Orthopedic Pediatric Companies Receive Funding from Pitch Competition

Orthopedic pediatric care received recognition with announcement of the winners of The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation’s (NCC-PDI) pitch competition. Five winners each received $50,000 in grant funding as well as access to the consortium’s “Pediatric Device Innovator Accelerator Program” led by MedTech Innovator.

The 2019 NCC-PDI “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition winners are:

AMB Surgical
Dayton, Ohio

  • FLYTE, a growing rod implant designed to reduce invasive and repetitive surgery in children and teens with orthopedic illnesses such as scoliosis and limb abnormalities

Auctus Surgical
San Francisco, California

  • Auctus Surgical Dynamic Spinal Tethering System, a mechanism used to correct the scoliotic spine in pediatric patients through a tethering procedure

ApiFix
Boston, Massachusetts

  • ApiFix’s Minimally Invasive Deformity Correction (MID-C) System, a posterior dynamic deformity correction system for surgical treatment to provide permanent spinal curve correction while retaining flexibility

Children’s National Health System
Washington, D.C.

  • Babysteps platform to improve initial assessment of clubfoot deformity and predict the magnitude of correction

nView Medical
Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Surgical scanner using artificial intelligence-based image creation to provide instant 3D imaging during surgery for improved imagery speed and accuracy

A panel of 32 expert judges from business, healthcare, regulatory and legal sectors selected the winners based on the clinical significance and commercial feasibility of the medical devices. Winners were selected from a pool of 12 finalists, all of which presented their technology to the panel of judges. Following the presentations, posed questions about the quality and feasibility of the technology, approach to development, company structure, current resources and plans to secure additional funding.

The 12 finalists in the competition were:

  • ActivArmor, 3D printed casts and splints
  • Adallo Spine, self-adaptive growing rod for pediatric scoliosis
  • AMB Surgical, FLYTE growing rod implant
  • ApiFix, Minimally Invasive Deformity Correction (MID-C) System
  • Auctus Surgical, Dynamic vertebral body Tethering System
  • Children’s National Health System, Babysteps predictive modeling platform
  •  Intellirod Spine, iLink Force Sensor with mobile app interface for pediatric scoliosis braces
  • Materialise, SurgiCase Orthopaedics case management system
  • Mighty Oak Medical, FIREFLY 3D printed, patient-specific pedicle screw navigation guide
  • Nostopharma, 3D bioprinted gel for localized and controlled release of regenerative medications
  • nView Medical, Insta-3D surgical scanner
  • OCBrace, 4D ultrasound brace design system for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

“We believe that, with NCC-PDI’s support, some of the awarded devices will be available to orthopedic and spine clinicians in the near future and that’s important since innovation has been stagnant in this area,” said Kolaleh Eskandania, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Children’s National and Principal Investigator of NCC-PDI.

NCC-PDI is one of five FDA pediatric device consortia grant programs to support development and commercialization of pediatric-focused products. FDA has identified the pediatric orthopedic and spine sector as an emerging and underserved specialty that lacks innovation. Orthopedic device companies have recognized this gap too, and established players and startups are seeking to enter the market with new products, particularly in spine and trauma.

The NCC-PDI winners benefit from the capital as well as additional resources to aid their road to market. Specifically, they have access to mentorship from industry’s leading executives and investors through MedTech Innovator.

“This is our first time creating an accelerator track specifically for pediatrics in conjunction with NCC-PDI, and we believe that our combined experiences and network provide an opportunity for these winning innovators that puts them on a guided path to reaching patients,” said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator and one of the judges of the competition.

Kim Snell is an ORTHOWORLD Contributing Editor.

 

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