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  Alumni News and Companies

News from Biodesign Alumni

September 2015
Bryant Lin, the "Dr House" of Stanford, was recently interviewed on KQED. Hear his interview.
July 2015
Congratulations to Amir Belson, 2001-02 fellow. One of his companies, Vascular Pathways, got acquired by C R Bard.
July 2015
Aum Cardio raised $5M to back hand-held in-office coronary artery disease Dx device. Marie Johnson, 2007-08 fellow, is founder and CEO.
July 2015
Oculeve has been acquired by Allergan for $125M upfront plus milestone payments. Congrats to Michael Ackermann, Fellow in 2010-11 year.
July 2015
Clinical trials for the Pelvalon device (developed during the 2009-10 fellowship) are now underway at UAB.
June 2015
AUM Cardiovascular, a company founded by Marie Johnson, 2007-08 fellow, had a successful launch in Germany with their CADence device which detects blocked coronary arteries.
June 2015
Congratulations to Caydian, a company from the 2012-13 fellows, for a seed funding rond of $2.1M! Their product, Lully, is now on the market.
May 2015
Anthony Tang, Singapore fellow from 2011, is featured in a story in the Straits Times of Singapore.
May 2015
Congratulations to Shockwave, a company started by Todd Brinton, 2004-05 Fellow and current Biodesign Fellowship Director, on their Series A Round.
May 2015
New Data Shows iRhythm's ZIO® Service Increases Detection And Diagnosis Of Silent Atrial Fibrillation In High-Risk Patients
April 2015
Tiffany Chao, fellow from 2013-14, co-wrote an article for the BMJ Innovations journal on The impact of intellectual property regulation on global medical technology innovation
April 2015
Congratulations to Ryan Van Wert, alumni fellow from 2011-12, for his recent CTSA grant award for a "High-yield, ultrasound-guided biopsy in the peripheral lung."
April 2015
ClearEar is shipping product! The OtoTip is now being sent to IndieGogo supporters.
March 2015
Intervene, a company launched from the 2009-10 fellowship, has raised a Series A fund of $5.9M to continue development of a catheter-based therapy to correct the underlying cause of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Read the Press release.
Feburary 2015
Contamac Ltd., a leader in the development of specialist polymers and Ocular Dynamics, a company from the 2010-11 fellowship, whose mission is to create technologies which improve comfort for contact lens patients who experience dryness during lens wear, announced a multi-year licensing agreement for incorporating the Hydra-PEG Technology into Contamac’s Hydrogel material offerings. 
February 2015
AUM Cardiovascular, a company founded by Marie Johnson, 2007-8 fellow, received at $25,000 prize from the American Heart Association.
February 2015
Pelvalon, a company from the 2009-10 fellowship, received FDA approval to market Eclipse System for improving bowel control in women.
February 2015
Caydian, a company from the 2013-14 Fellowship year, is announcing Lully, their first product. Lully is a solution for night terrors, which affects 1 in 5 families in the US. Lully is being launched on Thursday, February 26.
January 2015
Congratulations to Marie Johnson, 2007-08 Fellow for being named one of Fast Company's 100 most creative people!
January 2015
Aum Cardiovascular, a company founded by Marie Johnson, 2007-08 Fellow, has received regulatory approval to introduce its CADence System to the European market. See the MedGadget article.
December 2014
iRhythm Technologies, a company based out of the 2005-06 fellowship, has received the CE Mark for ZIO® Service, and has entered their first international market with a CardioLogic Ltd Partnership in the United Kingdom.
November 2014
Madorra (company from the 2013-14 fellowship) has been awarded a SPECTRUM grant for their vaginal atrophy project.
November 2014
Consure, a company from the first year of the Stanford-India BiodesignFellowship, has received FDA clearance for their device.
October 2014
Cala Health, a company out of the 2012-13 Fellowship, was mentioned in an article on Fierce Medical Devices.
October 2014
Study Published in Advances In Wound Care Shows Venus Leg Ulcers Treated With Spiracur's Mechanically Powered Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System Superior to Electrically Powered Systems. Spiracur came out of the program from the 2007 Innovation Course.
October 2014
Prescient Surgical, a wound care startup out of the Biodesign fellowship in 2011-12, has raised about $6 million in funding.
October 2014
After several years of going through the patent prosecution process, Clear Ear's Patent #8840546 was recently granted and issued by the USPTO. In addition, InnovateLTC's Beyond Beta Program resulted in $100k in revenue & an upcoming white paper published in the nursing home space, which is the foundation for market entry into the nursing home arena. They also received "As Seen On TV" which brings Oto-Tip onto mainstream TV distribution channels Medtronic India is testing Clear Ear products in their SHRUTI community health program.
September 2014
Ashish Nimgaonkar, 2010-11 fellow, was presented the AGA Boston Scientific Career Development Technology and Innovation Award. It was the first time that AGA (American Gastroenterology Association) awarded a career development award in technology innovation. The award came with $180K and provides support for research for up to two years. It was given based on the project he started in Biodesign and has continued at Johns Hopkins.
September 2014
Amir Belson, 2001-02 fellow, and Todd Brinton, 2003-04 fellow, were recently awarded best innovative technology for their Qool Therapeutics device at TCT 2014.
September 2014
Congratulations to Ross Venook, 2006-07 fellow, recently appointed lecturer to Bioengineering to help with the Undergraduate Capstone course, the Biodesign collab and other Bioengineering design facilities.
September 2014
Marie Johnson, fellow in 2007-08, is featured in FastCompany for her device company, AUM Medical. Read the article.
August 2014
Congratulations to Jessica Hudak, fellow from 2005-06, for being accepted into Stanford Law School.
August 2014
Clear Ear, a company from the 2011 Innovation Class, was featured in a TechCrunch article entitled Clear Ear’s Products Are Safe Alternatives To Cotton Swabs

