MedCity INVEST, a boutique healthcare investment conference, is coming up May 21-22 at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Chicago. The annual event, held in partnership with the Mid America Healthcare Investors Network (MHIN) attracts healthcare and life science investors, startups, and their collaboration partners. In addition to compelling content, the conference offers multiple opportunities for networking.
Space is limited so register today!
The startups taking part in the diagnostics/medical device track, which has a focus on cardiology this year, have been finalized. Katie Adams, a Senior Reporter with MedCity News, will moderate the session. The judges for this track include:
- Lewis Kilongo, principal with Unorthodox Ventures where he leads medtech investments.
- David Kereiakes, managing partner with Windham Venture Partners, a health tech investment firm enabling the convergence of digital health and medical devices that improve clinical outcomes and increase access to quality healthcare for all.
- Ken Nelson, partner in the Medtech Advantage Fund, which has an exclusive partnership with Medtech Innovator, the largest medtech and digital health startup accelerator in the world.
Six companies have been selected for the medical devices/diagnostics Pitch Perfect contest track. They include:
BioMEMS Diagnostics has developed a breakthrough test platform that brings high-need, high-complexity, lab-quality testing to Point-of-Need and At-Home settings. It’s approach seeks to increase access, improve response time and drive down costs. Simple-to-use test cartridges and handheld analyzers port results for up to 10 unique biomarkers to any paired smart device in 5 minutes or less. A patent-pending biosensor array delivers sensitivity and specificity levels previously attainable only in hospital or commercial labs. Specific test panels for recurrent myocardial infarction, infectious diseases, immune disorders, or healthy aging are in development. No lab or lab skills are required.
Results can be uploaded to a provider from any smartphone. Innovations in engineering and manufacturability are designed to crush costs compared to other chip-based tests. The Company intends to partner with global brands that make or market diagnostics in order to minimize market entry risk, assure global reach and create exit opportunities. BioMEMS externally validated and is now able to produce hundreds of biosensors, targeting corporate collaborations and co-ventures to develop and launch test kits.
CoraVie Medical is a pre-revenue medical device company developing an implantable continuous blood pressure monitor and end-to-end remote management solution monitors for early detection of dangerous blood pressure levels to intervene and prevent a hypertension crisis that could lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure or death.
CoraVie addresses patient monitoring fatigue, measurement technique errors, and patient awareness challenges to offer physicians clinically actionable insights.
General Prognostics (GPx) Hospital readmissions for heart failure patients are frequent. About 25% of heart failure patients will be re-admitted to the hospital less than one month after being discharged. Hospital stays are costly for patients, insurers, and especially hospitals. A major reason for re-admissions is these patients are often sub-optimally medicated. Though a patient may be optimally medicated at discharge, within a few days their condition may worsen, requiring additional therapy to remain stable. Unfortunately, limited remote monitoring ability renders physicians insufficiently informed about the patient’s condition, causing the patients to be sub-optimally-medicated. Therefore, optimal medication of these patients remains a major problem to be solved with timely insight from non-invasive, passive, and easily interpreted monitoring technologies which, in turn, will reduce patient rehospitalizations and reduce the cost of care.
JB HealthTech’s goal is to create neoBPTM, a continuous non-invasive blood pressure (cNIBP) monitor, specially designed for neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Sharon Wang, the founder of JB HealthTech, was driven by a personal mission stemming from her twins’ struggles in the NICU. As a NICU mother, she is committed to aiding all NICU infants. The company seeks to minimize the risks associated with arterial catheters and enhance the precision of traditional brachial cuffs. This innovation promises to increase safety and effectiveness in neonatal care.
Polynova Cardiovascular (PCI) is a commercial spin-off that has emerged from years of private and federally funded academic research on polymeric heart valves. The science behind the company’s technology has been peer-reviewed and published. PCI is dedicated to commercializing this translational research by striving to be the first company in the world to bring potentially disruptive polymer-based, over-the-wire valve technology to the global heart valve market. PCI is currently focused on developing a minimally invasive product for the treatment of aortic stenosis (AS) in a procedure known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). AS is the most common and life threatening form of valvular heart disease, occurring at a rate of 3% in individuals over the age of 75 in the USA and EU, the most rapidly growing segment of the population. AS is a critical narrowing of the aortic valve – the valve responsible for directing oxygenated blood flow from the heart to all of the body tissues and organs. Untreated AS rapidly leads to angina, syncope, heart failure and death. TAVR allows patients to avoid open-heart surgery.
The Shape Sensing Company is building a next-generation 3D guidance system utilizing fiber optic shape sensing to reduce the radiation exposure to patients and physicians during interventional procedures. The company seeks to offer a platform with all the benefits of current device guidance techniques without any of the drawbacks. The company has the only available fiber optic shape sensing technology on the market to compete with industry giants Philips and Intuitive Surgical.
Photo: CasPhotography, Getty Images
