Insera Therapeutics, Inc.has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Insera will use the $150,000 grant to develop the industry's first clot-specific catheter-based platform for treatment of ischemic strokes.
"Winning this grant will enable us to leap-frog existing approaches to create a versatile platform for use during stroke thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy, as well as during angioplasty and stenting," says Vikram Janardhan, CEO of Insera Therapeutics. "Insera's disruptive technology will reshape catheter-based treatments for a wide range of vascular diseases and disorders, and most importantly, help drive down healthcare costs for the consumer."
"This grant award is a testament to the unique and innovative elements of Insera's technology platform especially in light of the fact that this was their very first time proposing to the National Science Foundation," says Peter Bernardoni, managing director of Wavepoint Ventures and a member of Insera's advisory board.
"Insera's plan to supplant federal funding with external investment from the venture capital community is a pragmatic example of a public-private partnership to help expedite the commercialization of this important life-saving medical device platform," says J.D. Stack, CEO of The Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA), a technology-focused not-for-profit corporation established to support Sacramento-based startups like Insera.
Stroke is a major economic burden on the tax payer costing $65.5 billion per year. The mean lifetime healthcare cost for a stroke patient is over $140,000. Insera's novel stroke treatment platform will help make catheter-based procedures safer and help prevent the cause of secondary stroke.
The National Science Foundation is tasked with keeping the United States at the leading edge of discovery in a variety of fields of science and technology and does so in part by funding innovative ideas with high societal pay-offs through the SBIR program. The program was established in 1982 to increase the participation of small businesses in federal research and development. NSF grants over $100 million annually to small businesses stimulate our nation's innovation leadership and contribute to our economy and society.
About Insera
Insera Therapeutics, Inc. is a Sacramento, CA-based medical device company developing cutting-edge technologies for the prevention and treatment of neurovascular diseases like stroke as well as peripheral vascular diseases like acute and critical limb ischemia. SHELTER® is their flagship platform for treatment of vascular disease. www.inseratherapeutics.com