Therapeutic hypothermia medical device maker Life Core Technologies has hired a new CEO whose top priority will be to raise a $3 million series A investment round.
Mike Burke has about 35 years of experience as a healthcare entrepreneur and was most recently CEO of Cleveland-based imaging company Imalux. Previously, Burke left TREK Diagnostic Systems in Independence, Ohio as its founding chief executive in November after selling the company to Magellan Biosciences in late 2006.
Broadview Heights, Ohio-based Life Core’s device resembles a neck-immobilization collar and works via a proprietary chemical that can reach temperatures as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit 20 seconds after activation, Burke said. The chemical allows the collar to cool blood that’s going to the brain, which induces mild hypothermia.
The idea is that cooling the brain helps reduce the chances of injury to tissue once blood flow is restored to patients who’ve suffered from heart attack, stroke or traumatic brain injury. At normal temperatures, a rush of blood to the brain that follows a traumatic event can damage tissue.
The device is intended for use by emergency first responders and in hospital intensive care units. Later, the company aims to sell to the military and sports medicine markets.
“This is a very simple-to-use, point-of-incident product,” Burke said.
Earlier this year, Life Core introduced the device to the U.S. market and said it would use its series A round to step up its marketing and add sales managers to work with outside companies that distribute Life Core’s device.
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.
Burke has an aggressive time line for the $3 million series A round and hopes to close it by September. Since the company already has a product on the market, Burke expects the funding to be its only formal investment round.
“This round is for growth capital, not product development,” he said.
In addition to his experience with Northeast Ohio healthcare startups, Burke is one of seven founding members of investment group The Medical Growth Fund. Other members include prominent local healthcare entrepreneurs Ray Dalton, founder and chief executive of medical equipment supplier PartsSource; Steris co-founder Bill Sanford; Chuck Hallberg (MemberHealth); Jim Hummer (Whole Health Management); Colin Scully (Life Line Screening); and Geoff Thrope (NDI Medical).
Life Core’s device, the Sandhu Cerebral Cooling Collar, takes its name from its inventor, Dr. Aqeel Sandhu. Sandhu is Life Core’s chairman and medical director of cardiothoracic surgery at Canton’s Mercy Medical Center.
