Actuated Medical Developing Technology to Improve Targeting for Next-Generation Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments
BELLEFONTE, PA, August 6, 2024 – Treating alcohol misuse remains a major challenge worldwide. Given the diverse biological processes that contribute to alcohol use disorder, new medications are needed to provide a broader spectrum of treatment options. Some people may respond to a medication that helps with craving, others may respond to a medication that relieves impulsivity, others may respond to a medication that reverses the negative emotional state of withdrawal or protracted withdrawal. Just like any other medical condition, people with alcohol use disorder deserve to have a range of treatment options available to them. Scientists are working to develop a larger menu of pharmaceutical treatments that could be tailored to individual needs.
Actuated Medical’s innovative NeuralGlider Injector will enable the delivery of next-generation medications into small targets deep in the brain, to fundamentally change the trajectory of alcohol use disorder and improve outcomes. The goal is to deliver a therapeutic that will damp down cravings enough for other therapies to have a chance to work. The therapeutic gets delivered accurately to the target and stays there.
Actuated Medical, Inc. has been awarded a $3 million pre-clinical Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to develop the “Oscillated Insertion Tool for Minimally Invasive, Low-Damage, Accurate Placement of Delivery Cannula to Improve Efficacy for DREADDS (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) Therapy in Alcohol Addiction Treatment” which will be commercially recognized as the NeuralGlider Injector.
“Many of us know someone who is dealing with an alcohol addiction and have felt helpless as we watched them suffer. That is why we are so excited to develop and commercialize our NeuralGlider Injector technology as it may one day help to offer a more effective treatment option for those afflicted with alcohol use disorder.” Maureen L. Mulvihill, Ph.D., Actuated Medical President, CEO, & Co-Founder.
Healthcare Innovation Leader Suzy Engwall Joins Actuated Medical’s Board of Directors
[Bellefonte, PA] – Actuated Medical is proud to announce the appointment of Suzy Engwall to its Board of Directors. She is a healthcare innovation leader, speaker, startup advisor, and mentor who has been working to make a change in healthcare for almost 2 decades. Suzy is the CEO and Founder of HealthTech Strategies, LLC, a boutique consulting firm that works with MedTech startups. Throughout her career, Suzy has held pivotal roles at leading healthcare organizations, including serving as VP of Early Medtech Development at Alira Health and as Executive Director at the Innovation Institute. Her commitment to fostering innovation along with hands-on experience in guiding early-stage startups and healthcare organizations make her a valuable addition to Actuated Medical’s Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Suzy Engwall to our Board of Directors,” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, President & CEO at Actuated Medical. “Suzy’s extensive experience and dedication to advancing healthcare innovation aligns perfectly with our mission to develop cutting-edge medical solutions that enhance patient care. We are confident that her expertise will greatly contribute to our strategic initiatives and drive our company’s growth.”
“It is a privilege to serve on the board of Actuated Medical. Maureen and her team are creating transformative healthcare solutions that improve the lives of patients. It is an honor to contribute to their work and help shape strategies that will further enable the team to continue to drive health innovation.” Suzy Engwall, President & CEO, HealthTech Strategies, LLC.
Suzy Engwall holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Arizona State University’s Edson School of Nursing and Health Innovation, where she also serves as an Alumni Board Member.
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About HealthTech Strategies LLC:
HealthTech Strategies, LLC is a woman-owned boutique consulting firm specializing in the intersection of healthcare and technology. They are a purposefully small, concierge-level organization on a mission to revolutionize healthcare delivery through innovative solutions. They offer a range of services for startups, healthcare organizations, and investors. Services provided to healthcare organizations and hospitals include implementation of corporate innovation programs, innovation challenges, hackathons, and human centered design workshops. For founders, their collective ecosystem mentors startups from the idea stage on. They assist in pitch deck reviews, prototyping, regulatory to go-to-market strategy and more, serving as a one-stop shop. For investors, they create partnerships and scout for companies aligned to portfolios. HealthTech Strategies believes that aligning the needs of the entire ecosystem can efficiently make impactful changes in healthcare.