They also exceed their fundraising goal in the Indiegogo campaign.
August 2014
Santiago Ocejo, Mexico Fellow in 2006, is starting a new program in Mexico City called Salud Cercana (Health Close to You) focusing on providing low-cost services for low-income patients with cardiovascular risk factors and heart attacks.

Santiago was also recently appointed a Presidential Innovation Fellow for Healthcare to the Mexican Presidency.
July 2014
Clear Ear, a company out of the 2011 Biodesign Innovation Class, has launched an Indiegogo campaign for their Oto-Tip device.
July 2014
Pelvalon, a company from the 2008-09 fellowship, announced results from the LIFE Pivotal Trial at the 2014 AUGS/IUGA Conference. At the 1-month primary endpoint, 79% of patients in the intent-to-treat cohort experienced treatment success
June 2014
Elastagen and Endoluminal Sciences secure $4.5m funding from NSW Health Medical Devices Fund. sumo.ly/Mo0
May 2014
NuVention, a program at Northwestern started by Biodesign alumni Swami Gnanashanmugam, gets high marks for innovation in this article "Inside Northwestern's Startup Machine."
May 2014
iRhythm has caught the attention of Francis Collins, Director of the NIH. Read about his comments in an article on IRhythm's monitor wins patients' hearts.
May 2014
AUM Cardiovascular was named The New Economy Global Healthcare Awards 2014/Best Company in Coronary Artery Disease Innovation 2014. It was founded by Marie Johnson, our fellow from 2007-08.
May 2014
iRhythm Technologies closed a$17 million Series E financing round.
Apr 2014
ClearEar has reached several milestones including FDA approval and clinical trial success with more than100 patients. Their work to help identify hearing issues in India is also significant as shown in this article.
Mar 2014
Sid Sinha and Ravi Pamnani (2010-11 Fellows) received a Coulter grant for their work in targeted topical therapy to treat inflammatory bowel disease.
 
Mar 2014
Oculeve, a company from the 2010-11 Fellowship, reports a $16.8M Series B closing this month.
Mar 2014
Congratulations to BioTrace Medical, a company founded by fellows from the 2009-10 fellowship year, on their recent Series A Funding round. The financing will help move the company to First-In-Human and the seeking of regulatory approvals. BioTrace Medical produces a novel pacing technology.. Former fellows Aravind Swaminathan, MD and Ellis Garai are the company’s founders.
Feb 2014
iRhythm's device, the Zio Patch, was featured in an ABC7 Feature. See the newscast on the ABC7 website. AETNA, the third largest health plan in the United States has issued a positive coverage policy for long-term continuous monitoring of patients with suspected heart arrhythmias, which includes use of the ZIO Patch service. The device has been used with 200,000 patients as of this month.
Nov 2013
Dan Riskin, 04-05 Fellow, is quoted in an article on Google Glass and medtech apps.
Oct 2013
Spiracur and Century Medical Announce Multiple SNaP System Sales in Japan After Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Grants Reimbursement. See the press release.
Sept 2013
Endoluminal Sciences has issued a license to Symetis for their transcatheter aortic valve sealing technology. In return Symetis will include the Endoluminal technology onto its transcatheter aortic valve product platform. Read the press release.
Sept 2013
Mr. Partha Ray (Fellow from 2009-10)Strategic Marketing, Revive Defibrillation Systems; Entrepreneur-in- Residence, Life Science Angels will be speaking at the Center for Healthcare Innovation’s (CHI) 4th annual China, India, & U.S. Life Science Markets Symposium on Thursday, October 24, 2013 in San Francisco.
 
