2C . SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.

COM
BUSINESS
Technically, Dr. Grego-
ry Watkins entered this
world on Aug. 10, 1949.
But if you ask him his
birthday, he might give
you a different answer.
I tell people that April
20 is my new birthday of
my new life, he says.
Thats the day in 2007
that doctors began treat-
ing his rare blood disorder
with Soliris, a new drug
that had just received
approval from the Food
and Drug Administration.
For Watkins, a dentist
at the Oklahoma City VA
Medical Center, the wait
had been a long one. Pa-
roxysmal nocturnal he-
moglobinuria (or PNH), a
rare blood disease, had
first struck him in 1995.
For the next dozen years,
he struggled with the
disease, which is marked
by painful esophageal
spasms, anemia and po-
tentially life-threatening
blood clots.
In the previous 12 years,
every day Id wake up and
wonder, How will I deal
with the fatigue and pain of
PNH? How will I make it
through the day? But
with Soliris, he says,
Those are no longer ques-
tions I ask myself.
As long as the wait was
for Watkins, it was even
longer for the Oklahoma
Medical Research Founda-
tion. Of course, OMRF
wasnt a patient in need of
treatment. But two OMRF
scientists Drs. Peter
Sims and Therese Wiedmer
made the initial discov-
eries that led to the cre-
ation of Soliris. That work
occurred in OMRFs labs
way back in 1989.
So why did it take 18
years to turn that eureka
moment into a drug to
treat patients like Dr.
Watkins?
At OMRF, working with
laboratory mice, Sims and
Wiedmer developed a
method to treat PNH
using a highly specialized
antibody, which is a sort
of defense protein. When
OMRF received a patent
for this discovery in 1992,
it licensed the patent to
Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
The companys first
task was to humanize
the antibody, which
means replacing some
parts of the mouse anti-
body proteins with hu-
man components. Once
Alexion had accomplished
this task, it tested the
compound in preclinical
models for safety and
effectiveness.
The compound, now
referred to as an investi-
gational new drug, then
moved to human clinical
testing, a rigorous process
that typically consumes a
dozen years. It also typ-
ically costs hundreds of
millions of dollars.
In the first stage of
clinical trials, doctors
administer the drug to
volunteers to ensure it
doesnt hit unintended
targets in other words,
that its not toxic and
causes minimal side ef-
fects. If the drug passes
the first phase, then it
progresses to a second,
larger study to see if it
hits the desired target
(i.e., if it helps the body
fight the disease).
In the third phase,
physicians administer the
drug to many more pa-
tients over a period of
years at multiple clinical
sites. For a drug to gain
FDA approval, its phase
III results should show
clinical benefit with at
least 95 percent certainty.
In the end, four out of
five drugs tested in hu-
mans fail. Although the
FDA approval process is
time-consuming and
excruciating to patients
waiting for new drugs,
that statistic alone tells us
why it is necessary.
Would you want to live in
a world where new drugs
emerged from labs much
more quickly but you
never knew if they would
work? Or, even worse, if
they might cause calami-
tous side effects?
No, the current system
is not perfect. We need to
continue to bring new
drugs to market more
quickly. But we must do
so in a way that protects
patients. Because safe and
effective drugs are worth
the wait. Just ask Dr.
Gregory Watkins.
Prescott, a physician and medical
researcher, is president of the
Oklahoma Medical Research
Foundation.
Testing process for drugs is worth the wait
HEALTH MATTERS
Stephen
Prescott
Jay Martin is unimposing in
stature, humble in personality
and grateful for the doors that
life has opened for him as an
Oklahoma innovator, inventor
and entrepreneur.
So why do I see Marvel En-
tertainments Tony Stark as he
walks into a conference room at
i2E to discuss his role in cre-
ating innovative technologies?
It is because of the Iron Man
suit.
Martin is a vital part of a
team of innovators assembled
by NASA to create exoskeletal
robotic suits, akin to an Iron
Man suit.
These ongoing projects have
a futuristic goal: develop a ro-
botic suit that provides en-
hanced strength and capa-
bilities for users ranging from
astronauts to special ops sol-
diers to people who have suf-
fered nerve and spinal injuries,
allowing them to walk again.
Martin was tasked with the
challenge of merging proprie-
tary prosthetic man/machine
interface technology he devel-
oped as founder of Oklahoma
Citys Martin Bionics Innova-
tions into NASAs exoskeleton
robotics projects.
Ive enjoyed the opportunity
to spend so much time in
Houston at the Johnson Space
Center, Martin said of the
NASA project. The level of
sophistication of the NASA
engineers Im working with is
phenomenal.
Before he was invited into the
NASA project, Martin estab-
lished himself as a ground-
breaking inventor of prosthetic
technology that advanced the
state of the industry, providing
amputees with more comfort
and mobility.
As a result, Martin Bionics
was recognized as Oklahomas
Innovator of the Year in 2008.
Martins work in engineering
revolutionary prosthetics de-
signs dates back to 2002, when
Martin worked as a clinical
prosthetist at Oklahoma Citys
Scott Sabolich Prosthetics and
Research Center. A Norman
native, Martin applied for and
was awarded his first research
grant from the Oklahoma Cen-
ter for the Advancement of
Science and Technology
(OCAST).
Martin Bionics was awarded
an Oklahoma Applied Research
Support grant from OCAST to
support development of an
advanced robotic prosthetic
ankle. Since that first award,
Martins research has received
approximately $3 million in
state and federal grants and
contracts.
