Richard Fuisz

Richard C. Fuisz, M.D. (born December 12, 1939) is a physician, noted inventor and entrepreneur. Fuisz is credited as having been the primary inventor of the shearform matrix tablet , CEFORM drug encapsulation technology and the thin film drug delivery technology of MonoSol Rx. Fuisz founded three public medical companies, as well as has had other diverse business interests including oil field services and model management. He is credited with bringing the first Miss USSR to the United States though his modeling agency.

Early life and career

Fuisz was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Slovenian immigrants Anton and Margaret Fuisz.

He attended Bethlehem Catholic High School. He majored in Biology at Georgetown University and graduated from Georgetown Medical School. Later, Fuisz, together with his brother, Robert Fuisz, established the first endowed professorship at the Georgetown School of Medicine.

After graduating from medical school, Fuisz was commissioned as a Lt. Commander in the United States Navy. His Naval work included a White House posting.

Fuisz then founded Medcom, a publicly traded medical training company. This would make Fuisz the youngest CEO on the Nasdaq. Fuisz learned Arabic and spearheaded Medcom’s growth into the Middle East, a region that later became a source of controversy for Fuisz.

In 1981, Baxter International acquired Medcom.

Fuisz went onto establish a series of successful private companies. These included Oil Field Services and the Seline Modeling Agency together with its Russian partner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky (of Yukos fame). The Seline Agency brought the first Miss USSR to the United States, and those events are described in a New York Magazine feature, “From Russia with Sex.”

Controversy

Fuisz has been perceived as a maverick in his willingness to go against the establishment. He was credited by the Wall Street Journal for obtaining and providing to the US Commerce Department the documentary evidence leading to Baxter International's no contest plea to illegally complying with the Arab Boycott of Israel (Economic and political boycotts of Israel)(Fuisz is a Roman Catholic).

Drug delivery and current

In the early 1990’s Fuisz created Fuisz Technologies, a quick dissolve tablet drug delivery company which Fuisz later took public. Fuisz platforms included the shearform matrix tablet (a compressed tablet made from cotton candy like spun sugar and drug) and CEFORM encapsulation technology for taste masking and controlled release. Biovail purchase Fuisz Technologies in late 1999.

Fuisz went on to form Kosmos Pharma, a thin film drug delivery company acquired to form MonoSol Rx in 2004. MonoSol Rx filed a registration statement to go public in May 2007 crediting Fuisz as its primary inventor.

In addition to drug delivery, Fuisz has actively invented other, new medical technologies such as the remotely adjustable stent and a liquid used in the place of water to take conventional tablets. Fuisz has also invented various software patents relating to e-commerce and electronic mail. From publicly available sources, it appears Fuisz is a named inventor on over three hundred global patents.

Fuisz has been an active philanthropist. In addition to the chair of medicine at Georgetown University, Fuisz endowed the Richard and Lorraine Fuisz Library at Moravian Academy as well as the Fuisz Scholarship fund, also at Moravian Academy, to benefit students of Slovenian ancestry. He serves on the Board of Regents for Georgetown University.

Personal

Fuisz reportedly resides in McLean, Virginia, Los Angeles, California and New York, New York with his wife Lorraine. Fuisz is an avid motorcyclist and a multi engine and instrument rated pilot. Fuisz has five children and is a speaker of Arabic and Slovenian.

References

Fuisz and patents

* [http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6171607.html Shearform patent]
* [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1398733/000104746907006731/a2178523zs-1a.htm Monosol filing]

Fuisz and Baxter

* [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0794/9407045.htm www.wrmea.com]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7DF103EF932A25755C0A967958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FB%2FBlacklisting query.nytimes.com]

Fuisz and Russian models

* [http://nymag.com/nymetro/nightlife/barsclubs/features/3047/index1.html nymag.com]
* [http://www.thomsonpeterson.com/pschools/code/IDD.asp?orderLineNum=788339-1&reprjid=11&inunId=1560&typeVC=InstVC&sponsor=1 www.thomsonpeterson.com]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE4DD1130F93AA2575AC0A9629C8B63 query.nytimes.com]