June 2013
Dan Azagury, Fellow from 2010-11, will be joining the faculty of the new Design Health Barcelona program that has been started in Catalonia region of Spain. The DHB program is modeled after Stanford Biodesign.
May 2013
Fellow from 2010-11, Garrett Smith's dental implant start-up Nasseo submitted a 510(k) and raised $500K. He has also a new software start-up called CRIXlabs that is in the finals for the Rock Health Incubator.
April 2013
IRhythm Raises $16M to Ramp Up Heart-Monitor Sales
IRhythm Technologies Inc ., started by a fellowship invention in 2006, has developed a lightweight monitor to diagnose arhythmia. Today they announced that they raised a $16 million Series D round to expand commercially and develop new applications.
April 2013
Sandy Ruggles, 2009-2010 Fellow has been named Sr Manager, Global Strategic Marketing at Acclarent.
February 2013
Prescient, a new company founded by the 2012-13 Fellows White Team, has been accepted into the Fogarty Institute for Innovation.
February 2013
Joelle Barral (Fellow 2010-11) is co-author on a paper: Cost-effectiveness landscape analysis of treatments addressing xerostomia in patients receiving head and neck radiation therapy, which has been accepted into the Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology Journal.
 
January 2013
Justin Phoon (SSB Fellow 2012) has joined QIG Group, a subsidiary of Greatbatch.
November 2012
Matthew Callaghan's (2008-09 Fellow) OneBreath device is featured in a story entitled What Is eBay’s Omidyar Doing on Delhi’s MedTech Row? in NY Times India Ink blog.
November 2012
iRhythm Technologies, Inc. announced that the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) has made a $1.5 million investment in the Company to support the study and use of the Zio® Patch ambulatory cardiac rhythm monitor in public hospital, outpatient and rural settings.
November 2012
Spiracur announced today that the CMS has established two new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) using a mechanically-powered device.
November 2012
Marie Johnson, Fellow 2007-08, has launched a website for her company, AUM Cardio, featuring Cadence™, a detection device for heard disease.
November 2012
Nish Chasmawala, SIB Fellows 2008, is featured in an article entitled LifeSaving Tools, Made in India.
October 2012
Congratulations to Michael Ackermann, Fellow 2010-11, on raising the first round of venture funding for Oculeve.
October 2012
The Biodesign Alumni blog is getting a lot of hits these days, thanks to an article entitled "Death of a Medtech Salesman", by Evan Anderson, 2003-04 Fellow.
September 2012
Congratulations to John White, 2005-06 Fellow, on the birth of his daughter, Ruby White.
August 2012
Santiago Ocejo, Mexico Fellow in 2006-07, is now an MBA Candidate at Harvard Business School.
June 2012
Jake Brenner, 2008-09 Fellow, has been accepted into a Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at Univeristy of Pennsylvania
June 2012
Joseph Knight, 2005-06 Fellow, is collaborating with Junior Achievement South Africa through the newly founded non-profit Innovation Education International (IEI) to teach innovation.
June 2012
Darin Buxbaum, founder of Hourglass Technologies(based on technology from the Innovation class), was recently named top 40 inventors under 40 by MDDI. Jason Buelow, who also took the Biodesign Innovation class, is also on the list.
June 2012
HeartVista, a company started by William Overall, 2002-03 Fellow, received Series A funding. Joelle Barral, 20010-11 Fellow also is part of the company.
May 2012
Marie Johnson, Biodesign Fellow 07-08, was featured on Channel 5 news for her latest device. See the broadcast.
May 2012
Garrett Smith, Biodesign Fellow 2010-11, recently founded a new company based on his PhD work from UC San Diego. The company, Nasseo, Inc, has a product that reduces dental implant failures. His device was also entered in the UCSD Entrepreneur Challenge Executive Summary Competition and won first prize: $2500 cash, $5,000 legal. Garrett is also currently on a Whitaker Fellowship to help BioInnovate Ireland, a program that Biodesign supported through its inception.
April 2012
Clear Ear, a company started out of the 2010-11 Biodesign class, has received funding from a Biodesign internal grant (through C-IDEA's Global Exchange Program), from StartX and from the Fogarty Institute.
March 2012
Simpirica, company developed from 2006-07 technology of the Biodesign class and developer of minimally invasive, flexion-restricting stabilization devices for the spine, has announced US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to begin an investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal trial. An article in InVivo discusses latest developments.
March 2012
Darin Buxbaum of HourGlass Technologies, founded from the Innovation class in 2007, will be speaking at the Third Annual Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference - March 28th 2012 at San Jose State University.
March 2012
iRhythm, founded by Biodesign Fellows in 2006, is a featured company in the 2010/11 annual report of Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing.
January 18-20, 2012
