Redaktion
The project management is responsible for the content of the information provided.
Kooperation
This project, funded by Gebert Rüf Stiftung, is supported by the following project partners: University of Zürich, Universitätsspital Zürich, Venture Kick, Therapy Development Accelerator Zürich, UZH Incubator lab, BRIDGE proof of concept, Innosuisse
Projektdaten
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Projekt-Nr: GRS-068/19
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Förderbeitrag: CHF 150'000
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Bewilligung: 30.10.2019
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Dauer: 06.2020 - 05.2021
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Handlungsfeld:
InnoBooster, seit 2018
Projektleitung
Abstract
Recent development in pre-natal diagnosis and therapy enable the detection and the treatment of life-threatening congenital diseases on fetuses during pregnancy. Those minimally invasive interventions in the womb, called fetoscopies, come along with a 80% risk of preterm birth related to the perforation of the fetal membrane through the insertion of the medical instruments. This important collateral effect is a critical limitation for those fetoscopies and for the development of more sophisticated fetal surgeries. Our innovative technology prevents membrane rupture following fetoscopies, which will help fighting against fetal morbidity and mortality and unleash the potential of fetoscopy.
Was ist das Besondere an diesem Projekt?
As we speak, nothing is done to secure the hole, which is left open after the intervention. The innovative strategy developed by our lab consists of placing a sealing material at the site of puncture utilizing a proprietary device following a fetoscopic intervention, which would prevent iPPROM. Despite very promising initial results concerning sealing materials in previous studies, a major limitation resided in the difficulty of application of injectable glues inside of a cavity. We overcame this burden by developing a device that enables the very precise deposition of sealing material at the exact spot of puncture.
Fetal surgery is a treatment method that will evolve into standard of care in the next decades. The perspective of having a high failure rate due to preterm fetal membrane rupture is unimaginable. The establishment of a method to prevent this to happen appears to be a necessary step to unleash the potential of those surgical procedures. A lasting impact will depend on the efficient and fast market entry of our future start-up, which can be achieved thanks to this funding.
Stand/Resultate
We demonstrated the feasibility of this method on an in vivo pregnant sheep model. The successful application of the sealing device demonstrated encouraging results and motivated the request for more funding to accelerate its market entry. Thank to the additional funding received by the Venture Kick, KOVE could hire a senior entrepreneur to lead the product development respecting a quality management system under the certification of ISO 13485. In parallel, the clinical strategy is being developed. KOVE is planned to be incorporated in the summer of 2020 and raise its seed round in late 2020.
Publikationen
Minimally Invasive Surgical Device for Precise Application of Bioadhesives to Prevent iPPROM. PMID: 29920508
Medienecho
Links
Am Projekt beteiligte Personen
Letzte Aktualisierung dieser Projektdarstellung 26.08.2020