Valorisation in medical technology

These are exciting times for Dave Koolbergen, congenital cardiac surgeon at AMC. With his company Haermonics he hopes to bring a new technology to market for postoperative pericardial flushing. It was developed upon his observation that after heart surgery often the removal of accumulated blood and clots can be achieved by flushing the pericardial space with a warm saline solution. Koolbergen’s continuous postoperative pericardial flushing (CPPF) can save lives by achieving a strong reduction in postoperative bleeding and bleeding related complications, such as a life-
threathening acute cardiac tamponade.

Koolbergen is a veteran innovator – the CPPF method is not his first invention. In this case he decided, with helpful guidance by the IXA business developers, to bring his idea to market with Haermonics as a spin-off company. “Not only was this a business decision, for me it’s important to keep control of the realisation of my idea. I have not really considered finding a company to assist in further development.” He does admit that being Chief Medical Officer for Haermonics is quite a new experience. “It’s a lot of work which now and then interferes with my duties as cardiac surgeon. On the other hand there’s also lots of synergy, in running clinical trials and heading research projects.”