Zach Malchano is speaking at the Health Innovation Summit in San Francisco.
November 29, 2011
Jessica Hudak, Fellow from 05-06, spoke at the Bio2DeviceGroup (www.bio2devicegroup.org) about the Biodesign Process.
November 8, 2011
Spiracur, company formed from 2007 Innovation Class, has introduced SNaP® BLUE Foam Dressing Kit at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC).
October 31, 2011
Medici Medical Technologies, whose core technology is based on a 2006 Biodesign concept, has secured a $200k investment commitment towards its seed round of $600k. It aims to use these funds to deliver a completed, working prototype and First-in-Man feasibility study. Medici previously obtained a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance to develop several real-sized prototypes. The company is founded by Joseph Knight and Bryant Lin from the 05-06 Fellowship year.
October 16, 2011
iRhythm Technologies has raised an additional $7 million in its Series C Equity Round, led by Kaiser Permanente Ventures. Total Series C is now $22M.
October 4, 2011
Spiracur has donated 25 SNaP Wound Care Systems for UCSF IGOT use and training in Tanzania. The expeditions to Tanzania and other developing countries are part of a large-scale study to understand patient care and assess the burden of disease in resource-poor countries in comparison to resource-rich countries.
September 22, 2011
Simpirica Spine has closed a $22M C round of funding led by new investor Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). Existing investors De Novo Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) also participated in this round.
September 19, 2011
Congratulations to Niveus Medical, company founded by Brian Fahey from 07-08 Fellowship, for their recent funding round. Niveus receive $600,000 from HealthTech Capital.
September 13, 2011
Spiracur is featured inToday's Wound Clinic in an article entitled 'An Inside Look at Spiracur.'
September 10, 2011
AUM Medical, a device company founded by Fellow Marie Johnson, Fellow 07-08, has taken first prize in the prestigious Minnesota Cup. AUM Medical's technology is an economical, non-invasive device that identifies lethal coronary blockages. Read an article about the history of the device creation.
September 1, 2011
Driptech, start up from former Collab TA Peter Frykman, is turning 3 and to celebrate just won Series A funding. Congrats to Driptech!
August 24, 2011
InSite Medical has received a CE Mark for their Epiphany Epidural Access System.
August 2, 2011
iRhythm is featured in an article entitled Heart Monitors Pose Miniaturization Challenge in DesignNews.
July 26, 2011
Niveus is featured in an article entitled Stretching Dollars As A Small Health-Care Fund.
July, 2011
Marie Johnson has founded AUM Cardiovascular, Inc.
July 13, 2011
Health Canada Issues medical device license to Spiracur Inc. for SNaP Wound Care System.
May 26, 2011
A baby girl, Josephine Rose Hudak, was born to JessicaHudak (2005-06 Fellow).
May 15, 2011
Ellis Garai 2009-11 Fellow, invented a device that can be used by clinicians to administer Raman nanoparticles toenhance imaging techniques that could help identify tumor areas during colonoscopies. Read more.
May 3, 2011
iRhythm Technologies, Inc., a company that was started from technology of the 05-06 Fellows and founded by Uday Kumar, just announced it has raised $15 million in a Series C private equity financing.
May 1, 2011
Endoluminal Sciences is featured in Start-Up Magazine. They have developed a polymer-based "active sealing" technology called ELS SEAL that can be applied to existing EVAR devices to enhance the long-term durability of the seal against the vessel wall. Read more.
April 12, 2011
Spiracur Inc., the developer of an ultraportable and disposable negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) device, and Highmark Inc., one of Pennsylvania’s leading health insurers, today announced new coverage for the SNaP® Wound Care System and related supplies.
March 21, 2011
The patent application on an Endoluminal Delivery System from the Biodesign Class of 2005 (that lead to establishment of Endoluminal Sciences) has been accepted by the USPTO.
March 16, 2011
Spiracur, the developer of an ultraportable and disposable negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) device, announced that it has been awarded the prestigious American Podiatric Medical Association's (APMA) Seal of Approval for its innovative SNaP® Wound Care System.
February 22, 2011
Insite Medical Technologies was awarded $500,000 through the government's SBIR program for small businesses. This Phase II SBIR is awarded for "improving the safety and efficacy of epidural anesthesia."
February 12, 2011
William Overall, 2002-3 Fellow, has joined HeartVista, a medtech startup in the bay area, as CTO.
February 1, 2011
Spiracur announced that it has raised $35M in its next series of funding. Investors include New York-based Maverick Capital Ltd., Pinnacle Ventures, De Novo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Leaf Venture Partners.
January 1, 2011
Zachary Edmonds, 2007-08 Fellow, was promoted to Partner within the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
January 25, 2011
