Article preview from IN VIVO - May, 2012
Miramar is employing a conventional product development strategy to create the first device therapy in an unconventional clinical space – hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating. The key: a more rigorous clinical approach than usual in aesthetics. But is the market there?
Article preview from IN VIVO - May, 2012
When Mark E. Deem, a managing partner at The Foundry medical device incubator in Menlo Park, CA, started a literature search several years ago tracking articles on botulinum toxin, he – like most people – had never heard of hyperhidrosis. Deem also had no inkling that this research project would lead to The Foundry Inc. launching its tenth start-up, Sunnyvale, CA-based Miramar Labs Inc., dedicated to treating this little-known but what he subsequently found out to be fairly widespread condition that produces excessive perspiration.
Miramar Labs demonstrates that, even for an organization like The Foundry, with its experienced team of serial inventors/entrepreneurs, the sources for new technologies remain unpredictable. The Foundry has garnered ideas from a variety of sources, internal and external, academic and corporate, physicians and engineers, to produce a number of successful device start-ups, most notably renal denervation for hypertension pioneer Ardian (acquired by Medtronic Inc. for $800 million in cash plus milestones), percutaneous mitral valve leader Evalve (now part of Abbott Laboratories Inc.), and Concentric Medical Inc., an early player in device stroke therapy (acquired by Stryker Corp.). But not even The Foundry’s decision to pursue what was then a novel opportunity in renal denervation could set the stage for a project in the unlikely clinical space of hyperhidrosis.
In the case of Miramar, The Foundry is breaking new ground by tackling a condition that currently is treated only with either drugs or surgery – there is no lasting device-based therapy. But in the process, the incubator is venturing into a clinical area, aesthetics, where success has been elusive. Device start-ups have long been attracted to this area, primarily by its private pay model that obviates the need for reimbursement; however, many have run aground, frequently because they failed to deliver the promised outcomes.
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