Article preview from Start-Up - October 1, 2011
Acute ischemic stroke used to be a device category that promised a slow but certain death for start-ups. But there's lots of life in the market, as evidenced by a recent wave of consolidation. Meanwhile, hemorrhagic stroke companies have been perfecting the treatment of cerebral aneurysms.
Article preview from Start-Up - October 1, 2011
Not so long ago, hemorrhagic stroke (the least prevalent variety of stroke) offered the only stroke device market, in the form of endovascular devices for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Today, ischemic stroke is an emerging but real device market in which thrombectomy devices, stents, and clot retrieval devices have roles to play.
Several major companies have put their muscle behind the neurovascular market recently by acquiring stroke companies, including Covidien, Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker. These strategics lend resources to a promising field in which much still remains to be done.
Emerging ischemic stroke companies hope to improve outcomes with devices that increase the speed and rates of vessel recanalization. At the same time, they're aiming for tools that are easier to use than earlier-generation products.
In addition to all of the challenges that the field of stroke has always brought to device developers comes a new risk: technology is changing rapidly. As a result, start-ups with limited resources hope they're making the right bets.
There used to be a wry joke about a particular sector of the medical device industry: what's the number one cause of death for start-up companies? Ischemic stroke. An often lethal or seriously debilitating disease, stroke has had, in the past, nearly the same effect on medtech companies trying to develop devices to open up blocked vessels in the brain. Things aren't nearly so bad now, though, judging by the recent successful exits of some stroke start-ups and the number of large companies that have made major commitments to the space.
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