On Wednesday morning, Ohio State and the Science & Technology Campus Corporation, or scitech, welcomed the first tenant, iMEDD Inc., to the 40,000-square-foot multi-building under construction on West Campus. iMEDD Inc. is a startup company specializing in drug delivery systems based on microtechnologies and nanotechnologies. Drugs could be given in doses smaller than what could be seen by the eye, targeted at the exact parts of the body where the drug is needed.The founders of iMEDD Inc., Nick Arvanitidis and Carl F. Grove, are proven biotech entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley. In addition to iMEDD Inc., scitech now has 27 tenants.Mauro Ferrari, professor of internal medicine and mechanical engineering and director of the Biomedical Engineering Center, came to OSU from University of California-Berkley 15 months ago. His discoveries in the emerging field of bio-micro-electromechanical systems, or BioMEMS, along with Derek J. Hansford, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering, are the basis for iMEDD Inc.’s move to OSU and Columbus. Their discoveries fall in the field popularly called nanotechnology.”Columbus has the elements in place for successful development,” said OSU President William “Brit” Kirwan. In an October 1999 New York Times article, Columbus was ranked No.1 in Ohio in high tech industry growth, but 32nd in the nation. The key to successful development is the cooperation of universities and higher education with local governments Kirwan said.The new building under construction is the latest addition to the Science and Technology Campus, located on 53 acres of land on West Campus. Scitech is being constructed in several different phases with a projected finish in 2014. Currently, the Central Ohio Business Technology Center is a major fixture of the campus. The BTC is a not-for-profit organization that provides a starting place for technology based business. It has been in existence since 1995. According to their records, BTC’s clients and former clients have created over 300 jobs in Central Ohio. The various organizations’ records show that they have brought more than $100 million of investment capital to the area. “This is a great day for Columbus,” said Mayor Michael Coleman. “There are many mayors who would want to see a day like this.”Ferrari is seeking to develop the capabilities to deliver drug treatments on a nano level, smaller than the cell being treated. The technology uses silicon microcapsules with nanofilters, he said. The treatments could then be controlled and targeted to specific cells and sites in the body. In contrast, current treatments generally run through the body and may have adverse effects. Patients often die from these effects rather than from the damage of the targeted disease, Ferrari said. It will have applications for a large variety of conditions including cancer therapy, diabetes and heart attacks. iMEDD Inc. expects that these discoveries will enable the company to establish a dominate position in the new BioMEMS field, Grove said. Once possible delivery systems are evolved, iMEDD Inc. would enter into a partnership with a pharmaceutical company to develop a system for their drug therapy, he said. “Effectively, with this new technology, worldwide leadership is ours to lose,” Ferrari said. “Anyone looking for bionics just has to look here.”