December 01, 2011 -- Microvisk Technologies has scooped the Healthcare Project of the Year Award at the prestigious BioNoW Biomedical Awards, which showcase the leading biomedical companies in the north west of England.
The Healthcare Award comes as Microvisk marks the highly successful introduction of its handheld devices which monitor the blood clotting status of patients at Medica, the world’s leading medical trade fair which attracts over 137,000 visitors, ahead of product launches during 2012.
Microvisk has developed a ‘CoagMax®’ device as a point of care test for clinicians and a ‘CoagLite®’ device as a home use test for patients, which can both be used to establish the correct dosage of anti-coagulation medication such as Warfarin and to monitor treatment.
The CoagMax® and CoagLite® devices attracted unprecedented demand at Medica with distributors and potential partners queuing at the Microvisk exhibition stand.
European clinical trials of CoagMax and CoagLite are progressing in the UK and Germany with product launches in both countries scheduled for early 2012. Clinical trials are also ongoing in major medical centres in Florida with US product launches scheduled for mid-2012. During the pilot trials, nine out of ten patients have expressed a preference for the Microvisk devices.
The devices incorporate a unique SmartStrip® that uses embedded sensors to measure blood clotting speed from a drop of patient’s blood taken by finger prick, and a handheld reader displays the results. SmartStrip is the world’s first medical diagnostic strip based on a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS), incorporating a cantilever to measure fluid viscosity with an on-board memory chip, and was created as a movement system for nano-robots. MEMS technology is used in technology based applications such as projectors, the iPhone and Nintendo Wii.
Existing devices for measuring blood coagulation use optical analysis or measure chemical reactions, requiring patients to provide more blood which is more painful and producing less accurate results.
Only three companies have developed a blood coagulation testing system that can be used in a doctor’s surgery and although certified for home use, market research shows that doctors feel that they are insufficiently robust and too complex for home use.
Judges at the BioNow Healthcare Awards singled out Microvisk for its breakthrough achievement in developing robust devices that deliver laboratory accuracy in the Prothrombin Time or INR test, the international test for management of Warfarin dosage, and which are easy for clinicians to use in medical centres or remotely and for patients to use at home.
TRUSTECH, the NHS innovations hub for the north west, has facilitated the introduction of Microvisk to Professor Cheng-Hok Toh, consultant haematologist and centre director of the Roald Dahl haemostatis and thrombosis centre at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which is now one of the centres where the devices are being trialled.
John Curtis, chief executive officer of Microvisk, said: “We are delighted to have been honoured with the BioNow Healthcare Project of the Year Award – this accolade marks a fitting end to a year of hard work and achievement by our staff.
“I would like to thank TRUSTECH for their support in facilitating the link to The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which has been invaluable. We continue to work closely with Prof Toh and his team to fine tune our systems and in the near future will validate the products with them for our CE mark validation studies.
“We were also delighted at the overwhelming demand from distributors and potential partners at Medica for our CoagMax® and CoagLite® devices. We are currently making excellent progress in patient trials and as we enter 2012, we will be ramping up for product launches in the UK and Germany to be followed by US product launches later in the year.”
Dr Richard Deed, innovation unit manager at TRUSTECH, said: “The Microvisk devices are a superb example of the development of better products through collaboration between companies and the NHS.
“Microvisk’s devices will provide a better outcome for patients who will be able to test their blood clotting ability at home instead of making weekly trips to the hospital or doctor’s clinic, as well as generating significant cost savings for healthcare systems.”
Seven million people in the western world use Warfarin and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that over one million new patients start taking the drug every year. Patients must have regular blood tests at their doctor’s surgery or hospital clinic to ensure they receive the correct dose. Warfarin is affected by food and exercise and if the dose is too low there is a risk of blood clots forming which can result in a stroke or heart attack, while too high a dose can lead to a life threatening bleed.
The Microvisk devices enable patients to test their blood clotting ability at home, in the same way that people with diabetes test for glucose.
John Curtis added: “We have a huge market opportunity in the US and Germany, where payments have been introduced for all at-risk Warfarin users to do weekly home blood tests, rather than having to go to the doctor or hospital clinic.”
