Organ damage Dx and arterial closure tech capture IMDA's attention
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Organ damage diagnostics and arterial closure devices have helped their developers gain the accolade of most promising companies in the 2009 industry excellence awards of the Irish Medical Device Association (IMDA). Dublin-based Argutus Medical, which won the title of "emerging company of the year", develops and commercialises laboratory test kits for identifying early signs of injury to the kidney, liver and pancreas. Runner-up Vasorum, also based in Dublin, is the developer of the AstraPlug, a resorbable implant used to close puncture sites in arteries. The firm claims that the global arterial closure market is expected to surpass $1bn in 2010. It estimates that 8.6 million catheter-based procedures were performed in the US and EU in 2006, and that this number is expected to exceed 10 million next year. Gastroenterlogy was also featured among the winners, with Galway-based Crospon named overall medtech company of the year. Crospon is the developer of EndoFLIP, a catheter-based imaging system for diagnosing gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD).