UK’s New Clinician Innovation Company Hires CEO

Editor's note: Therix Medical is a privately funded business development initiative that brings clinicians' device and diagnostic ideas to market.

LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 26, 2009) − The board of Therix Medical has hired Lexington native Jim Clifton, a 23-year veteran in new business development, to lead the company that will turn UK clinician’s ideas into useful diagnostics and devices to improve patient care. Clifton comes to Therix from BridgePoint Medical, a health care company for patients with orthotic and prosthetic needs.

The clinician innovation program and Therix Medical, developed by the UK Office for Commercialization & Economic Development in partnership with UK cardiologist Dr. John Gurley, has already received 12 intellectual property disclosures from UK HealthCare clinicians. The new initiative was recently unveiled during a workshop featuring serial entrepreneurs Dr. Thomas Fogarty, inventor of the world’s first balloon catheter that revolutionized vascular surgery overnight, and UK President Lee T. Todd Jr., founder of two technology companies.

One of Clifton’s first positions after receiving his MBA was with DataBeam Corporation, founded by Dr. Todd in 1983 and later sold to Lotus, an IBM subsidiary. UK’s Kentucky Technology Inc. and the Bluegrass Angels and Bluegrass Angel Venture Fund are investing in Therix.