MIPS Project Detail:

Medcura, Inc.

Hemogrip: Reversible Hemorrhage Control

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Company

Medcura, Inc.

College Park

Prince George’s

County

, Maryland

Founded:

2007

Website:

https://www.medcurainc.com/

Company Description:

Medcura (formerly gel-e Inc.), a privately held, clinical-stage medical device company, develops a broad range of hemostatic and wound treatment products, including bandages for the treatment of routine cuts and scrapes, foams and putties for traumatic and military injuries, and surgical gels and powders.

MIPS Project

Hemogrip: Reversible Hemorrhage Control

Project #

4709

|

MIPS Round

47 |

Starting Date:

Feb 2011

MIPS Project Challenge:
Medcura is developing a technology platform that can rapidly staunch bleeding and act as a protective seal for wounded tissue. The goal of this MIPS project was to obtain key comparative in vitro and in vivo data against six key competing products.

Project Scope:
UMD researchers conducted both in vitro and in vivo studies on the bandages, comparing the gel-e® technology with alternative products.

Medcura simply would not be alive and thriving without the support of MIPS. Our 2008 MIPS grant was the first substantial research grant that we received, and that funding has created a platform for our company to raise over $1.7 million in non-dilutive funding and reach a first regulatory milestone. Medcura hopes to continue to serve as an example of a real-world manifestation of the vision for the MIPS program.

Matthew Dowling, Founder and CSO, Medcura

Results:

As a result of this project, the company and researchers became comfortable with synthesizing, scaling-up, purifying and characterizing a range of hydrophobically modified (hm) chitosan bandages for use in the control of traumatic bleeding. Multiple formulations of hm-chitosans were synthesized and optimized on the benchtop (via rheology) to gel blood rapidly, and adhere to tissue strongly and reversibly. Bandages of hm-chitosan were manufactured; they were tested in vitro via tissue adhesion studies and evaluated on severe arterial bleeds. gel-e® was shown to have significantly superior tissue adhesion relative to a range of key market competitor products in the trauma and surgical spaces. gel-e® also showed significant in vivo efficacy relative to unmodified chitosan bandages, which represent key competitors in the trauma hemostat marketplace. Three invention disclosures and two publications have been created as a result of this continuing research. This helps to strengthen the company’s competitive position in the marketplace and is providing interest from the medical community (Medcura’s key customers) in both the core technology and resulting commercial products. Last, but not least, the company was able to collect much of the key data that has gone into the company’s first FDA 510(k) submission.

In July, 2015, Medcura received FDA clearance for its technology, indicated for use as a vascular closure device, where it rapidly controls bleeding that occurs when accessing veins or arteries for various medical treatments and applications. In July, 2017, Medcura raised $3.1 million in a private financing, led by early-stage investment funds and life science investors.

Additional Mtech/UMD Programs Utilized:
University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition, VentureAccelerator, Technoloy Advancement Program (TAP) incubator