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A London-invented medical device that’s saving trauma patients from bleeding out on the battlefield in Ukraine has been saluted by Time magazine as one of 2024’s top inventions.
Front Line Medical Technologies’ COBRA-OS device, which won key approval in the European market just months ago, is among 200 global innovations recognized.
“We’re over the moon about it,” said biomedical engineer Asha Parekh, Front Line’s chief executive.
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“We’re still an early stage, small company from London, Ontario,” she said. “To get mentioned in Time magazine as an impactful invention that’s changing the world, it’s a little mind-blowing.”
COBRA-OS – short for Control of Bleeding, Resuscitation, Arterial Occlusion System – is a balloon-like instrument that temporarily blocks the aorta, the body’s largest artery, to prevent trauma patients bleeding to death.
It can be used in emergencies ranging from vehicle crashes and war injuries to life-threatening bleeding after birth, Parekh said. Several devices were donated to Ukraine to help soldiers critically hurt fighting Russian invaders.
“We hope people never have to use this device. It means people are almost dying,” she said. “We can’t stop these situations from happening, but we can at least try to help.”
Like any medical device, COBRA-OS had to clear many hurdles on the way to market, from research and development to key regulatory approvals, Parekh said. The nod from Time was an unexpected bonus.
Parekh and Front Line Medical Technologies co-founder Adam Power, a London vascular surgeon, began work on the device in 2018.
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“We didn’t want to just patent it and leave it alone,” she said. “When we realized this could really go somewhere, the amount of people, patients, communities and families that it could have an impact on really drove us.”
In April, the company won approval to sell COBRA-OS in the European Union.
Front Line is just the latest example of how London’s “hidden gem” medical technology sector is punching above its weight, said Kapil Lakhotia, chief executive at London Economic Development Corp.
“There is a healthy pipeline of up-and-coming life sciences companies,” he said Tuesday. “This latest recognition is a testament to the calibre of local companies coming up through the ranks.”
In a city and region with a wealth of health-care institutions – from Western University’s medical school to both London hospitals – it’s no accident local medical technology businesses grow and thrive, Lakhotia said.
“A lot of these technologies are coming out of the hospital innovation ecosystem,” he said. “We are confident, in the next several years, the life sciences industry here will grow to be a significant player.”
jbieman@postmedia.com
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