US expansion for Galway medical devices player


9 Feb 2009

Innovative medical device firm Crospon – which has struck IP licensing deals with Hewlett-Packard, as well as being on the verge of releasing a breakthrough surgical product – has established a US operation in California.

The company has appointed Larry Fulton as vice-president of sales for the Americas region. He will run the company’s US operation in Carlsbad, California.

Fulton brings with him over 17 years’ experience in minimally invasive surgery, and most recently he worked with start-up company, Endogastric Solutions Inc where, as director of sales, US Mexico and Canada, he oversaw the successful national sales introduction of two new medical devices product lines.

Crospon develops leading-edge, minimally invasive medical devices for monitoring, diagnosis and therapy in the gastroenterology area.

In January, Crospon announced that its EndoFLIP system had received CE Mark certification from the NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland), the Irish Notified Body, in accordance with the European Medical Device Directive.

CE Mark certification represented an important step in the company’s development, and ensures Crospon remains on schedule to release the EndoFLIP system into the European market by the end of the first half of 2009.

In December 2008, Crospon announced that it had completed an additional €500,000 funding round, following on from the completion of a €3m round of financing earlier that year.

This additional funding will be primarily used for the completion of development, manufacturing start-up and preparation to market of the EndoFLIP system. EndoFLIP is used to enhance diagnosis and assist in the surgical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD).

It emerged yesterday that Crospon last year also secured a cross-licensing deal with HP to enable the commercial rollout of a drug-delivery platform that will help to replace hypodermic needles. Under the agreement, HP will license its intellectual property to Crospon in return for royalty payments.

By John Kennedy