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Print Edition StoriesMonday, March 30, 2009
Life sciences startups pitch at tech transfer conference
By Marc Songini
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Despite the hard times, a dozen medical device and biotech company executives and researchers made their pitch to raise funds to get to market at the Early Stages Life Sciences Conference on Monday.
This is the fifth such event, sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center. The event was held at the Harvard Medical School Conference Center. The technologies showcased included medical imaging, drug delivery, tissue scaffolding, and medical software.
For instance, Lumos Catheter Systems Inc. offers a method of equipping invasive catheters with fiber-optic technology. When the catheter is inserted into a patient, the doctor can actually see what direction the catheter is taking with the naked eye, explained Farhad Imam, the president and chief marketing officer of the Brookline-based company.
He emphasized that most catheter operations are performed blindly, and this is a simple way to make them safer and more effective. The device can use low wavelength light to avoid generating excess heat, he explained. Lumos is currently seeking seed money of $200,000 or a Series A round of $1.3 million with the intention of being acquired by a major catheter manufacturer.
Another device company, gRadiant Research LLC, based in Concord, is looking to eliminate the need for surgery to remove enlarged tonsils. gRadiant is offering a “technology that is fundamentally different” than what is currently in use today, said Kathleen McMillan, the firm’s president. Usually, enlarged tonsils are simply cut out —it’s the most common major surgical procedure for children. However, there are side effects, such as “morbidity” and bleeding and pain.
To address this, gRadiant’s devices apply heat and can slowly shrink the tonsils over the course of several weeks. The operation can be done in a doctor’s office without surgery. This will “revolutionize tonsil treatment,” she said. The company is looking for $3.2 million in funding.
Yet another company, Moma Therapeutics Inc. of Brighton, offers regenerative medicines. Its CEO, Daniel Katzman, explained that its medicine is an injectable, implantable, biodegrable gel that can create a scaffold and reprogram cell functions. These cells, in turn can replace damaged or lost tissue. The lead product, Restogel, will help Moma enter the regenerative tissue market as a cosmetic dermal filler. This means it will be “low risk with a well established market with an appetite for new products,” said Katzman. Currently, he said, the company needs $300,000 for pre-clinical work.
Belmont-based McLean Hospital also has device projects in the works. According to Miles Cunningham, the laboratory director, McLean has a so-called Intracerebral Microinjection device with a minimum-sized cannula diameter to allow very precise injection of drugs into the brain. The IMI can allow direct delivery of gene, stem cell and anti-cancer drugs, he explained, replacing current “primitive methods.” This also decreases potential trauma to the patient. He anticipates this IMI having an initial market of $250 million in the United States. The IMI will be able to go to market in 2010 and needs no more investment cash.
A second system would improve current convection enhanced delivery — or continuous injection — of drugs into the brain. The McLean system would rely on a special computerized guidance system. This market could be worth as much as $100 million. The components of the system are already developed, and the completion of the system will be under $50,000.
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