Spiracur, a company formed from the Biodesign Innovation class in 2007, has secured CE Mark approval for SNaP Wound Care System.
January 24, 2011
Dorothea Koh, 2007-08 Fellow, has recently transitioned to Medtronic to be their International Senior Market Development Manager. She'll continue to reside in Singapore.
January 21, 2011
Former student, Juan-Pablo Mas, has joined Morgenthaler Ventures. In his email that he wrote to inform us of the move he said "The class and the process fundamentally changed what I wanted to do with my life, and I know I’m not the only student that can say that."
January 18, 2011
Spiracur, a company founded from the 2006-07 Innovation Class, announced it has been added to Marathon Medical's existing Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract, administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Read the press release.
January 4, 2011
Santiago Ocejo, Global Fellow in 2006-07, has been invited to WHO at Geneva as a consultant to their initiative on Medical Devices for developing countries. He was invited to evaluate 84 technologies from all around the world that are applicable or designed for developing countries.
January 3, 2011
Boston Scientific Corp. said Tuesday is completed its acquisition of heart valve replacement device developer Sadra Medical Inc. Ken Martin, Fellow 04-05, is CEO of Sadra.
January 2, 2011
Driptech, the low cost drip irrigation system invented by Peter Frykman, former TA to the Biodesign Innovaiton class, recently revisited the Shanxi farmers in northern China after one planting season of using Driptech. They conducted an extensive survey and found that on average, farmers were using 30-50% less water and increasing their yields by 30%.
December 2010
The FDA has downclassified the Spiracur SNaP Wound Healing device to Class II (from Class III.)
November 19, 2010
Boston Scientific Corp. agreed to acquire closely held Sadra Medical Inc. for as much as $386 million to compete in the $2.1 billion market for implantable cardiac valves that don’t require open-heart surgery. Ken Martin, Biodesign Fellow 2004-05, is the CEO of Sadra.
November 1, 2010
Vascular Pathways, a company founded by Amir Belson (Fellow 2002-03), gets $14M in Series B equity funding.
September 29, 2010
Spiracur, Inc. today announced important results from a clinical study highlighting the safety and efficacy of its SNaP Wound Care System for the treatment of chronic lower extremity wounds. The data was presented this week at the Fall 2010 Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) in Anaheim, Calif.
September 28, 2010
Christian Eversull (Fellow, 2001-02) has been appointed as Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Medicine at Stanford. He also received a Teaching Excellence Award from the School of Medicine.
May 13, 2010
St. Jude Medical, Inc. and iRhythm Technologies, Inc. announced today they have entered into partnership with a focus on iRhythm's Zio(TM) Patch. iRhythm also announced closure of a $10 million private equity round of financing, which was led by St. Jude Medical and included existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures and Synergy Life Science Partners. Proceeds will be used to support the commercial launch of the Zio Patch. The announcement was made concurrent with Heart Rhythm 2010, the Heart Rhythm Society's 31st Annual Scientific Sessions, in Denver.
April 10, 2010
iRhythm, a company that was started from technology of the 05-06 Fellows and founded by Uday Kumar, has been awarded the Medical Design Excellence Award for 2010. The awards are announced in the April issue of Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry magazine.
February 20, 2010
InSite Medical Technologies, maker of a medical device used to safely deliver epidural anesthesia during childbirth and other procedures started by the 2007 Fellows, has just brought in $1.06 million of an expected $2.08 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC.
January 2010
Brian Fahey, Marie Johnson and Ross Venook are quoted in an article in The Scientist, Monetize your Science.
October 2009
Darin Buxbaum, Student in 2007, will be featured on a panel in the GSB class " Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities" talking about opportunities in the healthcare industry.
October 2009
Bryant Lin, 05-06 Fellow, has been promoted to Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University's Medical Center.
November 2009
Biodesign Alumni Association starts a blog.
August 2009
Insite is pleased to announce that they have just completed their feasibility trial in humans for the Epiphany epidural system. They treated 7 patients with overwhelming success in accessing the epidural space with no major complications. We will be moving onto design modifications for a commercial device, 510(k) submission and further fund raising.
July 2009
Jake Brenner, 2008-09 fellow, is featured in an article on the School of Medicine website.
August 2009
David Miller, 01-02 Fellow, has recently moved to Austin Texas, to join Apollo Endosurgery. He is a program manager there.
June 2009
