Led by founder and CEO Manny Villafaña, Ph.D. Sc., Medical 21 is a next-generation medical technology company seeking to reshape the future of cardiac bypass surgery procedures with their groundbreaking MAVERICS graft system.
The MAVERICS graft is a small, flexible tube encasing a nitinol scaffold designed to eliminate the need to harvest vessels from a heart bypass patient. Medical 21 has developed a strong and cost-effective graft system that is less invasive than traditional methods. Eliminating vessel harvesting will increase patients’ quality of life, speed up recovery, and even open up access to the surgery for patients who were previously ineligible.
Many attempts at similar grafts have failed due to issues around biocompatibility and structural load. Medical 21’s animal studies in sheep have shown positive results surpassing the requirement of 90 days. In fact, the positive results have continued for over 250 days after the initial procedure.
Villafaña, the recipient of the Living Legend of Medicine award by The World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2006, said, “This has the potential to be the most-used single implantable device developed for medicine. Heart disease is the number one killer in the world and we are trying to do something about it. We are focusing on improving cardiac surgery with the graft we have developed. People have attempted this for many years, but we have been able to get it done. We’ve had successful animal trials and now are getting ready for human clinical trials.”
Hearts are complex organs that are difficult to replicate and repair; a graft must be biocompatible, flexible, and strong — but traditional methods have often failed, clogged, and created further complications for patients. Medical 21 has developed a graft that is biocompatible, structurally sound, and resilient enough to withstand the intense and specific conditions the cardiovascular system requires while offering a less invasive and less time-consuming procedure.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the #1 cause of death globally, with roughly two billion adults at risk for heart disease. There are currently 800,000–1,000,000 cardiac bypass surgery procedures performed worldwide annually, requiring 2.5–3.5 million grafts. As these numbers rise each year, the global need increases as well. Medical 21’s MAVERICS graft will be available to patients regardless of the condition of their own arteries and veins, giving a group of previously unviable candidates a chance at surgery. Patients with varicose veins, severe diabetes, and amputations will have access to heart bypass surgery since Medical 21’s graft system eliminates vessel harvesting.
This innovative technology is designed to eliminate disfigurement from vessel harvesting and reduce a patient’s pain, discomfort, and post-op wound healing complications. With the significant reduction in recovery time, patients may spend at least one less day in the ICU compared to traditional methods.
Medical 21’s MAVERICS graft system can benefit surgeons by reducing operating room time and reducing costs through shorter hospital stays and fewer post-op complications per patient.
Medical 21 recently opened a Regulation A+ equity round for $40 million and is receiving investments on its website (www.investinmanny.com). Learn more about Medical 21’s groundbreaking strides in cardiac bypass surgery procedures by visiting Medical21.com.