Boston-based Pegasus Therapeutics going the crowdfunding route to finance its treatment for coronary artery aneurysms among kids, working to raise $50,000 on IndieGogo.
The company, founded by technical engineering consultant Aubrey Shackelford when her daughter, Allison, was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease, is developing a non-surgical approach to aneurysm treatment: It’s building a bioresorbable flow diverter that can be delivered via catheter. The device works by limiting blood flow to the aneurysm while keeping the main artery open, Pegasus said.
Current treatment options include open heart surgery and permanent arterial implants – but these are risk in children with growing bodies and growing organs. The bioresorbable structure of the device is meant to accommodate a child’s changing physiology.
Here’s how it works:
Though this initial device is meant for the 20,000 kids with Kawasaki’s, the company purports that it device will help lead to improved therapies for 8 million people in the U.S. that have other forms of arterial aneurysms.
Crowdfunding is increasingly becoming a way for startup biotechs to raise seed funding. The “thank-yous” at various funding levels include bumper stickers, 3-D models of the flow diverter, a meal with the founders and medical device consulting services.
Pegasus is upfront about how it’ll use the funding: $32,000 will go to purchase a pulse-duplicating pump from BDC Laboratories; $9,000 will go to an artery system model; $6,000 will be used to build anatomical models of the coronary arteries with aneurysms; and $3,000 will be used for flow testing sensors.
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.
If it reaches its bumper goal of $300,000, it’ll be able to complete its prototype, and begin the regulatory process to start the manufacture of the device for clinical trials.
At the time this was written, it’s nearly at $20,000 – with 25 days to go – and is using a flexible funding model, meaning that all proceeds will go to the company, whether or not it hits its goal.
Images courtesy of Pegasus Therapeutics.
