The futuristic University Hospital in Aachen is world famous for its architecture and for being the birthplace of many great inventions. Vivalyx is on its way to be a global medical, financial and social solution for the organ donor problems.
“There is a big shortage in availability and a long waiting list, with all the complications as a result. We think that now only 20% of the true potential of donor organs is being used”
Bright ideas
Organs have to be handled and transported with extreme care. “That is a process with huge costs and a great use of resources. The so called ‘warm pumping technique’ does the trick technically, but is very complex and costly to manage”, says Dr. Schumacher. “Several new organ pumping systems are available, but what truly preserves the organ is the liquid. Vivalyx developed Omnisol: a preservation fluid that can be used in simpler pumping machines for one fifth of the total costs!”.
“Our CTO Dr. Benedict Doorschodt was on his way to become a surgeon. During surgery training he experienced the difficulties with donor organs, and had an epiphany: why not give the donor organ what it really needs instead of focussing on damage prevention and preservation. Then he realised: as a surgeon he can help 1 person a time, but with the right invention he can help numerous people in the world!”
Venturing
For over 20 years, Dr. Doorschodt and his team kept on developing the patented fluid, balancing out the dozens of different ingredients to find the perfect composition. Dr. Schumacher: “We needed capital to build a team and for the pre-clinical work. In the first fund raising, we managed to get over 1 million from private people such as surgeons that believed in us, but also football star Mario Götze being one of them”.
Andreas explains: “We raised a second round of venture capital, 5.4M including BVP, to expand team and fund our first clinical trial. On top of that and a year later, the European Innovation Council (EIC) committed 2.5M as a grant to fund further research beyond of what we could do with the 5.4M.”
Partners
Luc Starmans is a partner at BVP and closely involved with Vivalyx: “After meeting Dr. Schumacher on the bus on the way back home from a medical conference, we started talking about our search for societal impact and excellence, we really connected during that conversation. Vivalyx is the example of a company that perfectly fits in our Health portfolio!”.
“My background is in Biomedical Engineering, which makes me a good sparring partner for Vivalyx as I am able to deeply understand the technology, the market and the mission of the company. Furthermore, the relationship between the people in both organisations is also very personal: it is built on transparency and trust. In that way we can have honest and content focussed discussions that help Vivalyx to bring their innovation to patients!”
