Volumina Medical and MinWave Technologies get FIT boost

Volumina Medical – Degradable implants supporting the human body to repair.

Founded by Philippe Renaud, Amélie Béduer, Thomas Braschler (picture above), Volumina Medical is developing highly innovative biomaterials for regenerative medicine. Their solutions address high unmet needs for the markets of reconstructive and plastic surgery. Volumina’s first product is Adipearl, a leading innovative biomaterial being developed to support the repair of soft tissues, initially targeting breast reconstruction after cancer surgery. Each year, around 2 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide, 500’000 of whom are in Europe. These patients increasingly resort to reconstructive surgeries to regain their natural and healthy physical appearance. Unfortunately, today, the available techniques are either too burdensome, induce long-term foreign body reactions, require repeated surgeries or do not bring durable results. In addition, a high number of patients are not eligible for one of these techniques and remain untreated. To address this significant unmet medical need, the Spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), has been working for several years on the development of a platform of novel injectable biomaterials to support soft tissue repair. The lead product from this work is Adipearl which has gone through extensive pre-clinical studies and is now being tested in patients. First therapeutic target is breast reconstruction following cancer surgery. Thanks to the FIT loan, Volumina Medical will conduct a first in human clinical study in Europe.

Making communication more efficient and less expensive with MinWave technology

With the increasing demand for communication and emerging trends such as 5G, there is a need for powerful and cost-effective infrastructure. In addition to the appliance in your kitchen, microwave technology is used in a huge variety of applications, from satellites to radio, from lasers to 5G, etc. To transmit these electromagnetic waves, waveguides are used. These exist in a variety of forms but are often bulky and expensive: miniaturisation of waveguides is therefore a complex challenge. MinWave, a spin-off of the EPFL's Wave Engineering Laboratory, is proposing a new technique that makes it possible to produce microwave components that are ten times smaller and lighter, more energy efficient, more durable, compatible with standard interfaces and, above all, more efficient. To achieve this, MinWave uses a novel electromagnetic metamaterial along with new 3D printing to manufacture its devices. The CHF 100’000 loan from the FIT will allow the start-up to hire a business development expert to boost MinWave's expansion.

(Press release)

Picture on top L-R Volumina Medical founders Philippe Renaud, Amélie Béduer, Thomas Braschler