$250,000 Awarded to Asana Medical, Inc. in 43North's "World's Largest Business Idea Competition"
MIAMI LAKES, Fla., Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Asana Medical, Inc., ("Asana") a development-stage medical device company focused on development and commercialization of its innovative engineered tissue therapy for ulcerative colitis, is pleased to announce that they have been awarded $250,000 at the 43North Business Idea Competition that was held on October 30th in Buffalo, NY.
"We are extremely honored to have competed in this exclusive arena and to have our business plan acknowledged by a panel of world-renowned entrepreneurs and visionaries," stated Marc Ramer, Asana Medical's Chief Executive Officer. "This award will be included in our on-going capital raising efforts and will be applied directly towards the continuing development of our innovative engineered tissue therapy for ulcerative colitis," added Ramer.
Asana's lead technology, extracellular matrix, a porcine-derived biological material, acts as a catalyst to stimulate the body to grow new, healthy tissue in place of diseased or damaged tissue. The core technology has been proven to be safe and effective in hernia meshes and burn and wound dressings. Asana's novel application of this technology will treat ulcerative colitis, a disease that can render the colon nonfunctional. Ulcerative colitis affects 750,000 patients in the United States and approximately 6 million patients worldwide. Asana's engineered tissue device offers a drug-free, surgery-free alternative on a proven and safe therapy that targets the multi-billion dollar ulcerative colitis market.
ABOUT 43NORTH
Referred to as "The World's Largest Business Idea Competition" the 43North event received a remarkable response, with a total of 6,932 entrants from around the world. Of those entries, Asana Medical was one of only 11 that made it to the finals and given the opportunity to present their business plan in front of a panel consisting of five respected and distinguished executives including; Esther Dyson, Chairman of EDventure Holdings, Dr. David Hohn, President Emeritus & Executive Director of Health Policy, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Randall Lane, Editor of Forbes Magazine, Kenneth Lerer, Managing Director at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Kim Pegula, President and CEO of Pegula Sports & Entertainment and Bijan Sabet, General Partner at Spark Capital.
Governor Andrew Cuomo's Buffalo Billion initiative, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), and Launch NY are 43North's primary and founding sponsors. Additional support comes from National Grid, Orange Capital, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, Buffalo Office Interiors, Perfect Sense, Larkin Development Group, Superior Group, Rich Products Corporation, M&T Bank, Delaware North Companies, Phillips Lytle LLP, The Buffalo News, SoftBank Capital, Bright Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo Niagara Partnership, and others. See a complete list at www.43north.org/43north-sponsors.
To learn more, please visit www.43north.org.
ABOUT ASANA MEDICAL, INC.
Asana Medical is a development-stage medical device company developing a tissue-engineered therapy for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), a debilitating gastrointestinal disease. The Company's therapy, a novel application of a proven technology will be a first in-class therapy for 5.8 million suffering from UC. This therapy will be positioned to compete in a multi-billion dollar market dominated by drug therapies that can have severe side effects. Additionally 20-30% of patients do not benefit from drug therapy and as part of the therapy have the colon surgically removed. Asana counts on an experienced management team, strong IP, world-class advisors in business and medicine, and compelling preclinical proof of concept data. For more information, visit www.asanamedical.com.
To stay current and informed on all of Asana Medical, Inc. developments, join our social communities on Facebook and Twitter.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141104/156526LOGO
SOURCE Asana Medical, Inc.
Share this article