By Karen Ring, Ph.D.
This month’s Bay Area LifeTech (BALT) event, held at the Netherlands Consulate General, featured talks from Nano Precision Medical, RockHealth, and European health startups. The event was organized and hosted by BALT founder Luke Lightning Ph.D., the Netherlands Office of Science and Technology (NOST), and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT ICT Labs). It was a record turnout with over 100 BALT members in attendance.
Adam Mendelsohn Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Nano Precision Medical (NPM), kicked off the event with a discussion on how NPM’s subdermal implant device can vastly improve consistent drug delivery to patients. Adam and his colleagues developed the idea in graduate school and their idea took off in 2008 when they entered and won the Berkeley business plan competition. Their implant device utilizes titanium oxide nanotubes with precisely sized pores that allow for constant rate delivery of drug molecules over long periods of time. The nanotubes can be tailored for specific drug molecules by altering the size of the drug-releasing pores. Diseases that would benefit from NPM’s technology include type II diabetes, lysosomal storage diseases, hemophilia, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and many others. When asked about the current status of their product and company, Adam explained, “ We are currently in early-stage preclinical development. We have proof-of-concept pharmacokinetic data demonstrating that our technology works, and we have recently begun applying the technology to a compound for type II diabetes. Our short-term goal is to develop proof-of-concept human efficacy data with an important application that could feasibly become a product, and our long-term goal is to apply the technology more broadly to the numerous therapeutic molecules for which long-term constant-rate delivery would benefit patients.” Keep your eyes open BALTers because this company will be one to watch for in the future!
Following Adam’s talk, Malay Ghandi spoke about how RockHealth, a nonprofit startup based in San Francisco, is attempting to transform health care by supporting digital health startups through their full service seed fund. RockHealth, founded in 2010, invests in early stage digital health companies and has already put 60 startup companies through its program, which includes benefits such as seed funding, mentors, office space, and operational support. Malay mentioned that applications are open for the next class of startups until the end of October.
The second half of the event was new to the BALT scene and featured pitches from European health IT startups supported by EIT ICT Labs. EIT ICT Labs is an innovation and education organization based in the Netherlands whose mission is to “drive European leadership in ICT innovation for economic growth and quality of life”. Earlier in the day, these startups participated in a boot camp where they were coached on how to give effective pitches to potential investors. After revising their original work, these startups tested their newly perfected pitches on the BALT crew.
In all, 11 European startups gave two minute pitches in a competition voted on by event attendees. While each startup gave a compelling case for their health product, Biocare Provider, Beddit, Monobonda, and Proxible, were the four that won the most votes from the crowd. Read below for brief descriptions of these startups.
Beddit is a Finnish company that strives to improve human health through sleep quality. Beddit is a thin film sensor placed under bed sheets that monitors sleep quality, heart rate, snoring, movement, and bedroom environment. Beddit sends information to your mobile device where an application generates data that details your sleep history and provides guidance on how to improve your sleep quality. Numerous sleep-monitoring devices exist, but they all require the user to wear sensors, which can be cumbersome. Beddit is barely detectable and allows for more accurate readings of sleep quality.
BioCare Provider is an Italian startup that provides simple solutions to complex therapies. BioCare acknowledges that effective disease treatment can be complicated by factors such as difficulty to take medications, poor communication with doctors, health literacy and awareness, the list goes on. In response, BioCare generated a cloud- and mobile app based platform called Dr. Drin that connects patient medical history to doctors, pharmacists, and other providers, and supplies therapeutic management solutions.
Comftech is an Italian startup whose motto is “we care with Comfortable Technology.” Comftech has designed clothes with built-in sensors that continuously monitor the wearer’s physiological parameters allowing for diagnosis, treatment, and even prevention of certain diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Initially focusing on preterm infants, Comftech designed the “Kiddie”, baby clothing with small biosensors that record the heart’s electrical activity. The company is expanding its product repertoire to include sensorized garments for kids, athletes, pregnant mothers, and the elderly.
Connected Care is a Netherlands based startup that provides a coordinated care platform for elderly patients, family caregivers, and professional organizations. Users can upload their daily activities and needs thus allowing for more efficient and less costly care from care providers. As an added benefit, Connected Care can step in when family caregivers need additional help by providing on-demand, professional support.
Cordian is a Dutch startup that is addressing the challenge of providing adequate healthcare for the world’s expanding aging population with its Sustainable Care platform. Cordian collaborates with aging care facilities to provide a better quality of life and more efficient care for patients using advance technological innovations such as the BedLeave monitoring system, which notifies nurses when a patient leaves his or her bed.
Mendor is a Finnish startup that provides a next generation blood glucose meter for diabetes management. Described as “quick and sleek”, this device allows users to test their blood glucose levels in less than 20 seconds in an all-in-one portable device the size of a smart phone. Results are uploaded to a cloud-based diabetes care platform called Mendor Balance, which allows doctors to access patient results thereby providing a more individualized form of care.
Monobonda is a Dutch gaming company whose mission is to get individuals to play through interactive experiences. Each game conveys a specific message in a personal way. These messages have a common theme: promoting human happiness, health, and wellness. Examples include an iPad game for toddlers called “Nott Won’t Sleep” which promotes healthy sleeping habits, and a game called “Remembering” which was shown to improve the happiness of Alzheimer’s patients while they played the game.
Ontoforce is a Belgian startup that develops semantic technology to collect and manage private and public biomedical data. Ontoforce aims to accelerate drug discovery by linking diverse arrays of data through an online, user-friendly search engine called disQover. Ontoforce’s technology allows pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, doctors, researchers, and even patients to save time, reduce costs, and ultimately, save human lives.
Proxible is a Dutch startup that offers proximity technology for businesses where relevant information can be sent directly to visitor’s smart devices via proximity sensors. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way doctors and providers access patient information. Proxible has generated a bed sensor that connects to a doctor’s smart device and uploads a patient’s record at the touch of a button. This innovative technology can improve healthcare by avoiding misplacement or mixing up of patient information.
RecoApp is a Finnish health and fitness mobile application that does not require an external monitoring device. RecoApp takes advantage of the latest sports and exercise science research to generate personalized workouts that minimize injury and recovery time and maximize health and fitness. The app comes with features that ensure that you are not over- or undertraining and diligent users can experience enhanced athletic performance, increased muscle mass, decreased body fat, and reduced stress levels.
Relaxbirth is a Finland-based company that gives women an active and empowering role when giving birth. The Relaxbirth method, which is an adjustable support system, maximizes the mother’s natural way of giving birth and allows the mother to relax during the first stage of labor in order to save energy for the second stage. The results are not only a more comfortable birthing process, but also an improvement in the overall wellbeing of the mother at childbirth.
For more information on EIT ICT Labs and the European startup boot camp, read Natasha Chatlein’s blog on the NOST silicon valley website. Join BALT on Thursday December 5th for another exciting event hosted at the Netherlands Consulate General. The topic for this Meetup will be Oncology and will feature talks from academics, clinicians, and startups.
Karen Ring is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. To Contact Karen, email at Ring.Karen@gmail.com.
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