The SymPhysis Medical team were delighted to win Best Indigenous Healthcare Start-up at the The HealthTech Innovation Awards in Dublin on 23 November.

HealthTech Ireland is an independent trade association for manufacturers, developers and distributors of health technology products and solutions. This year marked the 10^th anniversary of their Innovation awards. Tim Jones, CEO of SymPhysis Medical, accepted the award at the ceremony in the Mansion House, Dublin.

“Winning this award was a proud moment for the team and capped off what’s been a busy year for the Company”, Tim said.

In October 2022, SymPhysis Medical graduated from MedTech Innovator, a global accelerator program for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies.

Having won the highly competitive International Pitch event in Dublin in April 2022, SymPhysis Medical showcased at the prestigious Wilson Sonsini medical device conference in San Francisco in June. Following this, the Company participated in the final competition in Boston in October at the AdvaMed MedTech conference - the largest annual gathering of the global medtech community.

Making the cut from more than 1,000 applications to 50 showcase companies was a great boost for the team. As part of the final competition, SymPhysis Medical presented a video that explained the benefits of the releaze device. Participating in the global accelerator program has given SymPhysis Medical high-profile visibility to healthcare investors, access to an experienced network of mentors and peers, and also allowed the co-founders to participate in a highly beneficial virtual curriculum.

SymPhysis Medical were thrilled to win the MedTech Innovator Dublin International Pitch event, which took place in Dublin on 25 & 26 April 2022.

MedTech Innovator is a global competition and accelerator for medical device companies. It highlights the best and brightest early-stage companies, providing an opportunity for startups to gain national and international recognition. The competition was hosted in collaboration with the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit and its regional partners, Trinity College and RSCI.

27 companies were invited to pitch to a judging panel consisting of investors, providers, and senior executives from medtech companies. The judges shortlisted 5 companies to compete on stage the following day, after which the conference audience selected SymPhysis Medical as the overall winner.

Tim Jones, CEO of SymPhysis Medical, was surprised when the company he co-founded with Dr. Michelle Tierney was announced as the overall winner. “It was so unexpected but such an honour to come out on top in this competition, especially with the great companies that we pitched alongside. The whole event is run exceptionally well and the exposure we get from this can really help us progress in terms of funding and raising awareness of the benefits our device can bring to patients receiving palliative care.”

As a selected Accelerator company, SymPhysis Medical will proceed to showcase at a medical device conference in San Francisco in June, and will attend the final competition in Boston in October.

The win capped off a great week for the company, after the announcement of the company’s €1.9 million funding was reported by several media channels including the Irish Times and RTE.

SymPhysis Medical is delighted to be included in the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) 20 Health Innovations to watch for 2022.

The Innovation Showcase was launched by Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin on 22 February 2022. HIHI selected 20 innovations to watch based on the potential value to healthcare.

“We are very proud to be included in the HIHI 20 Healthtech Innovations to watch in 2022”, says Tim Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of SymPhysis Medical. The company was co-founded by Dr. Michelle Tierney and Tim Jones after they identified malignant pleural effusions as an under-met clinical area during the NUIG BioInnovate Fellowship in 2017/2018.

SymPhysis Medical’s healthtech innovation will significantly improve treatment practices for patients suffering from malignant pleural effusion (also known as ‘fluid on the lung’), a condition that affects half or all late-stage cancer patients. The first-of-its-kind drainage device will improve the well-being of people receiving palliative care, enabling them to be more independent and stay mobile during treatment. This fits with the company’s vision: enhancing the patient pathway to provide unrivalled patient independence and reduce hospitalisations.

A full list of all 20 companies listed in the HIHI Showcase for 2022 is available here.