Nonprofit PediaWorks has formed a for-profit venture with a Japanese company that will specialize in developing catheters for children.
The new company, PediaCath, will be the first and only company dedicated to catheters made exclusively for children, according to a statement from PediaWorks.
Northeast Ohio medical device inventor Tim Moran earlier this year started PediaWorks with the aim of working with medical professionals to develop pediatric medical devices, and then spinning off for-profit companies to commercialize those devices. PediaCath will be the first test of Moran’s idea.
Moran created the company to address what he saw as a market need for medical devices designed for children. Lacking devices made just for children, doctors modify adult devices, sometimes causing their tiny patients discomfort, pain or injury. Other times, the modified devices — most often used “off label” or for uses unapproved by regulators — fail to work properly.
Moran’s partner in PediaCath is Medikit Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based catheter manufacturer. Medikit will contribute $500,000 in seed funding, an experienced team of R&D engineers and rapid prototyping facilities to the venture.
Moran will serve as CEO of PediaCath, and the company will be headquartered in Cleveland.
“We are grateful Medikit has the compassion to undertake this venture and feel it will be an ideal model to procure pediatric devices quickly and efficiently,” Moran said in the statement. He didn’t immediately return a call.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Prior to PediaWorks, Moran founded, managed and raised a round of venture financing for CSF Therapeutics, a developer of devices to treat neurodegenerative diseases and a spin-off company from the Cleveland Clinic. He also managed a financing round for Intelect Medical, another Clinic spin-off, and guided the market launch of Minimally Invasive Devices in Columbus.
