A Minnesota medical device company whose products prevent kidneys from being affected from routine procedures related to angioplasty and stenting announced Thursday that it plans to raise more than $20 million by going public in an exchange Down Under.
Osprey Medical’s core product — the CINCOR System — is used in angioplasty and stenting procedures to remove dye from the heart before it reaches the kidneys. Roughly 25 percent of angioplasty and stenting patients are at high risk of contrast-induced kidney damage also known as contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). About 1-in-5 high-risk patients end up with CIN, according to Osprey Medical. The damage resulting from contrast reaching the kidneys may also cause death in some cases. The technology was developed at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia.
A 2007 scholarly article published on behalf of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions said that CIN is the “third-leading cause of hospital acquired renal failure and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.”
Osprey Medical hopes to change that.
“Current methods used for CIN prevention have had limited impact on reducing CIN risk and our initial data shows that the CINCOR System can reduce the risk of CIN by 50 percent,” said Mr Mike McCormick, president and CEO of Osprey Medical, in a news release. “Therefore, we believe that our product can significantly improve patient quality of life and also lead to significant savings within the health system.”
The product is comprised of a catheter and vacuum system that is able to directly capture and remove dye/contrast as it leaves the coronary sinus and before it makes its way to the kidneys. The system can be activated multiple times during the heart procedure at the end of which blood has been infused with the dye can be discarded.
The CINCOR System will undergo a pivotal clinical trial in the U.S. this year. Osprey is aiming to begin a domestic launch in 2014. The money raised through the public offering will help to fund these activities as well as the commercial launch of the product in Germany and the Netherlands, where CINCOR is already approved.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
