Innovation Conference (GHIC) Innovation Prize.
EKU's associate provost for research and economic development Dr. Tom Martin credits Kentucky Commercialization Ventures with supporting their success in bringing the product to market.
"If we were to do this and resource it 100% on our own, Jason would be the only one," Martin said. "But we've got a couple of other patents filed and one on the way, and we can afford to do that because of our partnership with KCV. It helps us determine the value and the marketability of these ideas to be successful."
KCV's Megan Aanstoos worked with EKU to file a patent for the innovation and form a licensing agreement for Marion's startup, Eastern Scientific.
"What we're really looking forward to now is getting the business off the ground," Aanstoos said. "Hopefully within a few weeks, we will have executed a licensing agreement between Eastern Scientific and EKU to allow Jason to continue to do some of this work under the company name."