Startup Launches New Brain Tumor Removal Device

Indianapolis-based medical device startup NICO Corp. announced it will introduce its first commercial product at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons conference in San Diego, CA.

NICO, which stands for Neural Introventional Co., was founded last year by a core group of entrepreneurs who had previously formed medical-device maker Suros Surgical Systems Inc., one of the fastest-growing companies in Indianapolis history. Just six years after starting Suros in 2000, they sold it for $248 million.

NICO is attempting to commercialize a minimally-invasive device dubbed “the Myriad” that can remove tumors and tissues from the human brain and spine. The device is based on the same technology Suros used to create its innovative equipment for automated-needle breast biopsies. NICO licensed the technology from Suros’ purchaser, Bedford, MA.-based Hologic Inc.

With the Myriad, NICO aims to help 200,000 people in the United States and 2 million worldwide annually diagnosed with brain tumors.

Since inception, NICO has raised $2.73 million from Suros’ original group of 45 angel investors.

“The Myriad will help revolutionize the neuro and spine tumor removal market as we know it today,” says NICO CEO Jim Pearson.

Pearson said the device has been successfully used at several leading U.S. institutions during the last year, including locally-based St. Vincent Hospital, during its testing phase.