Startup Medtech Companies, September 2006

Startup Companies Identified in September 2006 MedMarkets

Company	Principal(s)	Location	Product/Technology	Founded
AcelRx	Thomas A. Schreck	Portola Valley, CA	Drug-device technology for treatment of breakthrough pain	2006
Amaranth Medical, Inc.	Guy Heathers, Charter Life Sciences	E. Palo Alto, CA	Bioresorbable drug-eluting stents	2006
Arbel Medical Ltd.	Didier Toubia, CEO	Yoknean, Israel	Cryosurgical ablation technology	2006
CardioInsight Technologies, Inc	Warren Goldenberg, CEO	Cleveland, OH	Electrocardiographic imaging of the heart's electrical activity	2006
Minos Medical, Inc.	Bradley J. Sharp, CEO	Irvine, CA	Minimally invasive (HIFU) surgical systems for appendectomy, cholecystectomy and hysterectomy	2006
nContact Surgical, Inc.	John P. Funkhouser, President & CEO	Morrisville, NC	Intraoperative tissue coagulation devices	2005
OmniMedics, Inc.	Alan Cohen	Newton, MA	Cardiac device	2006
Sirion Therapeutics, Inc.	Philippe Boulangeat, Chief Business Officer	Tampa, FL	Therapeutic ophthalmology compounds and other products	2006

AcelRx, Inc. (Portola Valley, CA; http://acelrx.com [under construction])
Amaranth Medical, Inc. (East Palo Alto, CA; no URL)
Arbel Medical Ltd. (Yoknean, Israel; http://arbel-medical.com [under construction])
CardioInsight Technologies, Inc. (Cleveland, OH; http://cardioinsight.com)
Minos Medical, Inc. (Irvine, CA; http://minosmedical.com)
nContact Surgical, Inc. (Morrisville, NC; http://ncontact.us)
OminiMedics, Inc. (Newton, MA; http://omnimedics.com)
Sirion Therapeutics, Inc. (Tampa, FL; http://siriontherapeutics.com)

U.S. diabetes prevalence to double by 2050

In the September issue of Diabetes Care, Dr. K. M. Venkat Narayan and colleagues from the CDC's Division for Diabetes Translation write that by 2050 a full 12% of the U.S. population, or 48.3 million people, will have
diabetes (link). Moreover, if the rate of diabetes in the U.S. population continues to rise, the prevalance by 2050 will be even higher.

Further, the rates of growth in prevalence will be disparate. Minorities will face a significant added burden, with prevalence among whites doubling by 2050, while the prevalence among African-Americans will triple and the number of Hispanics with diabetes will increase almost six-fold. Diabetics aged 65-74 will triple and those over 75 will increase five-fold.

Given the associated costs of diabetes and its complications, this data adds to a steady chorus of support among clinicians for better screening, diagnosis and management of diabetes.

Tags: medtech, diabetes, insulin, glucose

Bioengieering the end of medical devices (well, eventually)

The use of bioengineered tissues is often considered for organ regeneration and regeneration of other macro structures (ears, pancreas, etc.), but it seems clear from recent research that a wealth of applications of bioengineering will be realized on smaller scales. Why players in the medtech industry should consider this is that some applications have the potential to preempt entire device industries. Culling just a few examples I found today on bioengineering applications limited to cardiology shows this pretty clearly.

Bioengineering could replace pacemakers. In the September 5 article of Circulation, it was shown that delivery of a bioengineered cell-surface protein to the cardiac tissue of pigs could effectively regenerate the sinoatrial (SA) node, the principal site for controlling heart rhythm.

Discovery of new gene that stimulates the growth of natural bypasses. Researchers at the Max-Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Germany identified a gene responsible for inducing the formation of collateral vessels, which bypass blocked arteries. Further, researchers were able to demonstrate an ability to enhance the growth of the collateral vessels, or "natural bypasses", in order to improve the results of surgical interventions or, perhaps one day, preempting surgery entirely.

The heart can heal itself. Additionally reported at the World Congress of Cardiology in September, it has been discovered that mammalian hearts possess a reservoir of stem cells that contribute to the formation of new vessels and myocytes during the course of the organism's lifespan and that, further, it may ultimately be possible "to induce the stem cells residing in the heart to migrate to the sites of damage forming new vessels and myocytes."

Hammering away as I do on my theme that discoveries in the biological sciences hold eminent potential to preempt the symptoms-oriented treatment provided by devices, but that biotech inevitably underestimates the developmental hurdles in doing so, it is clear that the potential offered up here in bioengineering cardiac tissue is very likely as understated as are the challenges.

Tags: medtech, biotech, bioengineering