Relavo Medical joins the MDC Studio
Relavo Medical founded by Sarah Lee, Tejasvi Desai, and Anna Bailey, three recent graduates of Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering program, has become an MDC Client. Relavo is a Baltimore-based medical device company that is changing the way that kidney failure patients receive treatment. Relavo's mission is to enrich the lives of people with kidney failure by making home dialysis safer and more accessible. Relavo's team of biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins University is seeking to make home dialysis more accessible by minimizing the risk of infection with our technology, the PeritoneX.
"We are delighted to have the very talented Relavo Team in the Studio. The Relavo technology can have a tremendous impact on the health and safety of dyalisis patients. We are very pleased to support the Relavo team as it develops this critical technology." said Gil Blankenship CEO of MDC.
"Being part of MDC will help Relavo achieve its goals for the PeritoneX device and for the company," said Sarah Lee CEO of Relavo.
About Relavo Medical
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a form of treatment for kidney failure. It allows patients to receive treatment daily from the comfort of their own homes instead of spending 15-20 hours a week in a dialysis clinic. However, PD is under-utilized as a treatment - only 10% of patients with kidney failure receive PD treatment. This is because of the risk of infection.
Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneal membrane commonly caused by bacteria entering the patient’s body from touch or air contaminations of PD supplies during treatment setup. Connections at high risk of contamination are circled in the image. Microbes from these contamination events are flushed into the patient’s body when dialysis begins. Peritonitis occurs in 30% of patients every year and requires hospitalization in 50% of cases.
Relavo has received numerous awards for its design and business plan. Most recently the Company received a Phase I SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation.
About the MDC Studio
The MDC Studio is the operational unit of the Maryland Development Center Partnership, which was founded in 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. MDC Studio functions as a MedTech Startup Studio that provides engineering support, business development services, and funding to create and support companies commercializing medical devices. The Studio works with inventors to develop their ideas into working prototypes and marketable products and form companies that will grow and create value for both their shareholders and all of society. MDC Studio Baltimore is located in the historic Wilkens-Robins building in the heart of Baltimore, near the University of Maryland Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins University where MDC’s founding partners and affiliates practice, teach, and research state of the art surgery and medicine.