Cleveland Clinic Innovations: 2023 Year in Review

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Commercialization Highlights

Our innovation powerhouse brings the best ideas from the brightest minds in medicine to patients around the world.

Translation Rate

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33.9%

License Agreements

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40

Patents

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Filed:    120

Issued: 114

Active Spin-Off Companies

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45

Portfolio Companies

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23

Building a Culture of Innovation

Total Invention Disclosure Forms

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211

Total New Inventors

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190

Distinct Clinical Inventors

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184

External Funding Awarded

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$5.16M

Catalyst SPARK Awards

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13 Totaling $800K

Hickey Family Foundation Innovation Impact Award

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$25K

Rishi Puri, MD, PhD, Joanna Ghobrial, MD, MS, and Douglas Johnston, MD were the recipients of the sixth annual Hickey Family Foundation Innovation Impact Award for $25K. Their technology, the A-Spacer Implant for Aortic Regurgitation, seeks to use a spacer device to block the gap in the middle of the aortic valve by providing a coaptation surface for the aortic leaflets. The team also received $65K from the Caregiver Catalyst Program for a total of $90K.

Select Portfolio Company Highlights

Cleveland Clinic Innovations' portfolio companies made significant progress in 2023, securing strategic funding and achieving critical advancements in key studies, all with the goal of advancing patient care.

MediView_Technology

MediView, Inc. secured $15 million in strategic funding from Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, GE Healthcare, JobsOhio Capital growth Fund, Inside View Investment, LLC, and KKVS Syndicate, with additional commitment to the next funding round. The leading clinical augmented reality med-tech company will use the funds to further enable scale up of MediView’s augmented reality surgical navigation, medical imaging and remote collaboration platform.   

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Enspire DBS_Device Image

Enspire DBS Therapy announced $17.6 million Series B financing. Led by Cleveland Clinic, the proceeds will enable the initiation of the pivotal clinical trial RESTORE to advance the development of deep brain stimulation (DBS) plus rehabilitation for stroke patients. 

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Mobius Care, Inc. and Enspire DBS Therapy, Inc. were awarded $150,000 each by the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, which provides grants to Ohio companies aiming to license institution-owned technologies to accelerate commercialization through activities like market research and prototyping to help companies raise funds needed to get the licensed technology to market faster.    

Abcon Therapeutics +

Anixa Biosciences +

Cardionomic, Inc. +

Enspire DBS Therapy +

Qr8 Health +

Innovations in the News

 

Inventors Share Their Journey to Improving Patient Care

In our Inventor Chronicle video series, Cleveland Clinic inventors share their backgrounds, goals, challenges, and advice for new inventors. Each episode follows a different inventor’s journey with Cleveland Clinic Innovations, from initial inspiration to life-changing invention.

Inventor Education and Training 

 

  • Launched Three Innovation Councils

    -Taussig Innovation Council
    -Cleveland Clinic Children's Innovation       Council
    -Digestive Disease Institute Innovation   Council
Imaging Innovations Challenge


  • DEDICARE Pilot Program

    The DEsigning Disruptive Innovation in HealthCARE (DEDICARE) pilot program was launched. DEDICARE teaches any caregiver how to become an inventor. Over sixteen weeks, participants learn to identify an unmet need and then develop a solution and value proposition. After a successful pilot, DEDICARE will launch with two cohorts in 2024.
  • Rapid Innovation Challenge 

    16 innovators from the Diagnostics Institute's Imaging Department participated in the three-week Imaging Rapid Innovation Challenge. Hosted by Joshua Polster, MD, and Innovations, the Challenge allowed participants to collaborate with colleagues in different roles and gain diverse perspectives on problems and solutions. The Challenge concluded with a showcase where teams pitched their ideas to Diagnostics Institute's Imaging Department and Innovations leaders. 
  • Structured Innovation Challenge

    14 teams comprised of 64 participants collectively represented 13 departments from six institutes across the Ohio and Florida markets. With the support of their dedicated innovation mentor, the teams submitted 14 total Invention Disclosure Forms (IDF), where they were further assessed for commercialization potential. Three teams were then selected to participate in the Pitch Competition for an opportunity to win a $50,000 Catalyst award.
  • Ideation Clinics 
    The Ideation Clinics give feedback to Cleveland Clinic medical device inventors to refine their ideas. They discuss commercialization roadblocks and potential effects. The Ideation Clinic panel includes stakeholders from Proof of Concept, Innovations, MDS, and inventor institutes. They consider adoption, clinical evidence, regulatory, reimbursement, IP, and engineering. Of the 10 Ideation Clinics in 2023, eight arrived at a new invention and Invention Disclosure Form.
Innovations Fellows_First Graduating Class
  • Innovation Fellows 
    The Innovation Fellows Program is a two-year competitive training and development program that provides protected time for training and hands-on experience in medical technology assessment, development, and commercialization. Fellows work closely with inventors and medical technology development experts to advance Cleveland Clinic technologies. The first class of Fellows graduated in May. The Proof of Concept Office welcomed the second class of five new Fellows in August for 2023-2025.

Innovations Thought Leaders Make an Impact

 

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    For the second straight year, Geoff Vince, PhD, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, has been recognized by Becker's Healthcare as one of the top 35 chief innovation officers to know!
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    JD Friedland, Managing Director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures, participated on a Corporate Venture Capital panel at the Redefining Early-Stage Investments (RESI) Conference  Conference.

