Dive Brief:
- The Mayo Clinic has partnered with GE Ventures to launch a new company, Vitruvian Networks.
- Vitruvian will focus on enhancing access to cell and gene therapies via its software and manufacturing platform, which will serve as a network coordinator for therapeutic companies.
- The goal is to provide effective and safe treatment for cancer and other diseases.
Dive Insight:
The company's initial efforts will focus on developing autologous cell therapies that target blood cancers. The Mayo Clinic's biomarker, cell therapy processes and clinical outcomes data will be used to develop personalized therapies.
"We are excited that Vitruvian Networks will further drive standardization of the industry, increase scalability and bring forward the realization of critical therapeutic potential to address the unmet needs of patients around the world," Dr. Andre Terzic, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement. The company will also utilize tools from GE Healthcare's cell therapy business and those of other partners to help mass manufacturing of cell and gene therapies.
Although connectivity among medical devices is not new, the Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining traction as the healthcare industry has been increasing efforts to improve quality and the continuum of care. MarketResearch.com estimated in 2015 the healthcare IoT market segment would hit $117 billion by 2020.