Miniature Microscopy Company Mauna Kea Technologies Takes New Approach to Commercial Strategy

Miniature Microscopy Company MKEA Takes New Approach to Commercial Strategy July 28, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

PARIS – Imagine a microscope so small it can pass through the head of a hypodermic needle. Now, imagine that same microscope being able to transmit crystal clear cellular level images to physicians. Such a clear image would lead to more precise surgeries and could cut down on unnecessary exploratory surgeries.

That’s one of the driving features behind the technology being developed by France-based Mauna Kea Technologies . In an exclusive interview with BioSpace, founder and Chief Executive Officer Sacha Loiseau, a former astrophysicist, said technology is finally able to catch up to the needs of the medical community, particularly when it comes to oncology.

“Cancer and other pathologies begin at the cellular level,” Loiseau said from his company’s office in Cambridge, Mass. “The majority of cancers grow in the lining of our organs and the game is to collect and remove the cells growing as a cancer. We’ve been told by many surgeons they have to go in and do a blind biopsy, which is invasive, then after answers are found, possibly go in again for another invasive procedure.”

With the right technology, those kinds of procedures can be reduced and Loiseau hopes MKEA’s Cellvizio endomicroscopy product line will be among the top choices for surgeons to use.

MKEA began working in the field of gastroenterology because the company had compatible probes and then were able to miniaturize them to go into the tiny spaces to get a good picture, Loiseau said.

“We invented a microscopic method for physicians and surgeons to do just that—make it possible to image almost anything inside the human body. And it’s only going to get better as technologies evolve,” Loiseau said.

MKEA’s ultraminiature microscope is a tool small enough to be sent through the tip of a surgical needle and provide clear images of the cellular structure of internal organs, such as lesions on the pancreas. The images coming back to physicians can show whether the lesion is malignant or benign and if it’s benign, then the microscope has allowed the patient to avoid an unnecessary exploratory surgery.

“This is one of many different applications that we have … to improving patient care and avoiding costs that can be unnecessary,” Loiseau said.

Loiseau called ultramicroscopic products a disruptive technology—one that that will lead to even better procedures and technologies.

“There’s a future where any physician will be able to use an endomicroscopy probe to check a patient,” he said.

To support the ultraminiature microscopes, MKEA is also developing algorithms that Loiseau said will help physicians understand the images they will see.

Over the past year, MKEA has become a leaner company, while at the same time seeing an 11 percent growth in business over the first half of 2016. Loiseau said streamlining allowed the company to reduce cash consumption by 46 percent.

“We’re aiming at a higher growth while reducing expenses, but not a lot of head count,” he added. Over the next year, MKEA has a goal of adding potential partners in multiple medical disciplines, including looking at surgical applications in areas such as neurosurgery.

The company is making partnerships with other companies to take its technology into other fields. In December, MKEA partnered with Cook Medical to use the technology in clinical work. Those partnerships are paying off. The work with Cook Medical led to MKEA’s 12th clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Confocal Miniprobes indicated for use in urological and minimally invasive surgical applications with the near-infrared Cellvizio platform.

“These partnerships will allow us to expand our market reach by a significant factor,” Loiseau said, adding that as the company establishes relationships, it allows them to further reduce their own marketing and sales expenses.

Additionally MKEA has focused on hiring “phenomenal talents” in order to strengthen the company’s core leadership. Most recently the company tapped Pierre Forest as its new chief operating officer to oversee company operations. Loiseau said bringing Forest into the company now frees him up to focus his time on talking with potential investors and potential partners. That will keep the company focused on its mission and help it turn a profit, he said.

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