Million Dollar Collaboration Big For Frisco Campus

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UNT’s million-dollar collaboration with Texas health and beauty company a boon for Frisco campus
LaCore Labs, which signed a five-year lease agreement with the university, is a custom-formula health product developer based in Melissa.

The University of North Texas and LaCore Labs — a custom-formula health and beauty product developer from Melissa — have signed a five-year lease agreement that will bring new opportunities to the university’s Inspire Park campus in Frisco.

Inspire Park, which opened in 2018, is a business incubator that houses startup and technology companies and features classroom and laboratory spaces.

LaCore has converted its leased space at Inspire Park into an analytical research chemistry laboratory. The investment — which is greater than $600,000 — will establish an innovation center at UNT and provide real-world opportunities for students through internships and job opportunities for graduates, according to a news release from UNT.

The collaboration also includes a gift of $1 million to UNT, which is eligible for $750,000 in matching funds from the state through the Texas Research Incentive Program.

Additionally, LaCore labs has licensed patented technology developed by a UNT chemistry professor. Guido Verbeck, the director of UNT’s Laboratory of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, has created an improved patch delivery system for prescription medications and nutraceuticals. An additional $500,000 grant from LaCore will go to to support Verbeck’s research.

 
“This is exactly the type of relationship we want to cultivate. This is not just sponsored research, a gift or a commercial license, but all of them integrated into one public-private collaboration that will benefit the company, students, researchers and the entire university,” Michael Rondelli, UNT’s associate vice president for research commercial agreements said in the release. “This connection to LaCore gives students experience that puts them years ahead.”

Brandi Addison | Dallas Morning News

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