From left: Gerard Ryan, board member; Tim Jones and Michelle Tierney, SymPhysis Medical. Image: Aengus McMohan
The start-up hopes its device aimed at palliative care can draw €40m in revenue by 2030.
Galway medtech SymPhysis Medical is aiming for a strong launch in the US market in the next 18 months.
The start-up has developed ReleazeTM, a device which can be used by cancer patients receiving palliative care to relieve symptoms of malignant pleural effusion – a build-up of fluid between the chest wall and the lung. The symptoms, experienced by around half of all late-stage cancer patients, can include shortness of breath, discomfort and pain.
ReleazeTM promises a less invasive alternative to current treatments and can be managed from a patient’s home, giving them more freedom. The company is hoping to get clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its device by 2026.
SymPhysis founders Tim Jones and Dr Michelle Tierney hope that a US launch will be transformational for palliative patients, helping them alleviate their symptoms.
In its most recent funding round, SymPhysis raised €2.8m and the start-up expects to close a further €3.7m from current and new investors by April to help it hit the US medtech market.
The sector is worth €860m in the US and Europe alone and the start-up plans to capture 20pc of the US market and 10pc of the European market by 2030. This would translate into SymPhysis reaching around 35,000 patients and generating revenue of €40m in that time.
Recently, SymPhysis received the European Innovation Council’s Seal of Excellence, a label awarded to projects of high value and innovation.
SymPhysis is benefitting from an enhanced leadership team, including veterans in the commercial medtech field who are helping the start-up power its launch.
Joe Villanova is the start-up’s VP of sales and marketing and has more than 35 years commercialising medtech devices, with 15 years of that time spent specifically working with devices which address fluid in the chest. He joined the start-up last year and is driving SymPhysis’ penetration into the US market.
While Niamh St John Lynch, the new director of quality assurance and regulatory affairs at the start-up, has 30 years of international experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries with big names in her resume including Johnson and Johnson and Boston Scientific.
“Chest drainage for cancer patients has changed little since the late 1990s. Since then, there have been numerous technological advancements that until now, have not been leveraged,” said Villanova.
“Unfortunately, palliative care can lack investment – something that is distressing for patients and their families, as well as their medical practitioners. At SymPhysis Medical, we are directly addressing this clear need.”
While Jones, who is also the start-up’s CEO said that the company’s “ultimate goal” of reaching patience with ReleazeTM “is in sight”.
“This is an exciting time for our company. For six years, we have been laser-focused on our mission to help late-stage cancer patients – and, indirectly, their loved ones – to ease a very distressing condition at an extremely difficult time for them.
“I am immensely proud of our team for their dedication to this mission and ensuring we are highly regarded as a compassionate, exciting innovator in our field.
“This has allowed us to attract top talent from Ireland and the US with individuals whose expertise stems from some of the world’s greatest medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Their appointments position us extremely well as we prepare for launch and rapid growth.”
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