Despite Setbacks, Emphysema Devices Find Funding

Article preview from Medtech Insight - February , 2012

Minimally invasive emphysema devices have seen their ups and downs over the years, but despite technological and regulatory challenges, VCs continue to fund these devices, with investments driven by the market opportunity, huge unmet clinical need, and promising technologies.

Despite Setbacks, Emphysema Devices Find Funding

Article preview from Medtech Insight - February , 2012

For innovators and investors, the path to developing a minimally invasive device for treating emphysema has been filled with both opportunity and obstacles. The market opportunity is vast. The global incidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes emphysema, is on the rise and will become the third leading cause of death by 2030. In the US, where nearly five million people are diagnosed with emphysema, the direct and indirect costs of COPD reached almost $50 billion in 2010, and the prevalence of patients with severe and very severe emphysema in key markets worldwide is estimated at more than 1.5 million, according to Uptake Medical Corp., a competitor in this space.

Over the last 10 years, venture capitalists have tried to tap into this opportunity and have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this space. But bringing these devices to the US market has proved harder than anyone originally thought. A challenging regulatory process, technological difficulties, and less than stellar clinical data resulted in some high profile setbacks, taking the sheen off these devices in the eyes of some investors. Despite these difficulties, it has been a learning process that has made the remaining companies all the wiser, and pulmonary device companies and venture capitalists are using this knowledge to continue to innovate and invest in minimally invasive treatment options for emphysema and other chronic progressive lung disease.

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