The creation of a medical-equipment company represents some of the first fruits borne by the Piedmont Triad Research Park project.

Applied Catheter Technologies Inc. said yesterday that it plans to develop and market drug-coated catheters and stents that would prevent or treat scar tissue that can form after certain medical procedures, particularly involving the urethra.

The new company represents a partnership between scientists in the urology department at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and SpringMed Group. Part of the research was done in the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which is based in the research park.

SpringMed is not only one of the research park's first tenants, but also operates without the university having an ownership stake. SpringMed focuses on helping startup companies develop and launch medical devices. Applied Catheter is licensing the technology from the university.

Jon Wilson, the chief executive of Applied Catheter, said that the marketplace for drug-coated catheters and stents "is immense" considering the market for urological catheters is about $910 million. Foley catheters are currently the most used catheter in the world.

"The idea behind the new device is simple -- to combine the Foley catheter that is used as part of these medical procedures with pharmaceuticals that are already being used to inhibit collagen formation," said Wilson, who also is a managing partner of SpringMed Group. Collagen is a protein that is the root cause of scar tissue.

"There is no other device out there like this for this type of medical condition," Wilson said.

"What is truly exciting is that we will bring medical-device technologies, pharmaceuticals and nanotechnologies together to create new therapies."

The initial focus of the potential device would be male urethral stricture, which is the narrowing of the tube that empties urine from the body.

Such narrowing can come from the result of disease, injury or from scar tissue forming after certain medical procedures, including surgery for prostate cancer or the insertion of a scope into the urethra to treat an enlarged prostate.

"The technology has potential to be used in almost the entire body where strictures or scarring is a problem." said Steve Hodges, an assistant professor in the urology department.

The company hopes to get Food and Drug Administration approval to evaluate the device in patients within 18 months. Wilson said that the company eventually could have more than 25 employees.

The new company is the latest example of the university's progress in generating revenue from its technology research.

Recently, Forbes.com ranked the university second among the nation's top patent-revenue-generating universities for return on research investment. The ranking was based on a 2006 survey of 189 schools by the Association of University Technology Managers.

Forbes said that Wake Forest had a 41 percent return on investment -- about $61 million on research spending of about $146 million. Only New York University was ranked higher than Wake Forest.

The university's Office of Technology Asset Management was involved in the licensing of the technology with Applied Catheter.

Doug Edgeton, the president of the research park, said that the formation of Applied Catheter "is a clear example of how to quickly move ideas from the research bench to patients, at the same time benefiting our local economy."

"The research park provides the perfect place for scientists from academia to collaborate with the university's Office of Technology Management and with successful business leaders to create new companies," Edgeton said.

■ Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.