Our collective strength

Cook Medical continues tradition of innovation by connecting with Indiana and Purdue universities to research and create new pediatric medical devices.

When Dr. Sven-Ivar Seldinger developed a new technique in the early 1950s that allowed radiologists to gain access to the vascular system using a needle, a wire guide, and a catheter there was one problem—there was no one to manufacture it.

In 1963, Bill Cook created Cook Inc. and jumped at the challenge. There was a need, and he figured out how to make the necessary products.

Sixty years later, Cook Medical is still jumping at opportunities to be relentlessly inventive by connecting with physicians and institutions who share that mindset. When we saw a drastic need for pediatric-specific medical devices, Cook once again looked for ways to find a solution.

The urgent need

Pediatric medical devices are scarce. Less than 12% of the National Institutes of Health budget funds pediatric research, and less than 10% of all health care spending is for pediatrics.

Historically, few technologies developed for infants and children leave the laboratory. The technologies that do, often fail commercially due to the relatively limited market size as compared to devices for adult patients.

With few other choices, pediatricians sometimes used adult-indicated medical devices on their small patients, thinking the product would work the same way. Engineer George Wodicka, the Vincent P. Reilly Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue, said there’s a tendency to think a technological solution for an adult medical problem can simply be scaled down to work for children.

“In reality that’s not the case,” Wodicka said. “Infants and children have different diseases and clinical problems. The research and development of pediatric devices is a distinct undertaking with a unique set of challenges.”

Forging connections

An industry-wide problem requires an industry-wide solution. To address the shortage of pediatric devices, Cook Medical, the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Purdue University’s department of biomedical engineering formed an alliance called the Crossroads Pediatric Device Consortium.

The consortium leverages the partners’ complementary expertise and long history of productive collaboration in the development of medical devices for adult patients. Each organization brings skills as an essential part of the device-creation process. The unmatched engineering research, pediatrics research, and product development capabilities aim to more rapidly bring life-changing technologies to children in need.

“Cook has experience creating devices with pediatric indications, and we know the prestige of Purdue and IU’s research, so this is a collaboration we’re excited to join,” said Blayne Roeder, senior director, Corporate Development at Cook Medical. “With expertise from all three organizations, we have more resources and more bright minds to innovate new technologies for this underserved patient population.”

Continuing Cook’s innovation

Forming the consortium is the latest way Cook is proactively working to meet the needs of underserved patient populations. It’s a historic step, but it’s not surprising, given the company’s history of collaboration and innovation.

Cook has worked with IU and Purdue several times before. In 2014, Cook Medical and the Purdue Research Foundation established a $12 million evergreen investment fund to support Purdue-based life sciences companies. In 2016, Cook was a founding stakeholder that supported the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) with a $1 million research grant to ignite the next phase of growth for applied research leading to innovation targeting cardio-metabolic disease, diabetes, and poor nutrition.

Once again, Cook is excited to work with these organizations to see a need and fill a need. With a history of successful innovation and collaboration, they are ready to tackle the challenges that pediatric medical devices present.

“There are challenges that have faced pediatricians for decades that, up until now, were almost overwhelming for us to consider,” Wodicka said. “But now we’re positioned to tackle those through our collective strength.”