ARTICLE SUMMARY:
When Oncodisc's physician-founders sold their start-up to PAVmed in June 2021, they were betting on the buyer's access to expertise and financial resources to speed reinvention of implantable vascular ports from being a commodity into intelligent remote monitoring devices for early detection of complications in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. A video interview with Oncodisc’s founder James Mitchell.
James Mitchell, MD, a radiation oncologist in California and Andrew Thoreson, MD, an interventional radiologist, started Oncodisc Inc. four years ago with the aim of reducing hospital visits by cancer patients on outpatient chemotherapy. They had seen far too many preventable complications arise in their patients because of a lack of reliable monitoring tools that can detect early warning signals of debilitation and other health problems related to treatment.
Their solution was to reinvent widely used implantable vascular ports, which are commodity items, by fitting them with biological sensors and wireless communications that convert them into remote digital health platforms. Although others have attempted to develop similar tools for oncology indications, those approaches have relied heavily on the use of wearables, which are prone to patient non-compliance. The technology developed by Oncodisc's founders enables continuous monitoring without proactive involvement by the patient, thereby guaranteeing adherence.
The partners decided to sell their business to PAVmed Inc. and its newly formed subsidiary Veris Health in June, with the expectations of tapping into the buyer's deep networks of expertise and access to financing in order to speed up the development and commercialization of their invention. PAVmed's executive team, led by CEO and co-founder Lishan Aklog, MD, for their part, saw an opportunity to build a digital health platform company, similar to work they were already undertaking with a diagnostics subsidiary, Lucid Diagnostics. Mitchell is now chief medical officer of Veris Health, and Thoreson is an advisor. Mitchell spoke with us about a month after the deal to explain the opportunity and also why PAVmed, which is little known in the medtech financing world, was an attractive proposition.
Subscribers can view our interview with James Mitchell below.