Spiracur, developer of a device used to heal small wounds effectively, has brought in $20.3 million in a second round of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Leaf Venture Partners and De Novo Ventures. Spiracur has raised $24.3 million since its inception in 2007.
May 2009
Sadra Medical, whose CEO is Ken Martin, 05 Fellow, announced it has raised $30 million in new investment capital.
April 2009
Driptech, the company started by Peter Frykman, former TA for Biodesign, is progressing to the final round of the Stanford Social E Challenge.  Judges awarded the project one of the top 6 spots.  The top 3 will share a pool of $50k as divided by the judges. 
April 2009
InSite Medical Technologies has just completed a feasibility trial in humans for the Epiphany epidural system. They treated 7 patients with overwhelming success in accessing the epidural space and no major complications. Next steps include design modifications for a commercial device, 510(k) submission and further fundraising.
March 2009
Steve Eichmann, 06-07 Fellow, has been promoted to Industrial Design Director, WorldWide R&D for J&J/Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. His image is used on their advertising at ASCRS.
Feb 2009
Uday Kumar and iRhythm are featured in an article in the California Healthcare Institute's California Biomedical Industry 2009 Report. Read full article.
Jan 2009
InSite Medical Technologies (from Fellows, year 2006-07) just received an SBIR phase II grant from the NSF for $500K. They are planning to perform their first human use in March and hope to push through a 510(k) by summer.
Dec 2008
Shubhayu Basu has joined the global Cardiovascular Innovation Center which is a statewide effort to create medical device related companies and expertise in the cardiovascular arena in the state of Ohio. The CIC is currently housed within the Cleveland Clinic.
Nov 2008
Dan Riskin has been appointed Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Dan will focus on healthcare information systems and business
models.
Oct 2008
StemCor Signs Agreement With Hospira to Market New Medical Device to Oncologists and Hematologists. StemCor Systems, Inc., a medical device company developing systems for Enabling Regenerative Medicine(TM), announced that it has signed an agreement with Hospira, Inc. to develop and commercialize StemCor's proprietary system for the harvest of bone marrow.
Oct 2008
Akshay Mavani, 07 Biodesign Student, has founded CuraSeal Inc. an Advanced Fistula Closure Systems company. Initial seed funding has been raised and they are now on track to submit for a 510K approval for the new device. Mavani was formerly involved with Spiracur.
Sep 2008
Jessica Connor, 05-06 Fellow, has joined both Baxano, Inc. as their Intellectual Property Manager and Shay Glenn, LLP as a Patent Agent. Baxano, Inc. is a medical device start up developing tools to restore spine function and preserve healthy tissue. Shay Glenn, LLP is an intellectual property law firm representing early stage medical device companies, the entrepreneurs who found them and the investors who fund them.
Sep 2008
Aimee Angel, 02-03 Fellow, leaves Hong Kong and is promoted to "National Marketing Manager, Australia and New Zealand" for Abbott. She will be based in Sydney.
Aug 2008
Bilal Shafi, 05-07 Fellow, was selected as one of MIT Technology Review's Top 35 Innovators under 35. An article and video are on the TechReview website. Read the press release (pdf).
July 2008
Evan Anderson, 02-03 Fellow, recently moved to Spiracur, a Biodesign spinoff. He will be Manager, R&D.
June 2008
Ashish Mitra and Martin Ng, former Biodesign students, have co-founded Endoluminal Sciences to further develop the technology they began in Biodesign. They are based in Sydney, Australia and have recently received $2 Million in backing from GBS Venture Partners in Melbourne.
June 2008
Marie Johnson, 07-08 Fellow, is now Director of Fellowships for University of Minnesota's new Medical Device Center. Read the press.
May 2008
Joe Knight, 06-07 Fellow, has been invited by the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Masinde Muliro University of Science and technology in Kakanega, Kenya as a guest lecturer on the art of innovation.
January 2008
Aimee Angel, 02-03 Fellow, has been transferred to Hong Kong to be Product Marketing Manager for Abbott Vascular's Drug Eluting Stent in the Asia Pacific region.
October 2007
Former Biodesign student, Theo Tam, created his own medical device while at Duke University. He started ImaGyn, a company founded on an effective and affordable device called the cerviScope. This device will assist clinicians in developing worlds in the early detection of cervical cancer. Utilizing this device, the examination can be completed in minutes eliminating the need for laboratory evaluation which can take days to produce results.
March 2007
John MacMahon, former student and co-founder of Kerberos Proximal Solutions, has recently been appointed CEO for Mitralign.
March 2006
NeoGuide Medical Systems, a device company started by Amir Belson and Matt Ohline recently received FDA approval for their device, an articulated, robotic colonoscope system.
February 2006
Innovation Fellow Alumnus (01/02) David Miller’s company, Innospine, was recently acquired by Kyphon.

