…Nope, not these guys (although they’ll definitely get your blood pumping). We’re talking the nasty event that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts or is blocked by a blood clot.
Cognition Medical, a startup based in Atlanta’s NeuroLaunch accelerator, has gathered an incredible team of scientists, engineers, clinicians and businessmen to develop the next generation of therapy for acute stroke patients. Their device removes blood clots from the brain without the use of surgery. It navigates through catheters inside the vessels to grab and remove blood clots using revolutionary and minimally invasive techniques. Their device is the next generation of therapies and a huge leap forward in the care of acute stroke patients because it protects the brain from over-oxygenation (which can occur after the reopening of blocked vessels). Based on state-of-the-art fundamental and clinical research, Cognition Medical’s team estimates that their innovative technology could decrease brain damage by 35% compared to existing therapies and save lives.
We caught up with CEO Alex Turjman to get the full story.
Year/Date Founded?
2012
Number of Employees?
2
Founders/Execs?
John Hardin, MBA
Executive Chairman
Extensive neurovascular experience.
Leadership roles at Baxter, Medtronic, ev3 and MindFrame Inc.
Seasoned entrepreneur
Alex Turjman, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
PhD in Vascular Biology from MIT and Harvard Medical School.
MSc in Engineering from A&M ParisTech
Jonah Bernstein, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
MBA with emphasis on medical technology from Harvard Business School.
NERA Economic Consulting.
Francis Turjman, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Internationally renowned Interventional Neuroradiologist
Hospital of Lyon, France
Key Opinion Leader on Stroke
Funding or bootstrapped?
Harvard Business School Rock Center Fellowship, investment from scientific advisors & NeuroLaunch.
What health problem are you solving?
Acute stroke, specifically we are dramatically decreasing brain damage compared to existing therapies that lead to over-oxygenation of the brain, dying brain tissue and disabilities.
Please describe the market/industry impact:
This technology has the potential to disrupt the whole industry of acute stroke care by adding a new and essential feature to existing therapies. The booming market of medical devices for acute stroke is expected to grow from $250M to $1B+ by 2018 following the recent publication of clinical results promoting this therapy to the rank of gold-standard procedure.
Revenue Model?
Fast CE mark (European) approval track then direct sales to hospitals.
How’d You Get The Idea For It?
The problems of the current therapy were identified early on by Prof. Francis Turjman, who heads one of the most important Stroke Centers in Europe, in Lyon, France. Together with Dr. Alexis Turjman, they identified a unique and innovative solution to improve the care of stroke patients.
Who are your competitors and how do you stand out?
Many companies including Covidien, JnJ Neuro and Stryker have technologies to grab clots, which are all very similar. All these technologies can recover clots blocking vessels of the brain after a stroke, but at the same time they create a devastating injury when they remove the clot and a rush of oxygen reaches the injured brain. Cognition Medical has developed an outstanding solution to prevent this from happening. Their device gradually re-oxygenates the brain, which can recover slowly and decrease brain damage and disabilities.
What kind of mentor could you use the most right now?
Outreach to the angel/VC community. Publicity of our venture.
How does ATL weave into your story?
Atlanta is the home of the newly created NeuroLaunch that is blazing a trail in the translation of the most innovative ideas surrounding Neurosciences in the country. The uniqueness of NeuroLaunch in this specific segment of startup incubators combined with Atlanta’s rise to prominence in entrepreneurship are attracting the best teams and most novel ideas to the heart of the southeast.
Read more:
New York Times
Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg
Forbes
Washington Post
