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A new material to treat aneruysms.

 

 

DESCRIPTION

This is a medical device company that utilizes groundbreaking and proprietary Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) materials for minimally invasive endovascular applications. Specifically, this company is seeking to revolutionize the treatment of cerebral aneurysms by implementing the use of their metal backbone expanding foam device that virtually eliminates the possibility that the aneurysm will re-form and serve as a severe threat to a patient. Cerebral aneurysms are life threatening and aneurysm rupture is commonly fatal, so this innovative treatment that strays from the status quo with its novel materials and methods that meet a serious need in the medical community.

 

PROBLEM ADDRESSED

Cerebral aneurysms, which involve the ballooning-out of part of the wall of a weakened blood vessel in the brain, affect 200,000 patients worldwide annually. With symptoms such as severe headaches, vomiting, and dangerously increased blood pressure, living with an aneurysm is not an option. Current endovascular treatment involves the delivery of an average of seven coils through the blood vessels to fill the aneurysm. However, in 7-27% of treated aneurysms, the coils shift or become compressed, thus allowing for blood to re-enter the aneurysm and causing the aneurysm to swell once again. This technology not only fills the aneurysm more effectively, but also prevents the recurrence of the aneurysm.

 

MARKET

The global endovascular cerebral aneurysm repair device market is projected to reach $1.5 B in 2015 with the global detachable coil market expected to reach $700 MM at that time. The targeted customers of this product are the interventional radiologists and neurosurgeons who perform over 85,000 procedures annually. Additionally, SMT will be targeting vascular products for ischemic stroke, vulnerable plague treatments and non-vascular technologies in the future.    

 

TECHNOLOGY

The founders’ procedure employs unique and proprietary SMP foam that is compressed and attached to widely-used micro-catheters for delivery via blood vessel pathways. Upon heat activation, the SMP foam expands to fill the aneurysm- stopping when it reaches the vessel wall in order to reduce the risk of rupture. The SMP foam, which can expand 100 times in volume while exerting an expansion force, is a porous yet highly conforming material that provides a more complete fill of the aneurysm thanks to its large volume capabilities. Eventually the foam initiates clot formation in the balloon-like aneurysm and the clot deteriorates, thus reducing the chance for material compaction and the risk of aneurysm recurrence, which is unaddressed in current aneurysm treatment options. The SMP foam has promising potential for various additional endovascular applications, though this initial project effectively addresses major concerns in aneurysm treatment.

 

UPSIDE OPPORTUNITY

It has a strong IP portfolio and an innovative platform technology within a rapidly growing market reaching 1.5B in 2013.

 

FINANCING

The client is seeking 2.5 MM to get through Euro Clinicals 2014.

 

OF NOTE

The client has successfully raised $14.5 MM to date, with $14 MM of that donated by the National Institute of Health. Preclinical validation has shown that the 30 day histology of the SMP Foam Device is better than the 180 day histology of present coils. 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE CEO INTERVIEW

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