College of Charleston researcher honored with SCRA award

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The South Carolina Research Authority recognized two leaders and a company for their role in leading the state’s innovation economy during the Founders First Summit this week in Columbia.

Williamston-based Bubble Paper was named Company of the Year, Scott Pancoast of Zylö Therapeutics was awarded Founder of the Year and Joe Carson of the College of Charleston was honored as Applied Researcher of the Year.

Bubble Paper is a manufacturer in the environmental packaging industry that provides packaging materials that offer the same level of protection and temperature control as current plastic alternatives at a comparable cost, according to the release. Many areas of the country, including several counties in South Carolina, have banned plastic foam insulation to keep food cold and protect products in shipping, it said. Bubble Paper’s product is offered as an alternative.

Pancoast is the founder and CEO of Zylö Therapeutics, which operates in the topical solutions industry, treating several diseases. Emerging from semi-retirement, Pancoast discovered the effectiveness of the technology and founded Zylö. Its drug delivery system uses patented xerogel-derived particles, called Z-pods, to topically deliver nitric oxide and other notoriously hard-to-deliver therapeutic agents, the release stated. The technology enables a product concept called the Patchless Patch, an innovative, competitive response to a lidocaine patch.

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Carson is the brains behind one of TIME magazine’s top 10 Science Discoveries of 2009. He is a professor of astrophysics at the College of Charleston and the founder of Pensievision, a medical device startup and SCRA Member Company. Carson found a way to incorporate NASA satellite technology into a low-cost, handheld 3D imaging device to address the third most common cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer death in women in developing economies — cervical cancer. As a testament to the critical need that Carson and Pensievision are fulfilling, their federal Small Business Innovation Research proposal received a rare perfect score from the NIH, the release said.

The Founders First summit celebrated the work of founders growing the state’s innovation economy. It was a time for SCRA-supported and -funded entrepreneurs, startups, project leaders and members of the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to gather, network and learn more about how to grow their businesses successfully, the release stated, because the success of these startups results in economic growth and new jobs for the state that pay 70% higher than the state’s average.

The keynote speaker was retired Maj. Gen. Mastin Robeson, of the United States Marine Corps, president of UASidekick, an SC Launch Inc. portfolio company, and founder and chairman of the board for Upstate Warrior Solution.