PITTSBURGH, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- medSage Technologies, LLC, has developed and currently sells a hosted Patient Management System and is developing a proprietary Therapy Management and Monitoring Device. Today the company announced that the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), a partnership to put the region’s life sciences industry on a fast track for growth, through its affiliate, the Pittsburgh Biomedical Development Corporation (PBDC), and Idea Foundry (IF), a non profit organization that helps entrepreneurs transform their ideas into sustainable businesses have committed to invest $200,000 in pre-seed funds to medSage. medSage’s product is marketed to homecare pharmacies and home healthcare equipment providers to monitor a patient’s therapy and identify patients needing new supplies or replenishment of existing supplies. Such monitoring is required by most healthcare payers for reimbursement, and is currently a labor- and paper-intensive process that is both costly and ineffective.
The PBDC and IF investments will be used to help medSage ramp up its operations over the next year as it works to expand its market presence, bring additional patient and pharmacy applications to the market and build out the company infrastructure to support the company growth. In addition, as part of the IF investment offering, medSage will receive business development and mentoring support services through the IF TechMentor(TM) Program.
medSage has initially targeted the pulmonary management and obstructive sleep apnea markets in the United States, which affects approximately 44 million patients. The company’s Patient Management System is a combination of a proprietary voice response/recognition technology that medSage designed specifically for the diverse needs of the homecare patients and a hosted software application for the homecare pharmacies to efficiently and cost effectively manage their daily patient needs. The Patient Management System provides the patient and pharmacy with instant, secure, and HIPAA-compliant access to all of their daily information needs.
“medSage is honored that the Pittsburgh Lifesciences Greenhouse and Idea Foundry have chosen to partner with our Company. We are convinced that, together, we are poised to significantly impact the home healthcare industry,” said Bill Kaigler, President & CEO of medSage.
“medSage has been able to develop a clear understanding of the customer pain points and translate those needs into their first generation product,” said Patrick Stewart, Managing Director of IF. “We believe that the combination of the joint $200,000 investment and the IF business development support can accelerate medSage’s product rollout and customer adoption.”
“medSage has developed a practical solution for patients and the homecare industry in more efficiently managing the home treatment process,” said Doros Platika, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the PLSG. “The improvements in productivity and accuracy in the treatment process will lead to a growing number of opportunities for medSage. While PLSG’s investment will help the company navigate through this critical period of development, we believe that market demand will soon propel the company to a prominent position in the regional life sciences economy.”
medSage was founded by Bill Kaigler, who leveraged more than 18 years experience in product management, project management and engineering with experience in both the home healthcare and software industries.
This investment marks one of the first new investments made by the PBDC since 1999. In November 2003, the PLSG approved a recapitalization of the PBDC to allow for pre-seed investments in individual start-ups and early stage companies. The PBDC became affiliated with the PLSG in June 2003. In addition, the PLSG entered into a partnership agreement with IF to co-fund medical device ideas that were being developed within the IF TechMentor(TM) Program. medSage represents the first company to utilize the partnership program thereby leveraging IF’s and PLSG’s complimentary skills and capital.
About medSage Technologies
medSage’s innovative product provides the only solution designed to increase productivity, reduce costs, enhance patient care and grow the homecare providers’ business. The Company’s new products help home healthcare providers better manage patient monitoring processes such as CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure-to treat sleep apnea patients) supply re-orders and respiratory medication refills. The system consists of a Web-based, HIPAA compliant on-line software solution and services with a forthcoming medical device component. Central to the offering is HCVoice(TM), the medSage proprietary Interactive Voice Response / Recognition technology specifically designed for homecare patients.
About the PLSG and PBDC
The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse is a public/private partnership, founded by the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC Health System, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and our regional foundation community. Together with private industry and advanced research and healthcare capabilities of our institutional partners, PLSG invests in and supports the growth of regional life sciences companies. The PLSG is focused on developing a portfolio of companies in the following industry sectors: drug discovery tools and targets, medical devices and diagnostics, tissues engineering and regenerative medicine and therapeutic strategies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
PBDC received original financial support in the form of grants primarily from regional foundations and community development organizations totaling $1.2 million. From 1991 through 1999, the PBDC had invested in 11 regional companies, exhausting available funds for new investment. In November 2003, the PLSG approved a recapitalization of the PBDC to allow for pre-seed investments in individual start-ups and early stage companies. The PBDC became affiliated with the PLSG in June 2003. Since its recapitalization PLSG through PBDC has made four new investments into early stage companies.
About Idea Foundry
Idea Foundry, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), was founded in 2002 to fill Southwestern Pennsylvania’s major business gap between innovative “ideas” and sustainable technology start-up businesses, in turn creating jobs. Idea Foundry bridges the significant gap between idea generation and a fundable start-up by providing the intellectual and financial capital necessary to support innovators. Idea Foundry is a collective of private foundations, government entities and universities.
Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse
CONTACT: Bill Kaigler, CEO of medSage Technologies, +1-412-681-1976; orPat Stewart of Idea Foundry, +1-412-682-3064; or Tim O’Brien of O’BrienCommunications, +1-412-854-8845; or Charlotte Rapkin of Pittsburgh LifeSciences Greenhouse, +1-412-201-7483
