Eight healthcare-focused companies, including two based in Orange County, presented at OCTANe’s annual Medical Technology Innovation Forum last week at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa.
The companies, which pitched their new innovations to a crowd of several hundred attendees and potential investors, are seeking almost $50 million combined.
The firms “represent the most innovative life science technologies in Southern California who completed the rigorous evaluation process through our LaunchPad accelerator,” OCTANe Chief Executive Bill Carpou told those in attendance.
There were immediate gains for some of the LaunchPad presenters.
San Clemente-based cardiac rhythm management device maker AtaCor Medical Inc. won the LaunchPad SBDC Award, which comes with $135,000.
The company develops “the world’s first pacing system that keeps the heart and veins free from pacing leads and hardware,” according to company marketing materials.
The approach allows doctors to place the device in the tissue above the heart.
AtaCor said it’s seeking $8 million.
Evoke Neuroscience Inc. in New York won the event’s People’s Choice award.
Its eVox System is designed to assess brain health and aid in the diagnosis of memory loss and other cognitive disorders. It’s seeking $10 million.
The company also has offices in Costa Mesa and Jacksonville, N.C.
Stroma
Laguna Beach-based Stroma Medical Corp. sought $20 million, the most funding of the presenting firms.
The company’s developing a laser technology that permanently changes eye color from brown to blue, green or lighter brown.
Its patented laser initiates a natural metabolic process that gradually removes the superficial pigment in darker eyes to reveal the underlying color.
Other presenters included:
• Surgical implant maker Carlsmed Inc. in Carlsbad, which is seeking $2 million. It makes personalized spine implants using 3D printing technologies.
• Montrose-based clinical-stage drug developer Hillhurst Biopharmaceuticals Inc. is seeking $3.7 million. Its product platform includes a gasotransmitter —small molecules of gas—to regulate heme-oxygenase enzymes, which has been shown to demonstrate therapeutic properties, including anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic, or a type of cell death.
The preclinical-stage company plans to move its technology forward to treat conditions including cerebral injury and sickle cell disease.
• San Diego-based Leo Lens Technology Inc. uses digital printing to develop contact lenses that provide sustained drug delivery of medications for eye diseases, such as glaucoma and dry eye. It’s seeking $2 million.
• Patchmi, a company that makes patches to reduce puffy under-eye bags, is seeking $1 million.
• Synova Life Sciences Inc. is seeking $2 million. Its device harvests stem cells from the patient’s own fat and is able to “procure three to five times more viable stem cells than leading processes,” according to the company.
