
Nonprofit PediaWorks LLC has formed a for-profit venture with a Japanese company that will specialize in developing catheters for children.
The new company, PediaCath, will be thefirst and only company dedicated to catheters made exclusively for children, according to a statement from PediaWorks.
Northeast Ohio medical device inventor Tim Moran this year founded PediaWorks with the aim of working with medical professionals to develop pediatric medical devices, and then spinning off for-profit companies to commercialize those devices. PediaCath will be the first test of Moran’s idea.
Moran created the company to address what he saw as a market need for medical devices designed for children. Lacking devices made just for children, doctors modify adult devices, sometimes causing their tiny patients discomfort, pain or injury. Other times, the modified devices — most often used “off label” or for uses unapproved by regulators — fail to work properly.
Moran’s partner is Tokyo-based catheter manufacturer Medikit Co. Ltd. The company will contribute $500,000 in seed funding, an experienced team of R&D engineers and rapid prototyping facilities to PediaCath.
Moran will serve as CEO of the new venture, and the company will be headquartered in Cleveland.
“We are grateful Medikit has the compassion to undertake this venture and feel it will be an ideal model to procure pediatric devices quickly and efficiently,” Moran said in prepared remarks. He didn’t immediately return a call.
Prior to PediaWorks, Moran founded, managed and raised a round of venture financing for CSF Therapeutics, a developer of devices to treat neurodegenerative diseases and a spin-off company from the Cleveland Clinic. He also managed a financing round for Intelect Medical, another Clinic spin-off, and guided the market launch of Minimally Invasive Devices in Columbus, Ohio.