Capsules of Care

Capsules of Care

ENTREPRENEUR by Dave Szymanski | Tamoa Bay Editor

Intezyne, a Tampa company that uses polymers to protect medication until it can get to the bad cells, is on the verge of worldwide distribution.

Habib Skaff ran the family business for a couple of years, but yearned for something more.

His parents were entrepreneurs in their native Lebanon, and continued that tradition after moving to the Gulf Coast by starting Skaff Corp. of America, a Tampa oil drilling parts company. Their son, Habib inherited that spirit.

"I always knew I would start something on my own," says Skaff, 31.

So after getting an engineering degree from the University of Florida, then working in the family business, he left Skaff Corp. and went to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He earned masters and doctoral degrees in polymer science.

Skaff then returned home in 2004, and with three other polymer science graduates, and $3 million in private financing, the four young scientists founded Intezyne Technologies Inc., a biotechnology company. The other three founders are Chief Technology Officer Kurt Breitenkamp, CFO Rebecca Boudreaux Breitenkamp and Development Vice President Kevin Sill.

Intezyne means integrated design. The four founders came up with it and agreed on a medical application for their products.

"It was something our specialties fit well with, in this application," Skaff says.

Skaff has now found his true business home.

"I'm originally from Tampa and wanted to come back," says Skaff, who grew up on Davis Island, attended Berkeley Preparatory School and is now chairman and chief executive officer of Intezyne.

Plastics are made from polymers. Intezyne makes a special polymer which it forms into very tiny, or nano, capsules. Those surround a medication. When a patient takes that medication orally, by injection or just under the skin, the polymer shields it and releases it only when it has reached the "bad" cells that need healing.

Changes in acidity, and different biological triggers, tell the Intezyne capsule to open and release the medication at the location of the cancer. The good cells are protected.

The capsules cannot be seen by the human eye. They are less than one-thousandth the width of a human hair.

So, for example, a breast cancer patient getting chemo therapy would have side effects, such as hair loss, from the medication affecting safe cells. Medication delivered by an Intezyne capsule would not interact with healthy cells. So more of the drug goes to the cancer.

Intezyne has four main products types or projects: an Alzheimer's Disease medicine, a chemo therapy product, MRI contrast agents (to detect tumors) and gene agents (for cancer). Skaff is talking to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center to see how Intezyne and the center can work together.

Back home

What made Tampa a good business location for Intezyne? Moffitt, the University of South Florida and lower business costs.

"In California and Boston, rent alone is four to five times higher," Skaff says. "Other costs were significantly higher. We were going to plow those savings back into the business.

But his co-founders needed a little convincing. They asked about Austin, Boston, San Diego and other California cities. What helped bring the company to Tampa was the business incubator at USF, which provided reasonable rent, some equipment and the ability to partner with faculty.

Intezyne built a 3,000-square-foot facility next to the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator at the USF Research Park in north Tampa for its specifications, which are mainly for chemistry work. It is connected to the incubator by a hallway.

The privately held company is owned by the founders and investors and has an independent board - plus a highly-educated workforce. Of its 11 employees, seven have doctorate degrees, and all were locally recruited.

It is expecting its first revenues in the seven months from pharmaceutical firms that are paying for the rights to market the product. "It all depends on which project they pick," Skaff says. "It could be in the high six figures or low seven figures.

"It will be up front payments from pharmaceutical companies," he adds. "We hope to get a multiple deal."

Intezyne is not alone. Competitors are working on similar products in Japan, France, the United States and Canada.

What sets the Intezyne products apart, Skaff says, are their universal functions. They can help with proteins, gene therapy and diagnostics. They are also more stable than competitors' products inside the body, he says. Some of the Intezyne investors are physicians.

Looking ahead

In the next year, Intezyne plans to do clinical trials on people. It has been successfully testing its products on mice and rats in Tampa and in contract labs in Michigan.

"The tests have been phenomenol," Skaff says.

Intezyne hopes to hire one or two more people this year and about five in 2009. It also plans on adding another 2,000 square feet of lab space.

"We lay low," Skaff says. "It's all scientific work. We're very R&D intensive. The USF incubator has been a major boon to us. It's part of the reason we're committed to staying in Tampa. We have a lot of loyalty."

That loyalty extends to family. Skaff's sister, Ghada, now runs the family oil drilling parts business.

"Both companies are interesting," Skaff says. "This I have more passion for."

REVIEW SUMMARY

Company: Intezyne Technologies Inc.

Industry: Biotechnology

Key: Finish field tests, sign up pharmaceutical companies and market the product.