An innovative approach to wound care, ECI Biotech makes simple and affordable sensors, branded, ExpressDetect, that turn blue in the presence of harmful microbial pathogens. The sensor will be incorporated into medical devices and consumer products to alert the caregiver or patient of the early indication of an infection.
They don’t make or sell toothbrushes, wound dressings or catheters, but the company’s sensors can be inserted into any product such as a toothbrush, wound dressing, or catheter that can indicate the consumer may have an infection (e.g. gingivitis, wound infection, blood stream or urinary tract infection).
The sensors are currently being tested in the clinic for investigational purposes only and are not yet approved for use by the FDA.
ECI has strong IP (20 World-wide Patents), validated technology (5 partnerships), and 3 products going to launch in 2012. To date, ECI has secured an aggregate of +$20M in non dilutive development funding , SBIR grants, and angel financing.
In January 2011, the company was awarded a $13,000 Massachusetts Workforce Training Express Program Grant. The Workforce Training Fund Express (WTF Express) offers matching grants to Massachusetts’ employers to train current and newly hired employees. Dr. Mitchell Sanders, the CEO and Founder of ECI Biotech, said, “ECI Biotech is thrilled to receive a WTF Express Grant Award. ECI’s path to commercialization starts in 2011 and the ISO certifications are required to support the near term diagnostic product launches in the US and EU. The WTF Express grant will enable ECI employees to be trained for ISO compliance. We are indebted to the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) for providing our ISO QMS training and the ISO accreditations are one more step in the path to establishing global quality systems for manufacturing our diagnostic sensors in Worcester MA.”
Wound-care products cost the U.S. health care system over $7 billion in recent years. . When one considers the additional costs associated with potential complications such as infection, extended physician care, and lengthy hospital stays, however, total annual wound-care expenditures balloon to over $20 billion. Scientia expects the active wound-care market to grow at a CAGR of over 11% through 2011.
Active wound-care therapies offer a potentially lower overall cost solution. As a result, we are seeing a clear, emerging trend toward implementing more cost-effective wound-treatment programs in health care centers around the world that prioritize wound prevention, early intervention, and faster healing times.
ECI Biotech was previously featured at the Ventures Life Science and Healthcare Summit in New York City and was a presenting company at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and OneMedforum SF 2011.