VasoBio Inc. is the winner in the Medical Technology category of the Sacramento Region Innovation Awards. Tab32 is the runner-up.
VasoBio Inc. is developing a new technology that could be a breakthrough for nearly half a million patients in the U.S. who need dialysis.
The company was founded by three University of California Davis faculty members last year.
“We just started, and it’s still a garage type of company right now,” said co-founder Aijun Wang, a biomedical engineer and associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Surgery.
Wang and his partners are researching a new coating that could improve the success and functionality of vascular grafts.
Many patients need the grafts in order to undergo dialysis treatments. Patients with kidney failure regularly use a dialysis machine, which acts as an artificial kidney that filters and removes waste products from the blood. The graft is a synthetic tube typically implanted in the arm that acts as an artificial blood vessel and is hooked up to the dialysis machine.
The grafts are highly prone to problems, including blood clots and infections. Wang said 77% of them fail and require an intervention within the first year, and 96% of them fail within the second year.
VasoBio is working on a coating that could cover the grafts and make them more biocompatible. The coating is made from sticky molecules that grab the patient’s own circulating endothelial cells, which form the lining of blood vessels, to grow over the graft.
“We’re hoping our technology can regenerate a layer of the patient’s own endothelium on the lumen surface of the vascular grafts, so they can last much longer and behave more like native blood vessels,” Wang said.
There is big demand for more effective vascular grafts. One in seven adults in the U.S. has chronic kidney disease, which has progressed to kidney failure in more than 750,000 patients, who either need a kidney transplant or dialysis to live, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wang said that worldwide, the dialysis market could reach $108 billion by 2025, and the vascular graft market could reach $3.3 billion by 2022.
“There’s a very significant medical need for these devices,” Wang said.
Wang said that potentially, their technology could be used to increase the success of any medical implant used in the cardiovascular system.
They have studied the technology in cell cultures and in animals. Now they’re in the final stages of prototyping.
Last year, the company was awarded $500,000 from the public-private medical technology accelerator KidneyX. The company plans to use that to move toward completing clinical trials. They’re also looking for investors to help the company get regulatory approvals.
“In general, vascular devices and medical devices are regulated very rigorously from the FDA approval perspective,” Wang said. He estimates it could be two to three years before they receive those approvals and can move into clinical trials and then toward releasing a product.
Wang said the company, which is currently based in Elk Grove, is also looking for lab space.
Wang’s primary research is in stem cells. He said the inspiration to apply his and his co-founders' research to these devices came after working with colleagues at the UC Davis School of Medicine who are clinicians and treat kidney patients directly.
“Basically, we’re applying our stem cell biology knowledge into this medical device field,” Wang said.
The Essentials
VasoBio Inc.
What it does: Develops new technology for vascular grafts
CEO: Aijun Wang
Headquarters: Elk Grove
Founded: 2020
Revenue: Pre-revenue
Runner-up: Tab32
Innovation: A cloud-based technology platform for dental health record management and dental practice management. Many dental practices run on antiquated practice management systems. Tab32 says that it's created the industry's first full-service dental software, built from the ground up with cloud technology to enable access from anywhere, and from any device.
Top executive: Kiltesh Patel, CEO and founder
Location: Recently moved to Rocklin after being headquartered in Sacramento for the past five years.
Employees: 72 total; three in the Sacramento area
Revenue: Tab32 has achieved 100% year-over-year revenue growth for the past five consecutive years. Declined to disclose total revenue.
