Chicago medical device startup Miret Surgical has raised a Series A round of $644,750 in equity for further product development, CEO John Avi Roop said. The 4-year-old Stanford BioDesign spinout is at work on laparoscopic tools that connect standard-sized surgical tool heads to pediatric-sized shafts. Like many startups in this space, the ultimate goal is to make for a less invasive procedure with less scarring and port complications.
“There’s a trend to make standard laparoscopic surgery less invasive, and we represent one of the new ways to do that, that we think is better,” Roop said. While he wouldn’t share a timeline for commercial launch, he did say micro-/mini-laparoscopy is a place where lots of startups are interested and coming up with solutions.
According to the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, many solutions in laparoscopic surgery are already minimally invasive, but these camera-based options are cost-heavy and have a steep learning curve for physicians. For a gall bladder surgery, for instance, a surgeon would settle on the right combination of toolhead and shaft, then:
“Surgeons assemble and use as many of these modular instruments as needed, and after surgery the patient is left with a hidden incision in the belly button and a few tiny punctures, which will heal quickly and without noticeable scars.”
If all goes according to plan, the product would limit the amount of surgical trochars (plastic tubes that run through the abdomen) necessary for such a procedure. While the NCIIA site notes the product’s use for gall bladder removal, Roop said potentially the platform could be used for “anything abdominal.”
Though he was unable to disclose the investors, Roop did say the 17 were a combination of angels and venture capitalists.
Officers listed on the regulatory filing made with the SEC include: Roop, formerly of Boston Scientific (BSX), startup Vascular Science, Tarsus Medical (which was acquired by Integra Life Sciences) and St. Jude Medical (STJ); and Christopher Pell, chief technology officer, a Stanford grad who formerly worked at Luidia, an interactive tech company.
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.
Co-founder Dr. Kevin Chao is a pediatric neurosurgeon. The co-founders met at the Stanford BioDesign Fellowship, Roop said.
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