Actuated Medical Launches My Medical Mirror Companion Case and website: helping Older Adults with transitions in care
[Bellefonte, PA] – Currently, 62 million Americans are 65 years old or older. Aging in place is always desired but often older adults experience transitions in care to facilities such as hospitals (short-term) or assisted living (long-term). Transitions in care, and even procedures that involve anesthesia, may result in confusion and disorientation that can have longer term implications on treatment and length of stay. Having personal items and memory cues traveling with them has been shown to help alleviate this concern. Maintaining healthcare information and personal items organized and ready for emergency and non-emergency transportation is often challenging. Therefore, Actuated Medical developed My Medical Mirror, a companion case, which provides a central location for an older adult’s healthcare and personal information as well as for assistive items like eyeglasses and hearing aids. The lightweight case can be quickly taken with the older adult by emergency staff or caregivers as they transition to a new facility. While in a facility, My Medical Mirror may even help minimize the risk of losing personal items since they are well identified on the front of the case so that facility staff know to look for the items when removing food trays or bedding from the room.
“On the advice of a nurse who studied older adults for many years, we developed the My Medical Mirror companion case.” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, Ph.D. President & CEO at Actuated Medical. “It provides an easy to carry case to store medical information, life stories and personal items. We hope that My Medical Mirror will result in improved health outcomes for older adults.”
My Medical Mirror aims to mitigate the risks associated with transitions in care, including delirium. Delirium, a short-term condition characterized by sudden confusion and disorientation, affects a significant portion of older adults, particularly those living with dementia. Studies indicate that up to 89% of older adults with dementia experience delirium when hospitalized.
100 million people in the U.S. suffer from neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Epilepsy. The problem is growing. The U.S. expends $800 billion annually on the treatment of neurological conditions. Recognizing the need for better diagnosis and treatments, the NIH has launched the BPMT program. The BMPT initiative assists innovators, facilitating moving their cutting-edge medical device developments toward Regulatory Approvals and commercialization, with support and resources that small companies and university researchers often lack.
Actuated Medical has been selected to offer extensive support to BPMT awardees that are working with the MedTech Hubs of CIMIT in Boston and NeuroTech Harbor in the Baltimore/DC area. This exciting partnership reinforces Actuated Medical’s commitment to advancing healthcare through groundbreaking research, development, and manufacturing.
“We are thrilled to have been selected as a CRO for the BPMT initiative,” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, Actuated Medical President & CEO. “This program will allow us to support entrepreneurial researchers moving their groundbreaking devices toward first-in-man studies to transform treatment of neurological conditions like stroke, Epilepsy, and Parkinson’s Disease.“
The Actuated Medical BPMT contract provides comprehensive support to multiple BPMT grantees. This assistance encompasses the completion of biocompatibility studies, in vivo preclinical testing with adherence to good laboratory practice (GLP) guidelines, and sterilization and shelf-life testing crucial for advancing medical device development. Actuated Medical’s commitment extends to supporting research protocol development, facilitating in-house staff training, and conducting all necessary tests vital for biocompatibility, sterilization, and preclinical safety studies. These findings will serve as the cornerstone for informing regulatory filings, including Investigational Device Exemptions (IDEs), and eventual marketing approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N95023D00022.
About My Medical Mirror:
mymedicalmirror.com/ which includes an online shopping cart.
Actuated Medical Selected to Accelerate Neurological Technology Breakthroughs through NIH Blueprint MedTech Contract
[Bellefonte, PA] — Actuated Medical, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a Contract Research Organization (CRO) under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Blueprint MedTech (BPMT) initiative with a potential contract value of $35M over 5 years.
100 million people in the U.S. suffer from neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Epilepsy. The problem is growing. The U.S. expends $800 billion annually on the treatment of neurological conditions. Recognizing the need for better diagnosis and treatments, the NIH has launched the BPMT program. The BMPT initiative assists innovators, facilitating moving their cutting-edge medical device developments toward Regulatory Approvals and commercialization, with support and resources that small companies and university researchers often lack.
Actuated Medical has been selected to offer extensive support to BPMT awardees that are working with the MedTech Hubs of CIMIT in Boston and NeuroTech Harbor in the Baltimore/DC area. This exciting partnership reinforces Actuated Medical’s commitment to advancing healthcare through groundbreaking research, development, and manufacturing.
