2016 was a good year for the Vigor company, as last February it won first place (out of about 150 companies) in the annual Innovex competition, thus being designated as the most innovative and promising startup company in Israel for 2016
The Vigor company, which operates in the T-factor accelerator at the Technion, recently won second place in the Shenzhen 1st International Talents Competition held in the city of Shenzhen, China. In the competition, organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science, 873 companies from Germany, the USA, Australia and Israel participated. The 2005 Nobel Prize winner for medicine Prof. Barry Marshall from Australia participated in the jury. The respectable ranking in the competition earned the Vigor company a financial sum of 50 thousand dollars and significant exposure in the Chinese investor community.
2016 was a good year for Vigor, as last February it won first place (out of about 150 companies) in Innovex's annual competition, thus being designated as the most innovative and promising startup company in Israel for 2016.
Vigor Medical Technologies was founded about two years ago by CEO Irina Kabonovsky, a graduate of the Technion's Faculty of Chemical Engineering; The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Igor Weissbein, who is a serial entrepreneur and by Dr. John Ables, an American doctor from Florida, who is also the first investor in the company and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Timor Midan, an entrepreneur with about a decade of experience in the start-up world. Vigor has developed a mechanical plastic device aimed at treating chest trauma. Such traumas, which occur with a global frequency of approximately 4 million cases per year, are the leading cause of accidental death. The medical treatment of these events involves the insertion of drains and surgical instruments into the chest, and it is very important to advance the treatment to the first hour after the injury - the "golden hour" - which determines the victim's fate in about 80% of the cases.
In laparoscopic (minimally invasive) abdominal surgeries, an auxiliary device (Trocar) is currently used, through which the surgical tools are inserted and operated. The problem is that this device is dangerous for use in chest surgery, as it may damage the internal tissues of the chest and cause serious and even fatal injuries. This is mainly when it is performed in field conditions by paramedics.
Vigor's product changes the rules of the game: it allows medical professionals, including paramedics and medics, to perform the treatment without fear of injury. This product, in contrast to the Trocar devices used in abdominal surgeries, allows for a simple and quick replacement of the drains inside, so it is also suitable for field conditions.
Vigor's product is suitable for open traumas (shooting, stabbing) and closed traumas (fall, car accident, etc.). It is fixed to the wall of the chest and creates a permanent and sealed passage that prevents the penetration and escape of air and liquids and enables the fixation of a drain in order to evacuate liquids and air from the chest. The product is adapted for use by civil rescue services (MDA) and military, emergency and trauma rooms and for the treatment of people after thoracic and abdominal surgery.
The company began its journey at the startup accelerator MassChallenge in Boston, and from there it arrived at the T-factor accelerator at the Technion. David Shem-Tov, the director of the accelerator, points out that Vigor is the first company to join the accelerator, and will soon complete the acceleration period. According to him, "This is actually our goal: to help researchers at the Technion, students and graduates of the Technion to grow start-up companies that implement their inventions. We accompany them from the initial stages, make the Technion's technological environment accessible to them, support them financially and do as much as we can to help build the company."
In less than two years, Vigor's product went through development and pre-clinical trials, and soon the necessary processes to obtain approvals from the authorized authorities in the USA (FDA) and Europe (CE) will begin. According to CEO Kabonovski, "The Technion accompanied us closely in funding and training, and the Association of Friends of the Technion in France led us to investors and competitions in France. Here in Israel we received assistance from the chief scientist and very positive reactions, for example from the chief paramedic of MDA. We believe that the win will open more doors for investors and more connections in the medical world."