The Microvisk SmartStrip® is unique in the blood clotting diagnostic world as a solid state system that is robust and simple to use at home. It requires far less blood than other systems, which means less pain for the user. The coagulation status (clotting speed) of the patient is measured by tiny multi-layered paddles on the surface of the strip and a memory chip ensures the device is calibrated to provide the highest levels of accuracy, while the MEMS technology means that high volumes of the device can be manufactured at low cost.
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Photo available on request
1. Microvisk’s CoagMax® device which will enable clinicians to carry out remote testing of blood coagulation status for patients on Warfarin.
2. John Curtis, chief executive officer of Microvisk Technologies (left), receives the Healthcare Project of the Year Award from Dr Richard Deed, innovation unit manager at TRUSTECH.
3. The Microvisk team at Medica, the world’s leading medical fair, where the company showcased its unique handheld devices which monitor the blood clotting status of patients. L-R: Peter Whitehouse (chief financial officer); Bert Valada (US sales manager); John Curtis (CEO); Richard Hughes (International sales & marketing manager) and Dana Connors (US marketing manager).
About Microvisk Technologies
Founded in 2004, Microvisk Ltd is developing medical testing devices based on Micro Electro Mechanical Sensors for the international medical market.
Initial research was carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories facility in Oxfordshire, managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Microvisk was spun of STFC and is owned by private and venture capital investors who include Porton Capital, Oxford Technology Management, New Hill (Boston, USA), Midven, the Rainbow Seed Fund and Finance Wales.
Many people suffer from coagulation (blood clotting) disorders and the Microvisk technology is designed to enable patients and clinicians to monitor blood clotting ability and assist in the correct dosage of anti-coagulation medication such as Warfarin.
Microvisk’s first products are the CoagMax® device, a point-of-care test and the CoagLite® device, a home use test. The devices conduct the internationally recognised Prothrombin Time or INR test by using a drop of the patient’s blood taken by a finger prick. Each device is simple to use with a large display and buttons, and sized to be discreet as it can be held in the palm of a hand.
Microvisk’s technology uses a different approach to the other devices and tests on the market, which use optical analysis or chemical reactions. Microvisk uses Micro Electro Mechanical Sensors (MEMS) on a disposable strip which incorporates a small cantilever to measure viscosity. The devices can test a small volume of whole blood making the test less intrusive and effectively removing the need for a laboratory. In addition, the strip has its own on-board memory to inform the handheld instrument of all manufacturing variables and under what conditions the strip has been kept since the day of its manufacture.
The Prothrombin Time or INR test works by introducing tissue factor to begin the clotting cascade which is the same series of reactions that occur when a blood vessel is ruptured. The clot changes the blood from a free flowing solution to a gel-like substance and it is this change that the sensors monitor and detect.
Microvisk’s manufacturing and INR application specific research facility is located at St Asaph Business Park in North Wales. The company also has a non-application specific technology research laboratory in Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire and an operation in Florida, USA.
The Microvisk board includes: Bill Moffitt (Chairman); Fred Hallsworth (Deputy Chairman); John Curtis (CEO); Peter Whitehouse (CFO); John Mihell (NED, also Investment Executive at Finance Wales); Matthew Frohn (NED, also a Director of Oxford Technology Management Ltd) and Terry Swainbank (NED, also Investment Director at Synergis Technologies). For more information: www.microvisk.com
About BioNow
Bionow is a membership organisation which has been serving the biomedical industry in the north of England since 2000. It aims to provide a fully integrated bio/pharmaceutical company support structure for the region and contribute to international biomedicine through the north west’s major strengths and capabilities in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, biohealth informatics, bio/pharmaceutical manufacture, infectious diseases and vaccine development, cancer, neurosciences, clinical genetics, trials infrastructure and molecular and medical imaging.
The annual BioNow awards event is attended by over 220 executives from the biomedical industry and is the highlight of the biomedical calendar. For more information: www.bionow.co.uk
About TRUSTECH
TRUSTECH is an NHS organisation that aims to improve healthcare through the development of innovative products and services. TRUSTECH works with both companies and the NHS to bring forward new ideas and help to put them into practice.
Within the NHS, TRUSTECH helps individuals and teams to develop and commercialise their innovative products and services, protect their intellectual property and also helps NHS organisations to manage access to new technologies to meet clinical needs to improve patient care. For companies TRUSTECH offers a commercial consultancy service to carry out research and development, evaluate products and services to get them into the NHS. For more information: www.trustech.org.uk
