AIJUN WANG
VASOBIO
BY Russell Nichols
Kidney disease causes more deaths than breast cancer and prostate cancer . The most common way to treat kidney failure is with dialysis , where synthetic medical tubes in a patient ’ s arm or leg act as kidneys , removing waste and toxins from the blood . But these tubes — called arteriovenous grafts — cost a lot and often fail from clotting , vein collapse and infections .
VasoBio , a medical device company out of UC Davis , has identified a molecule to coat the surface of an AV graft . Once implanted in the patient , this “ self-renewable ” coating attracts the body ’ s own stem cells to grow on the AV graft . The body then sees the graft as living tissue , not a synthetic material , according to VasoBio co-founder Aijun Wang , who is professor of surgery and biomedical engineering and vice chair for Translational Research , Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis Department of Surgery .
“ The body is always trying to heal , but sometimes it doesn ’ t have enough power to play against other factors ,” Wang says . “ This technology is educating the body on how to guide the good cells to do the right thing quicker .”
For the nearly half-million patients in the U . S . who need dialysis , this technology could be a breakthrough for keeping veins healthy and reducing health care costs , Wang says . VasoBio plans to start with enhancing AV grafts , but Wang says the technology could go beyond dialysis to support other grafts to reduce blood clot formation and infection .
The VasoBio interdisciplinary team also includes co-founders Kit S . Lam , a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular medicine , and Alyssa Panitch , a professor in the department of biomedical engineering . The startup has received about $ 500,000 from the Kidney Innovation Accelerator , a public-private partnership between the U . S . Department of Health and Human Services and the American Society of Nephrology , and seeks about $ 2 million in an upcoming pre-seed round .
PHOTO BY TERENCE DUFFY
VasoFlo . My backup name for the startup was ........................
a surgeon . If I could have any other job , I ’ d be .............................
innovation and A startup can ’ t be successful without ......................................... teamwork . ...........................................................................................................
The book that best represents my approach to business would be “ Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the ................................................................................................... Leap … and Others Don ’ t ” by Jim Collins . ..................................................................................................
wonderful journey . I believe life is a ...........................................
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES ? “ Currently , we ’ re looking for a manufacturing site . We are actively seeking partnerships for manufacturing and regulatory expertise to help us organize materials to submit to the FDA .”
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS ? “ We are actively looking into communicating with the FDA to approve this device to help more patients in the near future . Within a couple years , we ’ re going to start clinical trials .”
For more on VasoBio , read Russell Nichols ’ Startup of the Month column at comstocksmag . com .
94 comstocksmag . com | April 2022