While most of us might be familiar with freeze dried products in the form of long-lasting, disappointingly bland astronaut ice cream, the pharmaceutical industry uses a similar process to preserve the stability and elongate the shelf-life of temperature-sensitive drugs. Nick Huls is channeling his engineering and pharmaceutical science background into an innovative technology to help test lyophilized — freeze dried — components with significantly less resource and money wasted.
Huls is one of four researchers in the inaugural cohort of the Purdue Innovates Commercialization Fellowship. The Commercialization Fellowship provides recent PhD graduates and postdoctoral researchers an opportunity to advance commercialization of Purdue-owned intellectual property through startups or licensing to industry. Alongside Principal Investigator Eric Munson, the College of Pharmacy postdoctoral research assistant is developing a quality control measurement for freeze-dried components. The non-invasive technology doesn’t require opening a vial, reducing waste and saving money for pharmaceutical companies during testing.
Huls has taken part in commercialization programs during the fellowship, including Purdue Innovates Firestarter and Market Readiness programs as well as the NSF I-Corps program through the University of Iowa. These experiences have helped him shift his perspective from academic research to market-driven commercialization.
“It was great to get insight from business-minded people, an angle I don’t often consider as a scientist,” said Huls. “It was clarifying to realize we didn’t need to create the perfect tool, but simply get our minimum viable product made, get it out of the lab, and start testing it in real-world environments.”
Access to these programs unlocked vital customer feedback, prompting a significant design shift: adapting the technology to accommodate larger, industry-standard 10 mL vials. The change reflects Huls’ ability to get direct feedback from potential clients and pivot based on his growing understanding of the market.
His biggest takeaway? “Don’t be afraid to ask for help early and often.” Take advantage of as many resources as quickly as possible. Building networks of business and academic connections has been essential to moving the innovation from lab to life.
For additional information about the fellowship, visit the program’s website or reach out to Matt Dressler, funds manager at Purdue Innovates Incubator, MRDressler@prf.org.
Media Contact: Polly Barks, phbarks@prf.org
