Accelerator Program

A New Model for Medical Device Commercialization

It is difficult to introduce an innovative medical device into the marketplace, and many clinicians do not have the business expertise to plan for the many stages involved in commercializing a new product. The Accelerator program was created to provide innovators with support and specialized expertise in intellectual property protection, patents and licensing, technology implementation, regulatory issues, fundraising, commercialization, and much more. Its benefits to entrepreneurs, academic hospitals and investors ultimately supports CIMIT's mission to rapidly improving patient care by facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration.

Watch the video below and download the corresponding presentation slides to learn about the Accelerator program—overview, selection criteria, expectations and outcomes—from Michael Dempsey, CIMIT's Entrepreneur in Residence and Accelerator Program Leader.

Objectives

The goal of the CIMIT Accelerator program is to find, fund and facilitate technological innovations that have a reasonable chance of a handoff to industry or widespread clinical adoption within 12 to 18 months. During this window of opportunity, the CIMIT Accelerator team works intimately with a project team to not only derisk the solution, but also to develop and execute a complete strategy for getting the solution into practice.

Eligibility

The Accelerator program invests in teams, not technology, so to be considered for the program, the project or principal investigator must be known to CIMIT, the project team and PI must accept "heavy facilitation" by CIMIT and the project team must complete an impact plan.

Selection Criteria

The ideal accelerator project culminates with working prototypes, identified customers who are "ready to buy", and a complete business plan that is fundable by outside parties (be they investors, established businesses or licensees). Projects are selected for the Accelerator program based on criteria such as market size, strength of intellectual property, and market competitiveness.

Projects

Since launching in July 2010, the Accelerator program has selected three projects, each of which has received approximately $200,000 in funding.

• HanGenix: A comprehensive hand hygiene solutions that remind clinicians to perform proper hand hygiene and document their compliance.
• Health and Wellness Kiosk (HAWK): A portable, ATM-like system to help provide access to basic healthcare diagnostic information.
• Organ Solutions: A highly innovative solution to reprofuse livers to help make them viable for research and possibly human transplant.