“We are thrilled to have been selected as a CRO for the BPMT initiative,” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, Actuated Medical President & CEO. “This program will allow us to support entrepreneurial researchers moving their groundbreaking devices toward first-in-man studies to transform treatment of neurological conditions like stroke, Epilepsy, and Parkinson’s Disease.“
The Actuated Medical BPMT contract provides comprehensive support to multiple BPMT grantees. This assistance encompasses the completion of biocompatibility studies, in vivo preclinical testing with adherence to good laboratory practice (GLP) guidelines, and sterilization and shelf-life testing crucial for advancing medical device development. Actuated Medical’s commitment extends to supporting research protocol development, facilitating in-house staff training, and conducting all necessary tests vital for biocompatibility, sterilization, and preclinical safety studies. These findings will serve as the cornerstone for informing regulatory filings, including Investigational Device Exemptions (IDEs), and eventual marketing approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N95023D00022.
About NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research:
https://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/neurotherapeutics/blueprint-medtech/resources
About Center for Innovative NeuroTech Advancement (CINTA):
https://www.cimit.org/web/center-for-innovative-neurotech-advancement
About and NeuroTech Harbor (NTH):
Actuated Medical Expands Expertise in Forensic DNA Analysis with Acquisition of Mitotyping Technologies LLC
BELLEFONTE, PA, December 5, 2023 — Actuated Medical, a leading innovator in medical device technologies, announced today the successful acquisition of Mitotyping Technologies LLC, a prominent DNA forensic company specializing in advanced mitochondrial DNA analysis. This strategic move reflects Actuated Medical’s commitment to diversification and growth, expanding its capabilities into the field of forensic science.
Mitotyping Technologies LLC has established itself as a trailblazer in the DNA forensic industry, providing cutting-edge solutions for mitochondrial DNA analysis for over 24 years. The acquisition aligns with Actuated Medical’s vision to explore new avenues of innovation and leverage its expertise in precision engineering for applications beyond the medical field.
“We are excited to welcome Mitotyping Technologies into the Actuated Medical family,” said Maureen L. Mulvihill, CEO and Founder of Actuated Medical. “This strategic acquisition not only strengthens our portfolio but also positions us at the forefront of forensic mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mitotyping Technologies has a stellar reputation for delivering high-quality results, and we look forward to integrating their expertise into our broader mission of advancing science and technology.”
Mitotyping Technologies is known for its team of highly skilled scientists and exceptional success rate when working with minute, aged, and highly degraded samples. Using a unique, customized casework approach, Mitotyping Technologies has been instrumental in numerous forensic investigations. This acquisition enables Actuated Medical to leverage Mitotyping Technologies’ extensive experience and established relationships within the forensic community.
“We are thrilled to join forces with Actuated Medical, a company known for its commitment to excellence and innovation,” said Gloria Dimick, Technical Leader and Forensic Examiner at Mitotyping Technologies. “Together, we believe we can push the boundaries of forensic mitochondrial DNA analysis, driving advancements that will have a positive impact on the field and contribute to the resolution of complex cases.”
The integration of Mitotyping Technologies into Actuated Medical’s portfolio enhances the company’s ability to address the growing demand for advanced forensic DNA solutions. The combined resources, knowledge, and technologies will empower Actuated Medical to make significant contributions to the field of forensic science.
About Mitotyping Technologies LLC:
Mitotyping Technologies, based in the vibrant State College area, shattered the myth surrounding the legendary Wild Bill Longley with an exuberant triumph. While Texas folklore hinted at his elusive escape from the hangman’s noose three times, Mitotyping Technologies definitively debunked the tale, proving his identity through forensic Mitochondrial DNA analysis. As a global leader in this field for over 20 years, their accredited DNA forensic laboratory has been instrumental in active criminal cases, post-conviction exonerations, cold cases, maternal relatedness, and missing persons investigations. Their unparalleled expertise extends to achieving superior recovery rates for mitochondrial DNA even in the most challenging samples. Mitotyping Technologies doesn’t just solve cases; they redefine what’s possible in forensic science with unmatched enthusiasm and dedication.