Case studies
Mass Market Anti-Doping
Last year, BioCrossroads and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) announced a collaboration called Novus Sport designed to promote the development of new products and services that enhance physical performance, fitness, health and quality of life. BioCrossroads identified sports-centered life sciences as an area that holds promise for future commercial as well as not-for-profit opportunities that can positively impact Indiana 's economy. Novus Sport through the ACSM collaboration is positioned to focus on the intersection of sports and life sciences, and will look to leverage Indiana's existing sports industry assets, which over the past twenty five years have helped Indiana to become recognized as a national sports center that includes organizations like National Collegiate Athletic Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Indiana Sports Corporation to name a few.
One of Novus Sport's leading initiatives is to develop the National Center for Anti-Doping Education and Prevention. Steroid abuse continues to make headlines as it becomes a more prevalent problem among elite athletes across all sports. But the problem isn't isolated to elite athletes. A 2003 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that steroid use among high school students more than doubled from 1991 to 2003 and the that current estimates indicated 3.5 percent, or nearly 250,000, of the more than seven million high school students who participate in extra curricular activities have admitted to using steroids.
According to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations, only four percent of those high schools surveyed have drug-testing programs for steroids. While 12 percent of schools test for alcohol or other drug abuse, budget constraints prevent most from including steroid testing – it's simply too costly to administer tests that will detect steroid use. In addition, particularly at the high school level, administrators lack the knowledge, guidance and resources that would enable them to effectively implement and manage a testing program.
Novus Sport and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) are partnering with other organizations to explore cost-effective testing programs that will help high schools and colleges educate, detect and deter steroid use among student athletes.
Novus Sport is providing a number of consulting and advisory services that have been critical to the development and advancement of this project. These services have included analysis and validation of the market opportunity, analysis of the commercial drug testing market, a technical assessment of available and emerging technologies related to this market, business model development, the engagement of industry experts, the development of critical partnerships (e.g., the National Athletic Trainers Association, The National Federation of State High School Associations, the National Center for Drug Free Sport, and the United States Anti-Doping Agency), and the development of a funding strategy that spans commercial, government, and foundation capital sources as appropriate.
Novus Sport and its partners hope that by providing solutions for schools, they can help protect student athletes from harmful drugs – and also protect school athletic programs from the broader effects of student drug use.
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