  • Sonja OMalley_J&J MedTech_Panel Participation

    Sonja O'Malley presented "Revolutionizing Healthcare: Technology, Innovation, and New Business Models are Reducing Costs and Improving Care" during Johnson & Johnson MedTech's Value Based Innovation Event in Santiago, Chile. Sonja spoke on the technological challenges facing the healthcare industry while trying to create a future where medical intervention is increasingly intelligent, less invasive and more personalized to enhance quality of care for patients.

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    Innovations team members from Ventures, Engagement, and Business Development & Licensing attended the 2023 HLTH conference for a time of engaging discussions with industry leaders and continual learning about the future of healthcare.

     

    JD Friedland, Managing Director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures, participated in the “Put Your Money Where the Impact Is” panel. During the “Making Aging Easier Pitch Competition” Todd Schwarzinger, Partner, Cleveland Clinic Ventures, Medical Devices, joined fellow judges on scoring startup companies who pitched on how their tech solution makes aging easier. 

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    Todd Schwarzinger, Partner at Cleveland Clinic Ventures, joined the panel discussion "Supporting Ohio's Digital Health Startups" at the 2nd annual Ohio HealthTech Summit.

    The day's content and conversation centered around the current HealthTech state of play in Ohio, imagining the future of healthcare, discussing emerging technologies and their impact on Ohio, and how our state can continue building our HealthTech hub.
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    During Rally Innovation in Indianapolis, Gerald J. Wilmink, PhD, Director, Digital Health, accepted a 2023 National Top Tech Company Award. The award recognizes the high-quality work we are doing in technology innovations.

    Dr. Wilmink also participated in the panel "Generative AI in Healthcare and Drug Discovery”. He was joined alongside fellow panelists Shaun Grannis, VP of Data & Analytics at Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University, Adrish Sannyasi, Head of Customer Solutions at Rhino Health, and Yue Webster, Associate VP at Eli Lilly and Company.

    During the session, Jerry shared use cases for where Generative AI is being used in healthcare, and how Cleveland Clinic Innovations assesses and commercializes new innovations in Generative AI.
  • DTX East
    The Innovations team had a great time attending DTxEast! Linda Li, CFA, Ventures Partner, Digital Health, and JD Friedland, Managing Director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures, both participated in exciting panels about digital therapeutics, startups, and more. DTx brings startups, providers, payers, and all market players together to tackle the challenges in digital diagnostics and therapeutics.
  • An insightful conversation about the innovation journey - Geoff Vince, PhD, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, recently sat down with Dov Moran, inventor of the USB flash drive. In this video interview Dov shares what inspired him to become an inventor, how that knowledge and experience has influenced his venture investor abilities, the importance of addressing unmet needs through innovation, and much more!
    During an insightful conversation about the innovation journey, Geoff Vince, PhD, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, sat down with Dov Moran, inventor of the USB flash drive. Dov shares what inspired him to become an inventor, how that knowledge and experience has influenced his venture investor abilities, the importance of addressing unmet needs through innovation, and much more!
  • JD Friedland participated on the “Health System Investment Arms: How They Work” panel during the conference.  
    JD Friedland, Managing Director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures, participated on the “Health System Investment Arms: How They Work” panel during Med-Tech World.
  • Linda Li, Partner, Cleveland Clinic Ventures, participated in the conversation on Commercialization Strategies and Opportunities at an event hosted by Ohio Life Sciences, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH), McDonald Hopkins LLC, and Team NEO.
    Linda Li, Partner, Cleveland Clinic Ventures, participated in the panel "Commercialization Strategies and Opportunities" at an event hosted by Ohio Life Sciences, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH), McDonald Hopkins LLC, and Team NEO.
  • BPV Podcast
    Bernardo Perez Villa, MD MSc, Senior Engagement Partner, Florida, joined the Accelerator podcast with Michael Conniff.

    Their conversation explored the transformative power of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for stroke patients and the groundbreaking research conducted by Cleveland Clinic that was recently published in Nature Medicine. They also discussed the critical role of time in the innovation process, tracing the path from abstract ideas to tangible inventions and groundbreaking innovations.

Learn About Our Team

Transforming an idea into a final product takes a dedicated team of experts. We blend talent, experience and the resources of one of the world’s leading healthcare organizations to achieve exceptional results for inventors, investors, partners and, most importantly, our patients.

Connect With Us!

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on conferences and events Innovations thought leaders will be attending, engaging discussions, and the latest industry news and trends! 

QUOTES

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"Innovation, when we think of Cleveland Clinic, is really part of our origin. We imagine the best care possible. We invent it through research and then we share it with the world, and that's something that we have done over and over again, and I am thrilled to see where we are taking innovation at Cleveland Clinic."

Beri Ridgeway, MD, Cleveland Clinic Chief of Staff

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“The ability to think beyond what is currently available is absolutely essential to an organization that wants to drive the future of healthcare. Changing the way people think about problems is difficult. Learning how to ask the right question is often the hardest thing to figure out in these processes. Just to realize the depth and complexity of what happens behind the scenes for all these things was amazing… When it works and it works so well, it is so rewarding it’s unimaginable.”

Tom Gildea, MD, Section Head of Bronchoscopy & Interventional Pulmonary at Cleveland Clinic, and inventor of patient-specific airway stents

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“Your ideas can come to fruition and there will be a million frustrating moments. You just have to keep the faith in your ideas and in yourself and be persistent, don’t give up. That will be the most rewarding thing is being able to know that it’s being used in clinics and helping patients.”

Margot Damaser, PhD, Cleveland Clinic Learner Research Institute, and inventor of the Uro monitor

 

Partner With Us

Impactful alliances are at the heart of our mission to transform brilliant ideas into life-changing healthcare solutions.

 

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Get In Touch

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innovations@ccf.org

216.444.5757

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