Via Surgical has signed up a U.S. distributor for its FasTouch surgical fixation system. The deal sees Progressive Medical sign up to distribute the Israeli medtech company’s FDA-cleared devices for fixing prosthetic material to soft tissue.
FDA gave 510(k) clearance to FasTouch in 2014. Since then, Via Surgical has raised $6 million to further its commercialization efforts. And now it has put the final piece in place by striking a deal with healthcare sales business Progressive Medical, setting it up to introduce its product at the Americas Hernia Society Conference later this week.
Via Surgical thinks it has the right partner in place in Progressive Medical to make a success of the commercialization push.
“Progressive Medical with its outstanding track record, surgical focus and extensive national coverage is an ideal partner to introduce FasTouch, a novel and very promising surgical fixation technology," John Gomes, chief commercial officer at Via Surgical, said in a statement.
The device Progressive Medical will sell is designed to fix mesh to the abdominal wall during hernia surgeries. Today, surgeons typically use screws or staples to affix the mesh, but these approaches can lead to pain and complications. FasTouch is a suture-like device that fastens to itself to fix the mesh to the abdominal wall when delivered by a cartridge-loaded applicator.
Via Surgical claims the approach offers strong fixation while minimizing the amount of foreign body material implanted and exposed to organs. This low-profile approach is designed to cut the risk of pain arising as a result of reactions with the foreign body.
As Via Surgical sees it, current offerings either prioritize maximizing fixation strength or minimizing the weight of foreign body implanted. By seeking to provide strong fixation and low foreign body weight, Via Surgical thinks it can deliver a product that performs better than the likes of Medtronic’s ProTack and Bard Davol’s OptiFix.
Via Surgical is yet to show it can hold its own in the market, but through its founding team—Lena Levin, Arik Levy and Ofek Levin—it has noteworthy credentials. The trio was last seen leading PolyTouch Medical to a takeover by Covidien.