NYS SBDC Scientific Innovation Impact Award: Dr. Hanna Wollocko of Oxyvita
From the Mid-Hudson SBDC, the late Don Dods, advisor. While working in emergency services and in hospital blood banks, Dr. Hanna Wollocko, Founder, President and CEO of Oxyvita, Inc., recognized the enormous needs and significant problems with blood transfusions. She and a group of professionals from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields founded Oxyvita in 2003 to work on developing an innovative blood substitute. The product is a polymeric hemoglobin solution, which is clinically useful as a blood substitute due to its oxygen carrying function, can dramatically reduce the need for blood donated by human donors and significantly reduce the risks associated with blood transfusions. Dr. Wollocko first consulted Business Advisor Don Dods at the Mid-Hudson SBDC in 2004 about financing to continue the research. He has worked intensely with Dr. Wollocko and her team to develop the product into a sustainable business that is ready to market. The business is now significantly advanced