Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital License Technology to Lumendi, Ltd.
Start-Up Company Dedicated to Developing and Commercializing Products Aimed At Revolutionizing Gastrointestinal Surgeries
NEW YORK — (September 11, 2015) — The Minimally Invasive New Technologies Program (MINT) at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has teamed up with entrepreneurs and investors to establish Lumendi, a new start-up company dedicated to producing next-generation endoscopic tools that make complex gastrointestinal surgeries safer and less expensive while also improving patient outcomes.
The agreement between Weill Cornell and Lumendi will advance the development of the Endolumenal Surgical Platform (ESP), a new disposable device which fits over a standard endoscope like a sleeve and provides increased stability, control and visualization within the intestine. These enhanced features are designed to allow clinicians to remove large polyps and eventually to treat strictures, fistulas and many types of inflammatory bowel disease without necessitating open or laparoscopic surgery. The ESP is designed to transform the way gastrointestinal surgeries are performed by enabling clinicians to perform complex procedures endolumenally — from entirely within the intestine — resulting in less-invasive surgeries, quicker patient recovery and reduced healthcare costs.
Lumendi will seek to transform the ESP prototype developed at MINT into a commercial product and seek clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In collaboration with
Lumendi, the MINT team plans to develop a series of new products that are designed to enhance the ESP.
“We are defining a new era of digestive surgery, and we believe that the ESP will pave the way,” said Dr. Jeffrey Milsom, chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital License Technology to Lumendi,
Ltd., MINT co-director, who holds an equity interest in Lumendi, Ltd. and serves as a paid advisor to the company. “The ESP device and ancillary tools are all relatively simple, and clinicians who use them should be quickly able to take a leap forward in terms of what they’re able to do inside the intestine.”
The ESP design features two balloons which create a therapeutic zone inside the intestine, allowing clinicians to stretch out the intestinal wall and straighten folds and bends in order to stabilize and better visualize the colon. The design also permits stabilizing the endoscope tip at the site of the disease, allowing clinicians to target their movements precisely.
“Current endoscopes don’t offer the same level of stability that ESP does,” said Dr. Milsom, who is also executive director of the Center for Advanced Digestive Care at Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and the Jerome J. DeCosse M.D. Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. “With this device, you can better control and manipulate the surgical environment inside the intestine.”
As part of the agreement, MINT plans to develop a series of new products to enhance the ESP platform and increase the number of procedures that can be performed endolumenally. These tools include flexible surgical instruments that will enable precise complex surgical procedures to be conducted within the intestinal channel.
“Creating Lumendi has opened up many new possibilities for advancing gastrointestinal surgeries,” said Dr. Peter Johann, chairman and CEO of Lumendi. “This innovative relationship has the potential to transform digestive care for patients around the world.”
Lumendi, Ltd. holds an exclusive worldwide license from Weill Cornell on the ESP platform and related ancillary products. According to Dr. Johann, Lumendi’s vision is to revolutionize digestive surgery by developing and making available tools and devices enabling minimally invasive gastrointestinal interventions. Formed in December 2014, Lumendi is collaborating with MINT for the further development of these devices. For more information, visit www.lumendi.com and www.mint.weill.cornell.edu.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive hospitals and a leading provider of inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine. With some 2,600 beds and more than 6,700 affiliated physicians and almost 22,000 employees, NewYork-Presbyterian had more than 2 million visits in 2014, including some 14,000 infant deliveries and more than 262,000 emergency department visits. NewYork-Presbyterian comprises six campuses: NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. The hospital is also closely affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian/Hudson Valley Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area, according to U.S. News & World Report, and consistently named to the magazine’s Honor Roll of best hospitals in the nation. Affiliated with two world-renowned medical schools, Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork-Presbyterian is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. For more information, visit www.nyp.org.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University’s medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, and most recently, the world’s first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with Houston Methodist. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.
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Contact:
Ashley Paskalis
Weill Cornell Medical College
asp2011@med.cornell.edu
646-317-7401
Jackie Shutack
NewYork-Presbyterian
pr@nyp.org
212-305-5587