VQ Biomedical receives $750K grant from BARDA / ASPR / HHS

NOTE: VQ Biomedical is a start-up resulting from the collaboration of Assistant Professor Tobias Straube (Pediatrics, SOM) and Research Scientist Stewart Farling (CEE, Pratt). This release first appeared on the HHS website.

Intravascular Membrane Oxygenator Catheter

Award Date: 7/12/2024

Product Name: VQ Oxygenation Catheter

Program: Healing Lungs

Active

Project Description: Standard therapies for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), such as mechanical ventilation, can cause secondary lung injury further delaying healing. The most severe cases require veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) which remains labor-intensive, costly, and high-risk to the patient. VQ Biomedical is developing a simple, safe, and minimally invasive central venous catheter that diffuses oxygen directly into the bloodstream to address this unmet need. Through this partnership with BARDA, the VQ Biomedical team will demonstrate the efficacy and safety of our catheter-based approach to membrane oxygenation using a large animal ARDS model.

Disruptive Innovation: VQ Biomedical has developed a novel approach to membrane oxygenation, which significantly improves oxygen transfer efficiency compared to rates reported to date. This high efficiency enables the design of a compact membrane oxygenator that can fit within the confines of the intravascular space as a minimally invasive catheter-based device. The VQ Oxygenation Catheter delivers supplemental oxygen directly to the central venous blood as it flows passively by our device. VQ Biomedical’s technology could assist in weaning patients off ventilators to aid lung healing and reduce the need for VV-ECMO. This revolutionary approach to membrane oxygenation eliminates the need to pump large volumes of blood out of the body traditional VV-ECMO requires, greatly reducing its complexity, associated risk, and cost.

Product Type: Medical Device

Development Stage at Award: TRL 3 – Feasibility Demonstration

DRIVe Funding: $749,899.5

DRIVe (Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures) was established by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).