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updated July 31, 2009
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Rose-Hulman
Ventures Helps Life Sciences Startup Get Off Ground
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Minimally invasive medical devices developed and tested in cooperation
with Rose-Hulman Ventures have assisted Indiana’s NICO Corporation
secure $10 million in Series C funding from more than 45 new investors
and take an important step towards commercialization of its neuro and
spinal tumor removal device, The NICO Myriad™. Students and project
managers at Rose-Hulman Ventures helped put NICO on the threshold of
creating a major advancement in the field of minimally invasive tissue
removal for the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal
cord. The Myriad device offers surgeons significantly more control over
tumor removal, enabling less invasive neurosurgical techniques and
providing opportunities to drastically reduce surgical procedural time
as well as post operative recovery time.
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Putting Education
Into Practice: Nathan Hazard, a senior mechanical
engineering major, test the control system for the
Myriad device developed by Rose-Hulman Ventures for
NICO Corporation, an Indianapolis-based company. |
The Myriad system has been successfully used in multiple cases at
notable institutions like the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center,
University of Cincinnati, Barrow’s Neurological Institute in Phoenix,
and St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. NICO recently convinced
financial investors of the important role the device can play in life
sciences advancement. This important investment round had Rose-Hulman
joining other familiar names to the Indiana life sciences community:
Twilight Venture Partners, River Cities Capital Funds, Clarian Health
Ventures, and The HALO Group.
"NICO is one of those companies that has all the right ingredients for a
success story,” stated Carter McNabb, managing director of River Cities
Capital Funds in a NICO Corp. press release. "Innovative technology,
compelling clinical applications and experienced leadership are all
components of the NICO story line. NICO's leadership team produced
outsized results in the past with Suros Surgical Systems, and we believe
they are poised to do it again with NICO."
NICO, founded by several experienced Indiana life science executives,
has raised more than $12 million in total investments with over 60
investors. NICO President and CEO Jim Pearson said this most recent
funding round will allow the company to expand the product line and
prove out the sales cycle while building market momentum into 2010.
The NICO Myriad is designed for all soft tumor tissue removal in the
central nervous system and can be inserted down the working channel of
an endoscope. It is uniquely capable of cutting, aspirating and
dissecting tissue without removal from the surgical field.
"This device has tremendous potential to play a significant role in
enabling access and ensuring safety in the removal of brain tumors near
critical structures and in tight spaces," Dr. Troy Payner, neurological
surgeon and president of the Indianapolis Neurosurgical Group, stated in
a NICO Corp. news release. "It offers several advantages over existing
technology, especially for minimally invasive neurosurgery and
endoscopic neurosurgery. It may also have applications in the spine,
which could be revolutionary."
Rose-Hulman Ventures’ staff and students played a vital role in product
development, creating and testing prototypes and preparing for
pre-production -- all while balancing an entrepreneur's two biggest
business concerns: time and money.
"Rose-Hulman has proven itself to be a very cost effective way to
accomplish tasks along the path of product development," Joe Mark,
NICO’s co-founder and vice president of technology, told Inside Indiana
Business. "They've also understood and appreciated how important it is
to commit to a timeline and deliver on that timeline. They did, and
continue to do, those things in a very grand way."
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Real-World
Experience: Rose-Hulman Ventures Engineering Manager
Brian Dougherty (left) and student assistant Nathan
Hazard collaborate on design details for the hand
piece of NICO's Myriad device. |
Dr. Payner credits the NICO technology with offering the unique
advantages of shortening surgery times, preserving critical structures,
and improving the extent of resection of certain brain tumors, all of
which will improve patient outcomes. More than 200,000 people in the
United States and 2 million people worldwide are diagnosed with a brain
tumor every year. They are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer
deaths in children under the age of 20, the second leading cause of
cancer deaths in male adults ages 20-29 and the fifth leading cause of
cancer deaths in females ages 20-29. The Myriad device has clinical
applications for both adult and children patient populations.
Mark credits Rose-Hulman project managers for having the ingenuity and
tenacity to overcome challenges that could have slowed the development
process of the Myriad system. In addition to researchers' activities, he
says one of the most rewarding aspects of the project was the
involvement of Rose-Hulman students. Working on the project were 2009
graduates Ryan Bormann of Paris, Ill., and Phil Ramge of Omaha, Neb.;
and seniors Nathan Hazard of Columbia, Md., and Lucas Weir of
Martinsville, Ill. The project manager was Brian Dougherty, engineering
manager for Rose-Hulman Ventures.
"The students have not only contributed positively, they've also learned
how to address problems in industry and how to create solutions from
those challenges," Mark said.
“Working with NICO has been and continues to be a fantastic experience.
This is a company that values people and relationships. The founders
understand how products really get developed and how to get them into
the market. Rose-Hulman Ventures is honored to play a part in NICO’s
product development,” added Dougherty. “One of the best aspects of
working at Rose-Hulman Ventures is that you get to work on projects that
make a difference. Every one of our projects makes an impact on the
lives of so many people and our work with NICO is a good example of this
fact. The interns get to go home at night after seeing the surgeon’s
excitement over a device that enables them to perform tasks that were
impossible a year ago. They head to class after hearing a report from
the operating room, realizing that a patient just survived. The interns
realize that what started out as a moving target, with seemingly
impossible constraints and conflicting goals, is now a life-saving
reality.”
NICO’s leadership team has seen success with this clinical and business
combination with Rose-Hulman Ventures before with other tissue excision
products associated with Suros Surgical Systems, Inc.
To learn more about NICO Corporation’s NICO Myriad and Rose-Hulman
Ventures, visit www.niconeuro.com and
www.rhventures.org.
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