Partnership expected to revolutionize the supply of transplantable lungs, with market launch in Europe by XENiOS® expected in 2017
HEILBRONN, Germany and TORONTO, Canada — XENiOS®, a commercial-stage medical device company, announced today it has invested $2.6 million in XOR-Labs Toronto (“XOR”), a spin-off of Toronto General Hospital at University Health Network (UHN), the world’s leading center for lung transplantation, created in partnership with MaRS Innovation.
This announcement was covered in FierceMedicalDevices and Cystic Fibrosis News Today.
VICE featured XOR’s life-saving lung transplant technology in Motherboard in 2015. Read the story here.
XOR-Labs Toronto has developed an advanced and unique system that enables the assessment and repair of previously unusable donor lungs. The system has been proven to dramatically increase the number of lungs available for transplant from the current donor pool and, when commercialized globally, has the potential to help tens of thousands of additional patients around the world.
“The technology behind XOR’s system has a long track record of clinical success. Over the past six years it has been used more than 200 times at UHN, approved by Health Canada, and clinical results using the technology have been extensively published, including in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine,” said Shaf Keshavjee, MD, one the founders of XOR and a globally recognized lung researcher and transplant surgeon at UHN. “XOR’s system will be a game-changer, since it will enable clinicians all around the world to use advanced techniques developed and perfected in Toronto, including gene and stem cell therapy, to make more lungs available for transplant and to make the transplanted lungs even better than the ones available today. All of this will improve patient care and reduce transplant waiting lists.”
“The XOR team has most certainly transformed the lung-transplant world,” said Georg Matheis, MD, managing director and founder of XENiOS. “By developing a platform to allow personalized medicine for the organs themselves, they will also affect the treatment of numerous diseases of lungs and other organs. Given XENiOS’s focus on cutting-edge lung-and-heart-assist therapies and immediate commercial reach, partnering with XOR is a very positive addition to our product family.”
Globally, there are approximately one million patients who could potentially benefit from a lung transplant due to diseases such as Pulmonary Fibrosis, Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Unfortunately, fewer than 6,000 procedures are performed each year at present due to the limited availability of quality lungs, which means that less than one per cent of patients are being helped and, of those listed for transplant, 20 per cent will die waiting for a suitable donor organ. The partnership between XENiOS and XOR-Labs is expected to offer new hope for the thousands of patients in need of a lung transplant.
“MaRS Innovation was instrumental in encouraging and supporting XOR’s founders to commercialize the technology underpinning their products,” said Joel Liederman, vice-president, Physical Sciences. “The team received financial support from us through the very first round of MSc Proof-of-Principle funding, along with additional seed funding and management mentorship that helped this UHN spin-off company get to this important partnership milestone.”
About XOR-Labs Toronto
XOR-Labs is a cutting-edge medical device company focused on leading dramatic advances within the fields of organ transplantation and diseased organ treatment. XOR’s ultimate goal is to become the worldwide leader in advanced multi-organ therapies, a market conservatively valued at $3 to $5 billion.
About XENiOS®
XENiOS AG is a privately held medical device company. XENiOS® is the therapy and technology leader in minimally invasive lung-and-heart assist. Its novalung®, i–cor®, and medos® devices provide pulmonary and cardiac assist for a broad range of support levels, and all run on the XENiOS® console. The XENiOS® products are designed to provide at least four essential advantages with its minimally invasive lung and heart therapies: (1) patients can be awake and mobile;(2) self-actuated patients facilitate improved outcomes; (3) there is no ventilator-associated lung injury or pneumonia; (4) additionally, the XENiOS® platform creates a physiologic natural pulse designed to protect the heart.
About MaRS Innovation
MaRS Innovation is the commercialization agent for 15 leading academic institutions in Ontario. It provides investors and licensees with a single point to access technology assets emerging from its members, who receive $1.4 billion in annual research and development funding. Supported by the Government of Canada through the Networks of Centres of Excellence, by the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and by its 15 member institutions, MI turns research strengths into commercial opportunities through industry partnerships, licensing and company creation. Follow us on Twitter at @marsinnovation.