by hannah meyers
israel 21c
A treatment that could alleviate discomfort for a quarter of women over 60 years old is currently undergoing clinical trials. The treatment was developed by Endogun, a high tech start-up company
in Israel.
Pelvic organ prolapse is a weakening of the hammock of muscles in the pelvic floor, caused by childbirth or simply due to aging. The deteriorated pelvic floor can collapse, causing the organs above to fall through. Prolapse can be quite painful and result in varying degrees of debilitation.
In the United States and Western Europe alone, 360 million women suffer from some degree of pelvic organ prolapse. Of this number, about a fifth, or 70 million women, require some surgical intervention. Despite the need for treatment, only around 600,000 surgical procedures are done in America and Europe each year— serving only to a fraction of the women who would benefit from such intervention.
“We are not inventing a cure for a disease without any cure — but we can save lives and improve the quality of life for many women by mitigating many risks of treatment,” said the company’s CEO, Elad Naggar.
According to Naggar, the current surgical method is “traumatic for patients.” It introduces a mesh net across the pelvic floor to support the organs, preventing their collapse. The procedure can require at least five incisions, and sometimes up to nine for certain types of prolapse.
By contrast, Endogun’s treatment uses a novel fastener, made of medical-grade stainless steel, to secure the mesh support directly to the soft tissue through a single incision. This less complicated technique means less anesthesia, shorter recovery time and less overall trauma during and after the procedure. The procedure also makes the operation simpler for the surgeon.
Naggar recalls that an associate first brought Endogun to his attention. “I was very excited because the market need was very clear,” he said. “The treatment is so simple, so elegant and so reasonable to the way surgeons work and think.
“It is really a question of reducing the level of invasiveness and producing a higher level of confidence,” he said.
Based in the Meytav Technological Incubator program in Kiryat Shmona on Israel’s northern border, Endogun also is developing a treatment for urinary incontinence; an aid for radical prostatectomy surgeries and a hernia treatment is also in the advanced stages of development.
Endogun has global connections beyond Israel, including a scientific advisory board in the United States whose primary contribution is scientific input from leaders in urology and gynecology.
Since receiving FDA clearance last September, Endogun has begun clinical trials in western Europe and plans to launch a clinical study in America in the next few months. The company is working on obtaining the CE mark for approval
in European markets. Endogun hopes to start marketing in certain countries in early 2008 and is still considering where
to launch.
“There is a lot of interest from clinicians and from the business side,” said Naggar, who managed medical device companies for several years before heading Endogun. “I was surprised with the magnitude of this success.”
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California