With ~2million annual new cases, colorectal cancer is the world’s 3rd most diagnosed & second most deadly cancer (~900,000 deaths annually, expected to rise to >1.1M by 2030). Colorectal cancer is usually treated with surgery where the diseased portions are resected & the healthy sections are reconnected through colorectal anastomosis using staplers and/or sutures.
Anastomotic leakage of colon content into the abdominal cavity is the most devastating complication associated with colorectal surgery. Leaks occur in ~22% of cases, leading to increased hospitalization time, higher re-operation rates, increased patient mortality & additional costs.
To minimize the risk of a leak, surgeons create a loop of the small bowel which is diverted outside the abdominal wall & connected to a stoma bag to collect patient’s feces for 4-6 months. Diverting stoma significantly diminishes patients’ quality of life, increases cost of care & requires an additional invasive surgery to reverse the stoma. Our novel device, CG-100, is an elastic tubular sheath that is positioned at the anastomosis site during the primary colorectal surgery & creates an internal bypass for all colon content. CG-100 is removed non-surgically 10 days after primary surgery. CG-100 addresses will improve patient quality of life, save ~1350 pa lives & reduce healthcare costs by €4B pa in EU.
The goal of this EIC project is to bring current technology to industrial readiness by combining existing findings within the technical, pre-clinical and FIH clinical areas with new elements such as manufacturing and regulatory issues to ensure clinical and commercial uptake of our innovative solution.
