Galway medical device manufacturer CrannMed has qualified for a €12.5m accelerator grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to develop a chronic inflammatory pain therapy.
‘SakuraBead’ is a “resorbable embolic microsphere” that is delivered to the site of pain on the body by medical professionals. Once in place, the device works by stopping blood flow to the inflamed site for a short period to reset the inflammatory process.
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The device is currently being evaluated in an international randomised control trial to accelerate commercial approval in the US and EU markets. Commercial sales are expected to begin by the end of the year.
The EIC accelerator is a funding programme under Horizon Europe developed to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have innovative and commercially disruptive products, services or business models. It gears its supports to relatively newer, less proven SMEs looking for substantial funding.
CrannMed will use the first phase of the investment, worth €2.5m, to develop the technology behind its pain relief therapy. The second phase, delivering €10m, will support commercialisation of the tech within Europe and the US.
Enterprise Ireland supports Irish deep tech enterprises to compete for funding through various EIC programmes.
“CrannMed is making great advancements in the crucial area of non-invasive treatment for knee osteoarthritis, which affects millions of people globally,” said Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, TD.
“The recent support from the European Innovation Council underscores CrannMed’s innovative microsphere technology which has been shown to alleviate pain and restore mobility for patients.”
Liam Farrissey, the CEO of CrannMed, added: “This award from the European Innovation Council, along with ongoing support from Enterprise Ireland, will enable us to expand our technology to treat a broader range of chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions and ultimately more patients.
“Specifically, hand osteoarthritis and plantar fasciitis have been highlighted as two areas of great patient need. Building on successful pilot studies in these anatomies, we will use the funding to support the technical, clinical and regulatory work needed to treat these patients with SakuraBead.”
CrannMed also received recent funding under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund programme for a joint health-tech project co-led by the University of Galway, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Salaso Health Solutions.
