Stroke impact. Image: Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock
Irish medtech company Neuravi is taken under Johnson & Johnson’s wing as its stroke therapy device proves too good to turn down.
Johnson & Johnson’s Codman Neuro wing today (10 April) purchased Neuravi, a Galway-based medtech firm that became famous in 2015 when it raised €19m for its stroke therapy device.
Founded in 2009 by CTO David Vale and CEO Eamon Brady, Neuravi has invested extensively in scientific research on the varieties of clots that cause acute ischemic stroke, creating its popular EmboTrap revascularisation device.
Neuravi’s 2015 clinical trials resulted in a bunch of partnerships throughout Europe, attracting interest from all over the world.
For those over the age of 60, strokes are the second most common killers, and ischemic strokes, caused by blockages in vessels supplying blood to the brain, account for 87pc of all strokes. Announcing the deal, Johnson & Johnson cited statistics showing the number of stroke events in Europe rising to 1.5m by 2025.
The problem comes with an estimated price tag of $33bn annually, including the cost of healthcare services, medications and lost productivity.
From left: John O’Shaughnessy (chair) and Eamon Brady (CEO) from Neuravi, with Justin Lynch, partner at Fountain Healthcare. Image: Andrew Downes
Neuravi’s EmboTrap targets blood clots, capturing them within the device and allowing for immediate restoration of blood flow while also cleaning up any particles disturbed during the clot removal.
“Rapid restoration of flow is of utmost importance when treating stroke patients,” said Shlomi Nachman, company group chairman at Johnson & Johnson.
“The EmboTrap platform was designed to address this critical need and we are excited to combine Neuravi’s expertise in clot research with Codman Neuro’s global resources to accelerate innovation in acute ischemic stroke treatment.”
Activity around the Irish medtech scene has been thriving in 2017. Axial3D, a Belfast-based company that is 3D printing anatomical models for the healthcare industry, has secured £530,000 in seed funding.
Elsewhere, Keltie, a major group of European patent, trademark and design attorneys, announced the opening of its first office outside the UK in Galway.
February saw OncoMark, a University College Dublin spin-out, raise €2.1m to help prepare its innovative breast cancer diagnostic test for a 2018 release.
Finally, Orreco, a sports and data science company based in Ireland, raised $2m in funding through Silicon Valley firm True Ventures.
