ELabNYC Pitch Day

10 April, Microsoft HQ, NYC

The Entrepreneurship Lab NYC (ELabNYC) presented its second annual class of companies to nearly 200 life science funders, foundations, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organizations, universities and the occasional Editor. Of the cohort of 19 companies finishing the three-month program, 56% are now funded and 25% had first customer revenue by the end of the program. Each company pitched for five minutes on its concept, its current state of advancement (including pilots/customers), its team and a funding timeline. This Editor will concentrate on the five companies with a digital health component; she was intrigued by their diversity and focus on difficult problems of compliance and diagnosis, especially dementia and concussion.

  1. I’ve followed CareSpeak Communications since meeting founder Serge Loncar at the 2010 Mobile Health Expo. Of all the companies presenting, CareSpeak is the most advanced with an extended base of trials with the San Francisco VA (medication compliance with post-heart attack/post-surgery blood thinners), Mount Sinai, Columbia University and others–and real customers such as Avella Specialty Pharmacy. Its mobile Health manager (mHm) has also changed over time to be a flexible compliance resource for patient, physicians, pharmacies and caregivers keeping the patient and ‘circle’ in touch with a range of communications from education to disease management. It was good to see CareSpeak’s development and plan as the fruition of nearly eight years of work, proving that there is no such reality as ‘overnight’ in this segment of digital health.  Previously in TTA: 14 May, 2 July 2013
  2. Brainwire is designed to predict the future progression of dementia via a diagnostic software tool based on a brain MRI. It will generate a full neuroradiologist report for clinics as part of cognitive testing and analysis for a low cost of ~$200. Current stage: seed funding needed. By 2015-16, the research will be in alpha and beta stage towards their FDA 510(k). Contact Ashish Raj, PhD of Weill Cornell Medical College at asr2004@med.cornell.edu.
  3. Lucida Pathology is a system for automating the analysis and diagnosis of histopathology biopsies so that clinics can deal directly with pathologists. The market need stems from the declining number of pathologists and increasing volume. (Amir Handzel)
  4. Oculogica‘s EyeBox CNS provides an objective way to diagnose concussion through recording three key eye movements in a 4 1/2 minute test. Algorithmic patterns off the normal ‘box’ confirm concussion but also can help to track recovery progress. The device is estimated to sell at $75,000 with tests at ~$500, with target markets hospital emergency rooms, university and pro sports clinics and the military. Contact Adrian Trevisan, adrian@oculogica.com  This week they were awarded a $250,000 grant from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). (MedCityNews)
  5. GesTherapy uses Kinect and VR headset Oculus to facilitate physical therapy. The two developers, Tanjin Panna and David Putrino from City University of New York (possibly the youngest participants), are concentrating on post-stroke rehab. It is also in test with Burke Rehabilitation, Weill Cornell for stroke and NYU Langone for cerebral palsy children.

ELabNYC is an initiative of NYCEDC, with the program administered by Design Technologies.

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