Zoll Acquires Intellectual Assets of Coaxia

ZOLL (Chelmsford, MA, USA) has purchased the assets of CoAxia (Maple Grove, MN, USA), an early revenue stage medical device company that provides catheter-based perfusion augmentation therapies.

The core application ofCoAxia’s catheter technology, distributed under the trade names NeuroFlo and FloControl, involves the redistribution of blood flow from the lower extremities to support brain function during cerebral ischemia resulting from vasospasm, following subarachnoid hemorrhage. CoAxia did not have the funds to continue development after its de novo petition for the NeuroFlo catheter was rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for acute ischemic stroke. Zoll, however, still sees opportunity for the device and plans to design a new pivotal trial to take before the FDA.

Both NeuroFlo and FloControl blood flow redistribution technology use dual balloons to create temporary partial obstruction in the descending aorta. This technique causes a redistribution of cardiac output from the lower extremities to the cerebral vasculature without significantly increasing arterial blood pressure. The acquisition of the intellectual property also includes several key patents on cerebral perfusion augmentation as well as numerous other patents relevant to other various vascular procedures. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

“NeuroFlo technology has the potential to address a large portion of the population who suffer cerebral ischemia, offering a significant benefit to patients and the healthcare system,” said James Palazzolo, president of Zoll. “Our task is to continue to develop the significant body of clinical evidence started by CoAxia demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the NeuroFlo catheter and, in the end, do what is necessary for it to be a standard treatment option for hundreds of thousands of stroke patients worldwide.”

The acquisition of CoAxia’s intellectual property also offers synergy with Zoll’s acute critical care portfolio of products such as temperature management, which may reduce reperfusion injury following ischemia by using balloon catheters. The devices could also offer significant potential applications in blood flow redistribution for trauma, cardiac arrest, coronary procedures, surgical blood loss, and renal perfusion.

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