Centrose, a Madison-based start-up company involving Jon Thorson, professor, and C. Richard Hutchinson, emeritus professor, in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, was selected by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2) in the final round of the National University Startups Competition at the annual University Startups Conference in Washington D.C. in October 2008.

Centrose was among over 400 university start-ups that were considered for the award and emerged with a top ranking after months of presentations via online webinars to over 300 venture capitalists, angel investor and university judges. This inaugural competition was designed to provide a forum for exposure, education and feedback to entrepreneurs and universities on the subject of how to create top-level investment-worthy university spin-outs.