Biodesign-formed Companies

The following companies have been formed by graduates of the Stanford Biodesign Program fellowship or by students in the Biodesign Innovation class or by students who have projects sponsored by Biodesign in the Medical Device & Evaluation course.


Acumen Acumen Medical
Visualizing and cannulating the Coronary Sinus to facilitate LV Lead delivery
Company founded: 2002
Product name: Insight
Number of patients treated: 5000
Founders: Chris Eversull, 01-02 Fellow, Nick Mourlas, 01-02 Fellow, Steve Leeflang
Status: Acquired

Kerberos Kerberos Proximal Solutions
Device removes blood clot material that develops during treatment of coronary and peripheral artery blockages. Significantly reduces stroke complications and other resulting neurological deficits.
Company founded: 2001
Product name:  Rinspiration System
Number of patients treated:  15,000
Founders: John MacMahon, Thomas Goff, 02-03 Biodesign students, Brian Courtney
Status: Acquired by Foxhollow

Innospine Innospine
Catheter system for the functional Anaesthetic Discography™ Procedure
Company founded: 2001
Product name:  Discyphor
Number of patients treated: 7,000
Founders: Todd Alamin and David Miller, 01-02 Fellow
Status: Acquired by Kyphon

NeoGuide NeoGuide
Colonoscopy device with real-time pathway tracking. Increased patient comfort while allowing endoscopists to visualize more of the colon than previously. Doctors can more precisely locate and treat polyps and cancerous lesions.
Company founded: 2002 Sold to Intuitive Surgical
Number of patients treated: 12
Founders: Amir Belson, 01-02 Fellow, Matt Ohline, 01-02 Stanford student
Status: Acquired

Stemcor Stemcor Systems now RegenMed
System for the minimally invasive harvest of bone marrow stem cells
Company founded: 2003
Product name: MarrowMiner
Number of patients treated: 31
Founders: Daniel Kraft, Mike Crocker, Vartan Ghazarossian, Ken Kelly, 05-06 Biodesign students; Craig Milroy

SimpiricaSimpirica Spine
Device to treat disk herniation
Year started: 2006
Founders: Louis Fielding, Colin Cahill, Ian Bennett, Todd Alamin
Status: Series C

iRhythm iRhythm Technologies, Inc.
To help physicians detect and diagnose arrhythmias
Company founded: 2006
Number of patients treated: 10,000
Founder: Uday N. Kumar, MD, 05-06 Fellow
Status:
Zio Patch The Zio Patch FDA approved in 2009. C-Round funding obtained in 2011, Series E Funding in 2014.


InSite InSite Medical Technologies
Epidural delivery system
Company founded: 2007
Product name: Epiphany
Number of patients treated: 7
Founders: James Wall, Ken Wu, Zach Malchano, Steve Eichmann, 06-07 Fellows
Status: In Hibernation

Spiracur Spiracur
Wound care company
Company founded: 2007
Number of patients treated: 300
Founders: Dean Hu, Moshe Pinto, Kenton Fong, 06-07 Biodesign Students
Status: Series C, New CMS Codes released for device

Endoluminal Sciences Endoluminal Sciences
Endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysms, valves and endovascular drug delivery
Project started: 2005
Company founded: 2007
No. of patients treated: 0
Founders: Ashish Mitra, Martin Ng, 05-06 Biodesign students. Other team members from course: Alex Butterwick and John White, 05-06 Fellow
Status: Shared $4.5 round going to Elastagen and Endoluminal

Curant logo Curant
Minimally invasive urinary implant that automatically activates and prevents leakage in response to stressful events which typically cause incontinence.
Company founded: 2007
No. of patients treated: 0
Founders: Richard Vecchiotti, 06-07 Fellow. Other team members include Venita Chandra, 06-07 Fellow

HourGlass Technologies HourGlass Technologies
Minimally invasive treatments for obesity.
Company founded: 2007
Founders: Darin Buxbaum, Charles Hsu, Fan Zhang, Ivan Tzvetanov
Status: Closed

Niveus Niveus Medical
A device to preserve muscle mass and strength in intensive care-unit patients.
Company founded: 2008
Founders: Brian Fahey, 2007-08 Fellow
Status: Seed funding from Fogarty and Altos; Series A from HealthTech Capital.
Website: http://niveusmedical.com

Materna Materna
Developing the first device to prevent perineal lacerations and pelvic floor trauma during childbirth
Company founded: 2010
Founder: Mark Juravic (other inventors: Lauren Aquino Shluzas, Santiago Ocejo, David Meister, Kerry O'Connor)
Status: Series A

Pelvalon Pelvalon
Company founded: 2010
Founder: Miles Rosen, Jake Brenner, Steve Herbowy
Status: Series B; Clinical data on > 100 patients

Orpheus Orpheus Medical
Hemorrhoids treatment device
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Greg Magee, Jake Brenner, Ruey Peh, Erika Palmer
Status: Deal struck with Incuvate, a medtech incubator providing funding and an experienced management team.

