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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Rise has expanded its life sciences portfolio with an investment in medical device company, MediCool Technologies. The Traverse City based company is developing a painless and potentially more effective implantable cardioversion device for treating atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), the most common heart arrhythmia, affecting over 6 million people in the United States. Michigan Rise’s investment will support MediCool’s continued research and development and early clinical studies, helping bring the device closer to FDA approval.
MediCool’s device offers an alternative solution to the commonly used implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a small battery-powered device that delivers painful electrical shocks to the patient to restore regular heart rhythm. Some patients say this feels like being kicked in the chest or having a heart attack. The MediCool device operates similarly to an ICD, but doesn’t use electricity for cardioversion. Instead, it thermally cools cardiac tissues to painlessly restore normal heart rhythm, with a therapy MediCool has developed called Cool Cardioversion.
“This is our first investment in MediCool Technologies, and we’re proud to support the development of this innovative therapy and help people with A-Fib,” said Matt Okoneski, Senior Associate at Michigan Rise.
“MediCool’s partnership with Michigan Rise and MSU will help fuel our continued innovation,” said Jeff Rynbrandt, CEO of MediCool. “The successful completion of our proof-of-concept device and early first in human clinical trial is encouraging. We’re hopeful that this exciting therapy will transform how we care for patients with atrial fibrillation and place control of their treatment into the hands of patients.”
Since its founding in 2015, MediCool Technologies has made significant progress in developing Cool CardioversionTM to painlessly treat atrial fibrillation. The investment from Michigan Rise will enable further development of the novel therapy, helping to deliver it to a large and growing market with an unmet clinical need.
