Improving Medical Delivery of Drugs
NovaXS, which launched in January 2021, is currently refining a device the team developed for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The latter is the most common type of a group of diseases that break down muscles that control movement.
For IVF, patients need around 148 total injections of four medications; missing a dosage could cost a whole reproductive cycle.
“Couples want to have babies, but the current IVF process is difficult and expensive. We’d like to change that,” Xing says.
The current system is also stressful and time consuming, he adds. “Keeping track of dosages and your treatment schedule, monitoring your own progress, and not having a clear line of communication with your doctor all make managing treatment a part-time job. That’s why over 50 percent of medications for chronic disease aren’t taken as prescribed—which means patients don’t get better, and their health care costs go up.”
The company’s needle-free device, which patients can hold in one hand, can push treatment into the body’s subcutaneous and intramuscular levels within 0.3 seconds using liquid pressure—saving patients from painful and intimidating encounters with sharp objects, Xing explains. “This makes the drug delivery process easier, less painful, and less stressful.”
The device integrates with a smartphone app, so doctors can track patients’ progress and analyze injection data.
NovaXS is working with several IVF clinics to determine the best treatment delivery methods, including the number of injections. The company recently signed up with the UI Health (University of Illinois at Chicago) maternity center to conduct preclinical studies by early next year. They expect to have data ready to submit to the FDA in 2023, with device completion by early 2024, says Xing.
IVF centers and patients have shown significant interest; the University of Illinois, the private company La Jolla IVF, and others have pledged their intent to try the technology following FDA approval.
The company has a research partnership with the University of California at Berkeley and is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps, which selects 3–5 startups per quarter to help identify problems. Xing has also secured investments from large companies, such as Baxter International and Edward-Elmhurst Health, and is applying for a National Institutes of Health grant to support clinical studies.