The MEDFREE Valve Repair System will innovatively improve upon the current market leading MitraClip device, while leveraging and building on the proven percutaneous Alfieri edge-to-edge repair technique.
We aim to address this vastly unmet percutaneous structural heart market by delivering a simpler, easier-to-use device in a smaller 12 Fr catheter system that can be used by a single operator.

Public Health Relevance

Mitral valve regurgitation affects more than 7 million people or about 2-3% of the population in the United States alone, of whom about 3.8 million suffer from moderate to severe regurgitation, as high as 1.7 million patients are in need of treatment and about 250 thousand patients get added each year [6, 10, 11, 15]. However, only about 50 thousand undergo surgical treatment each year due to the high risk associated with the procedure [11, 15] and although significantly safer, only about 15 thousand undergo catheter based interventional treatment, as the currently available interventional procedures are extremely difficult to perform [1, 14, 16]. In this project, MEDFREE Inc., will build a safe, easy to use and innovative 12Fr percutaneous catheter-based interventional device that leverages the Alfieri edge-to-edge technique to address this severely unmet clinical need, which is a market that is conservatively estimated to grow from around $2 billion USD in 2018 to over $3 billion USD by 2022 [21].

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase I (R43)
Project #
1R43HL147825-01A1
Application #
9910088
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Evans, Frank
Project Start
2020-01-02
Project End
2020-12-30
Budget Start
2020-01-02
Budget End
2020-12-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Medfree, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
080718650
City
Fremont
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94539