Hospi Corporation Receives National Science Foundation Grant to Support Innovative Medication Administration Technology

News provided by

Nov 18, 2014, 06:00 ET

NEWARK, Calif., Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospi Corporation, a medical device company, today announced that it has received an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further optimize the company's medical device for less invasive and more cost effective administration of medications and liquids. The Phase 2 grant of approximately $700,000 will be used to advance the company's technology to benefit a broader set of patients, and support research on the pharmacokinetics of mucosal administration.

"This SBIR grant will allow us to enhance our medication administration technology to help patients, ease caregiver burden, improve quality of care, and reduce cost," said Igal Ladabaum, CEO at Hospi Corporation. "We look forward to building on the recent launch of the Macy Catheter™, our first product, whose development also received NSF support via a Phase 1 SBIR grant. While the currently available Macy Catheter facilitates rectal delivery of medications primarily in the hospice setting, this grant will help us to develop new capabilities of our technology that may broaden its use beyond the hospice setting to other clinical situations where a patient's oral route is compromised."

The Macy Catheter is currently available as an alternative form of medication administration, primarily for the 1.7 million patients who receive hospice care each year in the U.S. Approximately 20 percent of hospice patients have severe symptoms, such as pain, shortness of breath, or agitation, combined with difficulty or inability to swallow. Unfortunately, most of these patients either die uncomfortably, or are admitted to the hospital for symptom control. This NSF grant will advance Hospi Corporation's research into new features of its technology that could enable it to be more conveniently used in multiple clinical settings.

Rectal administration is both a clinically effective and cost-effective way to administer medications when patients are unable to swallow. Although intravenous administration (IV) is the most commonly used alternate route in acute care settings, IV medication delivery is costly and requires a relatively high level of care, training, and support. It can also lead to complications, such as infection, venous damage, and pain. Other forms of medication delivery, such as subcutaneous or intranasal can also be expensive and have various limitations. Very few medications are effective sublingually. Due to the discomfort and embarrassment of repeated insertions, suppositories are often undesirable for ongoing delivery of medications rectally, and they can be associated with delays and increased costs for procuring medications in suppository form.

About the Macy Catheter™
The Macy Catheter is the only device designed and FDA-cleared solely for the ongoing rectal delivery of medications and liquids. It was invented by 22-year veteran hospice nurse, Brad Macy, RN, BSN, CHPN, co-founder of Hospi and recipient of the 2013 National Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse of the Year Award. The Macy Catheter offers clinicians and caregivers an easy, discreet and comfortable alternative to oral administration of medication when prescribed by a physician, and is particularly useful for patients with serious or terminal illness who often lose the ability to swallow.

About Hospi Corporation
Hospi Corporation is a medical device company that improves quality of life by innovating practical, high-impact medical devices that enhance patient comfort and wellbeing, ease caregiver burden, and reduce cost. The company's patient-centric focus, which is inspired by a nursing perspective, guided the development of the Macy Catheter™, its first product launched in the United States. For more information, visit www.hospicorp.com.

SOURCE Hospi Corporation