When anesthesiologist Dr. Eric Moses completed his health care MBA in 2020, he was inspired to put it to use. And with a feeling of burnout during the Covid pandemic, he was looking for a change.
He started connecting with medical startups in the Capital Region where he could get involved.
"In health care, you don't really build anything. You follow something that was created by someone else,” Moses said. “I have a creative mind, and frankly, I needed an avenue to create."
He had previously done some real estate development and management but decided to focus his time elsewhere, especially with stress caused by the pandemic, and sold much of that portfolio.
Moses had met Amy Johnson of the Biomedical Acceleration and Commercialization Center at Albany Med in 2020, and she introduced him to Dr. Sridhar Musuku.
Now, in addition to his shifts at Glens Falls Hospital, Moses is working on the business development of a startup, Epic Airway Systems, to sell a new airway intubation device that Musuku invented. Moses says the device, meant to simplify the intubation process, could be used in hospitals and by medical professionals across the country.
"This device could literally be like the next AED. You would have it in places like ambulances, helicopters, jump bags at football games, even in clinics. You could teach people how to use this,” Moses said. "They are airway situations that if they were rectified earlier, the patient would have a better chance."
There are two airway devices used now, Moses said.
The more effective tool for more serious cases is a tube that goes down the throat. The procedure takes a lot of skill, but there's still a 60% success rate and a 40% chance of complications like broken teeth. The less effective and easier-to-use tool is a mask with a tube that slightly enters the airway, but providers sometimes need to switch to the other device mid-procedure if it’s not doing the job.
The new Epic Airway device essentially combines those two tools into a single device. The mask fits onto the patient’s face, and because it’s already aligned and inside the airway, the tube can then be pushed in more easily if it’s needed.
The startup says this setup would make better use of time during medical emergencies, potentially saving lives. It’s estimated that the device could save $40,000 per surgery.
"Anybody with any medical knowledge would totally understand that if you can make putting in a breathing tube easier, then more people would survive an airway emergency,” Moses said.
There are 50 million of these airways procedures per year totaling $2.6 billion in costs, he said. The company plans to initially focus on the 9 million procedures performed on adults in the U.S., a market worth about $800 million.
The company projects that it can sell 3,500 units and have $157,500 in revenue in 2023. It projects 416,000 sold in 2028 with revenue of $39 million.
The device is in the fourth prototype, and Moses said he’s looking to raise $2 million with a valuation of $3.17 million to take business to the next level. Because it's the combination of two existing devices, it may not need to go through clinical trials in order to gain FDA approval, he said.
Eventually, he said the plan is to include a camera at the end of the tube, among other tech improvements.
The startup is partnering with Bates Industries in Glens Falls for manufacturing and plans to contract a medical sales company and medical device distributor.
