Vixiar Medical™ Receives BioMaryland Development Award for Non-invasive Heart Failure Monitor
(PRWEB) February 09, 2015 -- Vixiar Medical, Inc. announced today that it was awarded a $200,000 grant by the State of Maryland to accelerate the commercialization of its non-invasive congestive heart failure (CHF) device. The BioMaryland Center made the awards on a competitive basis to six life sciences companies, with preference given to projects that improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs.
The Vixiar product, based on technology licensed from Johns Hopkins University, allows rapid and repetitive assessment of cardiac filling pressures – a critical measurement in the management of heart failure hospital readmissions. The inexpensive wireless device can be used at the point of care by a physician/nurse, or the patient can utilize a self-directed set of procedures to conduct the tests remotely and non-invasively over several minutes. The normal process for obtaining cardiac filling pressures requires an invasive catheterization procedure at a lab, in which a pressure catheter is run through the patient’s artery into the heart chambers for direct measurement.
Vixiar prototypes have been tested on several hundred patients to date, and are currently being used in four separate clinical trials. Vixiar’s heart monitor is expected to be deployed in hospitals, physicians’ offices, and home markets with an initial release, pending regulatory approval, by end of 2015.
“We are grateful to the State of Maryland and their recognition of the potential for this innovative technology”, said Robert Storey, Chairman of Vixiar Medical and Managing Director of VIC Technology Venture Development, the firm that initially spun out the technology from Johns Hopkins. “We believe that we can make a major impact on the management of CHF in Maryland and nationally, and are directing these funds to accelerate our regulatory approvals”.
For this year’s awards, the BioMaryland Center launched a new partnership with Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and the Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) to incorporate improved health care quality and cost reduction criteria into the selection process.
“These awards provide critical funding and help to ensure that the life-saving research being done at these companies has the opportunity to move to the commercial marketplace and potentially impact millions around the world,” said Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Mike Gill.
About CHF
Congestive Heart Failure is being treated in approximately 6 million people in the US and about 25 million worldwide. It accounts for 1.2 million hospital admissions in the US each year and is the number one cause of hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge. Hospital treatment costs are about $40 billion per year, and nearly 10% of those expenditures are unreimbursed due to readmissions that occur within 30 days. Improved monitoring of increasing cardiac filling pressures is considered the important criteria to allow intervention before a patient progresses to hospitalization.
About Vixiar Medical™
Vixiar Medical, Inc, is involved in the development of innovative technologies for the treatment and monitoring of cardiopulmonary disease. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, it is part of the VIC Technology group of companies. Contact Robert Storey, Chairman of Vixiar, and Maryland Managing Director of VIC Technology Venture Development, at bstorey(at)victvd(dot)com or (443) 603-0212. http://www.vixiar.com
About VIC Technology Venture Development™
VIC Technology is a for-profit firm involved in the licensing and formation of companies that are based on technologies from university and federal labs. The group currently has 14 companies in its active portfolio and maintains offices in Annapolis, Boston, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. http://www.victvd.com
Robert (Bob) Storey, Vixiar Medical, Inc., http://www.vixiar.com, (443) 603-0212, [email protected]
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