Four major sets of patents with international extensions have been applied for jointly by INSERM and EDAP Technomed, and Ablatherm could become commercially available as early as June 1999. EDAP Technomed have just obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a multicenter study in the United States.
An example of successful technology transfer, against the odds
Ablatherm is the latest fruit of close collaboration between INSERM U281 (a
group working on tumor diagnosis and treatment by physical agents such as shock
waves and ultrasound), the urology department of Edouard Herriot hospital, and
EDAP Technomed (formerly Technomed).
It took 10 years to develop Ablatherm, from fundamental research by the INSERM group through to prototype development and the first clinical trials. The development process was not helped by the fact that Technomed ran into financial difficulties, leading to its takeover by Edap, a direct competitor. However, the tenacity of the company's director and medical staff, together with active support from by INSERM's service de valorisation, saw the Ablatherm project through to fruition, under the auspices of a new company, EDAP Technomed.
Cooperation between the various actors in the Ablatherm project is long-standing: in 1985 it gave rise to Sonolith, the first French-made device designed to break up kidney stones by the use of shock waves (it was this application that led to the creation of Technomed).
'"/>
Contact: Jean-Yves Chapelon
chapelon@lyon151.inserm.fr
33-4-72-68-19-30
French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM)
22-Feb-1999