Miret Miret Surgical
Non-invasive surgical tools
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Avi Roop, Kevin Chao (2008-09 Fellows)
Status: Series A

InterVene InterVene
Device to treat deep vein insufficiency
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Fletcher Wilson (2009-10 Fellow)
Status: at Fogarty Institute for Innovation; Series A

OneBreath OneBreath
Low Cost Ventilator
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Matthew Callaghan (2008-09 Biodesign Fellow)
Status: Series A

Consure Medical Consure Medical
Fecal Incontinence device
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Nish Chasmawala, Amit Sharma, Sandeep Singh (2008 SIB Fellows)
Status: Technology licensed from Govt of India, Series A ; FDA Clearance
 

ClearEar ClearEar
Cleaning device for impacted earwax
Company founded: 2012
Founders: Vandana Jain, Lily Truong, Evan Luxon (Biodesign class 2011)
Status: Angel Funding, IndieGogo Campaign

PuraCath Logo PuraCath
Disinfection device for peritoneal dialysis and other catheter applications
Company founded: 2012
Founders: Julia Rasooly (Biodesign class 2010)
Status: SBIR Phase I/ II funding, Series A

Oculeve Logo Oculeve
Device to treat moderate to severe dry eye
Company founded: 2012
Founders: Michael Ackermann, Garrett Smith, Victor McCray, and Brandon Felkins (2010-11 Fellows)
Status: Acquired by Allergan in 2015

Ocular Dynamics Logo Ocular Dynamics
Device to treat moderate dry eye
Company founded: 2012
Founders: Michael Ackermann, Garrett Smith, Victor McCray, and Brandon Felkins (2010-11 Fellows)
Status: Angel

Windmill Logo
Windmill Technologies
Pediatric Resuscitation
Product: NeoBreathe
Company founded: 2012
Founders: Ayesha Chaudhary, Avijit Bansal (2011 SIB Fellows)
Status: Major Foundation funding

Prescient Surgical Prescient Surgical
Surgical Site Protection
Product: CleanCision
Company founded: 2013
Founders: Jonathan Coe, Insoo Suh, Jeremy Koehler, Swami Gnanashanmugam (2011-12 Fellows)
Status: Angel, Clinical Trials
Website: http://prescientsurgical.com/

Lymph/Axis
Lymphatic drain
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Matthew Callaghan (2008-11 Fellow)
Status: SBIR

IndioLabs IndioLabs
Biopsy device
Product: BioScoop
Company founded: 2013
Founders: Siraj Bagwan (2012 SIB Fellows)
Status: Series A

BioTraceBioTrace Medical
Novel pacing technology.
Product: BioTrace
Company founded: 2014
Founders: Aravind Swaminathan, Ellis Garai (2009-10 Fellows)
Status: Series A

CielMedical Ciel Medical
Prevention of Ventilator Assisted Pneumonia
Product: Bronchoguard
Company founded: 2014
Founders: Kate Garrett, Dan Azagury (2011-12 Fellows)
Status: Series A

KoliKoli
Cholelithiasis treatment (gallstones)
Company founded: 2011
Founders: Matthew Callaghan (2008-11 Fellow), Christopher Cheng
Status: SBIR

CalaCala Health
Wearable therapy for hand tremor
Company founded: 2014
Founder: Kate Rosenbluth (2012-13 Fellow)
Status: Series A

VyncaVynca
Accessible, electronic advance care planning documentation
Company founded: 2013
Founders: Rush Bartlett, Ryan Van Wert (2012-13 Fellows)
Status: Seed Funding

CaydianCaydian
Night Terror Prevention
Product: Lully
Company founded: 2014
Founders: Andy Rink (2012-14 Fellow), Varun Boriah(2013-14 Fellow)
Status: Seed Round; Product launched Feb, 2015


Zenflow Zenflow
Treatment for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH)
Product:
Company founded: 2014
Founders: Shreya Mehta, Nick Damiano (2013-14 Fellows)
Status: Seed Funding
Updated: 6/1/15