PATH EX Wins MedTech Innovator 2021 Execution Award

MedTech Innovator, the largest accelerator of medical devices in the world, and AdvaMed Accel, the leading advocacy association for emerging medtech firms, have announced that PATH EX has been awarded the 2021 MedTech Innovator Execution Award and the Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award. Both awards recognize the potential of an up-and-coming entrepreneur or entrepreneurial medical technology company. The recipient was chosen via an online audience vote during the AdvaMed Accel Leadership Seminar.  
 
PATH EX, a medical technology startup based in Houston, is developing an extracorporeal blood cleansing device (CycloPE) designed to selectively remove pathogens, including multi-drug resistant bacteria, and endotoxins from circulating blood. 
 
“The PATH EX team has shown impressive leadership skills and strategy over the course of our program and we are thrilled to recognize them with the 2021 Execution Award,” said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator. “The company and its advisors are dedicated to advancing care in the sepsis space through innovation and are actively working to improve the lives of patients. We look forward to following the progress of not only PATH EX, but all five of the companies who competed as they work to address significant unmet needs in health care.” 

The Execution Award, presented jointly by AdvaMed Accel and MedTech Innovator, recognizes strong leadership teams with next-generation innovations and the resources to successfully execute on their goals of improving patient care.

The Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award was created to encourage the enthusiastic pursuit of business excellence in the medical technology industry. It is named after the late entrepreneur and patient care advocate Virginia Rybski, president and CEO of Regenesis Biomedical and a member of AdvaMed’s Board of Directors and the association’s Accel Executive Committee, who died in 2013. The award is presented each year during the association’s annual meeting to a single presenting company or entrepreneur.
 
“The five MedTech Innovator Accelerator companies who competed for this year’s Execution Award and Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award have demonstrated steadfast dedication to helping patients live better, longer lives by developing much-needed health solutions,” said DeChane Dorsey, executive director of AdvaMed Accel. “We are proud to recognize the PATH EX team as this year’s winner and we are eager to help them progress in their goal of further developing their CycloPE device.”

This year’s award includes a $15,000 grant from AdvaMed Accel and Medmarc and a $10,000 prize from MedTech Innovator to be applied towards expenses required for commercializing an innovative medical technology. Additionally, the winning company receives a profile in MedTech Strategist and will also receive a complimentary one-year membership with AdvaMed Accel and full-access registration to The MedTech Conference in 2022. In addition to this year’s winning company, finalists included: CAIRA Surgical, Evren Technologies, Lifelet Medical, and Otolith Labs.
 
“Congratulations to the PATH EX team on their impressive Execution Award win,” said George Ayd, assistant vice president, Medmarc. “This team clearly displays an entrepreneurial spirit and is developing a device that patients with sepsis desperately need. We can’t wait to watch them continue to execute on their goals and we look forward to tracking the inevitable success of all of the companies who competed for these awards.”
  
Based in Los Angeles, Calif., MedTech Innovator is the largest accelerator of medical device companies in the world and the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry.ⁱ Its mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the health care system. MedTech Innovator matches health care industry leaders with innovative early stage and emerging-growth medtech companies for mentorship and support.
 
AdvaMed Accel is the division within AdvaMed dedicated to addressing the unique needs and challenges of smaller medical device and diagnostics manufacturers—the lifeblood of the medical technology industry. The only organization of its kind focusing specifically on the needs of the medtech industry’s emerging growth companies, AdvaMed Accel works to create a policy environment more conducive to capital formation and innovation. 

Reference 
ⁱ Gibbs, M., Johnson, B., Silva, B. A., & Berube, K. (2020, July 10). Q2 2020 Life Science Accelerators Insights Cipher Bio. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from https://www.cipherbio.com/blog/life-science-accelerators-insights/