Martin Bionics grew in scope
and number of employees when it
was invited in 2006 to participate
in a federal Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DAR-
PA) initiative called Revolutioniz-
ing Prosthetics 2009.
That was the largest en-
deavor to advance prosthetics in
the history of the world, he
said. It was a phenomenal
program, and thats what took
us from a small fledgling com-
pany in a small office at Sabol-
ich to moving to the PHF Re-
search Park, and led to becom-
ing the largest prosthetics R&D
company in the nation.
Working with scientists at
Johns Hopkins University on
the DARPA project, Martin
Bionics helped create prosthetic
technology with an end goal of
enabling users with shoulder
level amputation to accomplish
unheard-of tasks like playing
the guitar or piano (see photos
at jay-martin.me).
Martin Bionics was sold to
Orthocare Innovations in 2008,
which freed Martin to pursue
other entrepreneurial projects
when he left the company 18
months later. Since then he has
presented a TEDx Oklahoma
City talk and taught a graduate
level course on innovation and
design at Oklahoma Christian
University.
Today, Martin mentors other
entrepreneurs, invests in in-
novative startup companies and
pursues technology develop-
ment in projects such as the
Iron Man initiative. All with the
same purpose.
The goal since the beginning
of my career has been to change
the world through innovation,
he said. Everything is geared
toward advancing the human
experience through innovation.
Oklahoma prosthetist
works on Iron Man suit
Robert Downey Jr. is seen in Iron Man 2. Oklahomas Jay Martin is on a team of innovators working
to create exoskeletal robotic suits, like the Ironman suit.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
Ive enjoyed the
opportunity to
spend so much
time in Houston at
the Johnson Space
Center. The level of
sophistication of
the NASA
engineers Im
working with is
phenomenal.
JAY MARTIN
BUSINESS PEOPLE
Eva Sawheny, M.D., a fellowship-
trained specialist, has establish-
ed her practice with OU Physi-
cians. She is also an assistant
professor with the University of
Oklahoma College of Medicine.
Sawheny has a special interest in
pulmonary oncology and sleep
medicine. She is board certified
in critical care medicine, pulmo-
nary diseases and internal med-
icine. She completed fellowships in sleep medicine
and pulmonary critical care medicine at the Uni-
versity of Oklahoma College of Medicine. She
completed her residency and served as chief resi-
dent at the OU College of Medicine, Tulsa. She
earned her medical degree in Debrecen, Hungary.
The board of
directors of
the consult-
ing engineer-
ing firm Poe
& Associates
recently
elected Mike
Kohn, P.E.,
Helene Mur-
dock, P.E. and
Tim Purkeypile, P.E., C.F.M. to vice presidents of
the company. In their new roles as vice presidents,
each will be able to represent the company con-
tractually, as well as have increased participation
in the future of the company.
Ann M. Cole has been promoted
to senior audit manager at Ar-
ledge and Associates, PC, an
Edmond accounting firm. A Cer-
tified Public Accountant and
Chartered Global Management
Accountant, Cole previously
served the firms clients as an
audit manager. She will continue
to work directly with clients in
her new leadership role. Cole
received her masters degree in accountancy from
the University of Oklahoma in 1996 after earning
her bachelors degree in accounting from the Uni-
versity of Oklahoma in 1991.
Arvest Bank
has promot-
ed Jeannie
Garcia and
Becky
Schoelen to
senior vice
president.
Garcia and
Schoelen will
be responsib-
le for managing a portfolio of commercial loans, as
well as commercial real estate, and providing ser-
vices and products to fulfill clients needs. Garcia
graduated with a bachelors degree in accounting
and finance from Oklahoma State University.
Schoelen brings over 30 years of experience to her
position. Previous to her promotion, Schoelen
served as commercial lender at Arvest.
St. Anthony Hospital recently
appointed Ashley Olivo to the
position of director of strategy
and development. Olivo holds a
bachelors of arts in Journalism
and Mass Communications from
the University of Oklahoma. She
comes to St. Anthony with previ-
ous experience in physician
recruitment, market research
and service line development.
AWARDS
The Oklahoma County Bar Asso-
ciation has presented the Bobby
G. Knapp Leadership Award to
Laura McConnell-Corbyn of
Hartzog Conger Cason & Ne-
ville. The Bobby G. Knapp Lead-
ership Award is given to an at-
torney who demonstrates sus-
tained leadership, distinguished
by stewardship and professional-
ism reflecting the highest values
of the legal community. McConnell-Corbyn is a
Mona Salyer Lambird Oklahoma Bar Association
Spotlight Award winner, is an American Academy
of Matrimonial Lawyers Fellow and is president of
the Oklahoma chapter. She serves on the Legal
Aid Services Oklahoma board of directors and was
Oklahoma County Bar Association president in
2011-2012.
Seth Day and
Susanna
Gattoni,
attorneys
from the
Oklahoma
City office of
Hall Estill,
received the
Oklahoma
County Bar
Presidents Special Award: The Courageous Law-
yer. The Bar Association gives this award to a
member who has courageously performed in a
manner that benefits the highest ideals of their
profession. Earlier this year, Day and Gattoni
strived to bring a declaratory judgment action on
behalf of two death row inmates against the
State of Oklahoma seeking to invalidate a law,
which prohibited the state from disclosing the
source of any lethal injection drug or the identity
of any person involved in the execution process.
The case was handled pro bono.
Sawheny
Murdock
Cole
Kohn
Garcia Schoelen
McConnell-
Corbyn
Olivo
Gattoni Day
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