With the news that Chris Coburn is leaving Cleveland Clinic Innovations comes the question who’s going to take over? The Clinic isn’t giving any clues, but it’s going to be a huge undertaking for whoever that might be.
In the 13 years its been around, CCI claims to have spun out 50+ companies that have raised $700 million in investments and resulted in three exits. Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights (and lowlights).
2000 – Spins off one of its earliest companies, Atlanta-based CardioMEMS, which is commercializing implantable wireless sensors to aid in the management of chronic cardiovascular diseases.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
2002 – Launches Arterial Remodeling Technology, a joint development between the Clinic, the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique and Necker University in France.
October 2003 – Hosts the first Medical Innovations Summit. The theme? “Healthcare Innovation.”
2006 – Creates regenerative medicine company Juventas Therapeutics, which has a drug candidate in Phase 2 trials in heart failure and critical limb ischemia patients.
June 2006 – Spinoff Cleveland BioLabs (NASDAQ:CBLI) goes public.
August 2006 – Board chair and CardioMEMS founder/CEO Dr. Jay Yadav is dismissed from the Clinic under allegations, later acknowledged to be false, that he failed to disclose certain conflicts of interest.
January 2007 – Spins off Tolera Therapeutics to commercialize an immunosuppressant drug that fights organ rejection in transplant patients.
July 2007 – Micrus Endovascular acquires technology from startup ReVasc Technologies for treatment of ischemic stroke.
2008 – Forms Cleveland Heart Inc. to develop a total artificial heart. This company recently raised the largest deal from a single investor for a Clinic spinoff, garnering $30 million from a private equity group in Korea.
2009 – Creates two of its most promising startup, cardiac testing firm Cleveland HeartLab and big data management company Explorys.
2010 – Hand surgeon Dr. Thomas Graham is appointed chairman.
Mid-2010 – The Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, where some of the heart-focused companies are based, opens.
August 2010 – Portfolio company IntellisEPM sells its business intelligence software to Carefx Corp.
January 2011 – Boston Scientific announces it’s purchased Intelect Medical, a transaction that nets the Clinic $28 million.
January 2011 – Inks a commercialization deal with MedStar that anchors the Innovation Alliance, which has continued to expand to half a dozen other institutions.
April 2011 – Hires Tom Thornton, who was embroiled in controversy in Kansas, to expand those research and collaboration efforts.
May 2011 – Unveils imaging contract research organization ImageIQ and starts up NaviGate Cardiac Structures with transcatheter mitral valve technology from the Clinic.
December 2011 – CCI receives $10 million gift – its largest ever – from West Virginia entrepreneurs and philanthropists Jim and Cathy Justice.
2012 – Continues to develop its Innovation Alliance, adding half a dozen new partners.
2013 – Forms Talis Clinical to commercialize an anesthesia information management system developed in the clinic’s Anesthesiology Institute.
