Alumni Spotlight

Eric Hatch

 

Chief Executive Officer
Integrazyme, LLC
Class of 2007

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For Eric Hatch '07, an assignment in one of his M.S. in Biotechnology laboratory courses put him on the path to starting his own biotechnology company.

While presenting a scientific poster in class, Hatch realized the tremendous potential surrounding the technology he was describing to the faculty and his classmates. Drawing on the Program's coursework in Intellectual Property, Regulatory Issues, and Business, Hatch collaborated with two of his classmates -- Ed Steele '07 and Betty Agudelo-Rewey '07 -- to convert this potential into a new business enterprise:

"New biotechnology products require innovators who can see the hidden potential of emerging technology. The interdisciplinary M.S. in Biotechnology curriculum helped me recognize the promise of a new technology and build a high-tech company around that potential."

The company -- Integrazyme -- is a novel enzyme development company focused on bringing natural products to market that are tailored to suit a
particular application. By developing novel enzymes, Integrazyme intends to produce high quality products to displace chemical processes that produce
toxic byproducts in the industrial market, allow net positive energy production from the biofuels sector, and address unmet needs by the development of effective clinical therapeutics.

One of the company's goals, through both their own innovative product creation and by assisting other companies in improving their products' performance and profits in a "green" manner, is to leave a positive footprint on society.

In the future, Integrazyme plans to continue refining their optimization technology, and to expand its product offering portfolio.

For Hatch, the M.S. in Biotechnology was an ideal preparation for his goal to build a new company around a novel, socially beneficial technology:

"The M.S. in Biotechnology focuses on three important sections of biotechnology: regulatory aspects, business development, and scientific operations. This integrated program was a terrific way to educate myself about the realities of starting a new, high-tech company. The well-rounded view of the industry that I took from the program enabled me to identify a niche area, and lay the groundwork for a new company."

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