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Ilan Uchitel, CAPS Medical - Non-Thermal Atmospheric Plasma Treatment for Tumors | LSI Europe '24

CAPS Medical is developing a solution to treat a wide range of solid tumors using Non-thermal Atmospheric Plasma (NTAP). This minimally invasive procedure selectively destroys cancer cells without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.
Speakers
Ilan Uchitel
Ilan Uchitel
CEO, CAPS Medical

Ilan Uchitel 00:03
Hi. My name is Ilan Uchitel, the CEO and co-founder of CAPS Medical. We have developed a minimally invasive solution for selectively destroying tumors without damaging the healthy surrounding tissue. This will change the way solid tumors are treated in the future. Cancer claims over nine and a half million lives annually, making it a leading cause of death. Existing cancer therapies usually damage the healthy cells surrounding the tumor, in many cases leading to significant side effects and increased mortality. Our solution is designed to solve this problem by delivering a highly selective treatment directly to the tumor and completely preserving the healthy tissue surrounding it.

Our proprietary plasma shield technology uses non-thermal plasma, which is a stream of ionized gas at body temperature delivered directly to the tumor, generating reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. These are known to selectively kill cancer cells by inducing specific stress in cancer cells, leading to death by apoptosis. This process triggers an immune response that selectively and precisely targets similar cancer cells in the surrounding area without any thermal damage and without damaging the healthy cells.

Non-thermal plasma has been around for decades and has even been approved by the FDA for soft tissue ablation in the treatment of various types of cancer. The problem is that existing devices are using too much energy, resulting in large devices that are too cumbersome to be used inside the body where they are needed the most. This brings us to CAPS Medical's breakthrough. Our plasma shield system is the first and only device small enough to deliver the selective non-thermal plasma treatment inside the body using a small diameter, flexible probe. We can access the tumor through the working channel of existing minimally invasive tools. It is a keyhole procedure, completely safe without cutting, coagulating, or bleeding, and delivers this precise treatment specifically to the tumor. The amount of energy delivered to the tissue is monitored in real-time throughout the procedure.

The device consists of a capital equipment console and a single-use procedure kit, which will be our main revenue driver. Having this small diameter, flexible probe makes us a natural fit in the minimally invasive ecosystem, putting CAPS in focus for the interest of all the large players in the market. We're talking to everybody, and some of them are already invested in the company.

In our vision, we intend to use the technology to treat a wide range of tumors throughout the body through endoscopes, bronchoscopes, and needles. It can be assembled on robotic platforms, both existing and emerging, and we can also use it superficially, like everybody else. CAPS is targeting the huge $100 million oncology market. In extensive research, we have not noticed any resistance to the plasma shield treatment across a wide variety of treated cancer cell types. In addition to that, delivery to multiple organs has been demonstrated repeatedly in large animal models, and it works even better in humans.

We have recently completed a clinical study, a multi-center study for our first commercial indication, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, which generally doesn't go away. There are 101.6 million people suffering from the disease, which is highly recurrent. This high recurrence makes bladder cancer the most expensive cancer to treat across a patient's lifetime, resulting in over $7.5 billion in annual costs. The standard of care for bladder cancer practically hasn't changed for decades; it consists of a very traumatic resection called TURBT, which has many associated side effects and complications, and then it's supplemented by a series of intravesical chemotherapy and immunotherapy installations. All that still doesn't do the job, so we intend to change that for bladder cancer.

Plasma shield treatment is applied through standard cystoscopy. It utilizes existing CPT codes, and our intention is to switch the treatment for this disease into an in-office setup, avoiding hospitalization, anesthesia, and the associated side effects. Then we can leverage this data to treat higher grades of cancer and use it for additional indications. We have recently completed a very successful clinical study in which we have treated endoscopically close to 70 tumors instead of resection, involving more than 30 patients. 85% of the treated tumors disappeared following a single treatment. Not only that, throughout the follow-up of up to one year, we had no local recurrence for the treated tumors. We had no complications, no device-related adverse events. Actually, some of the procedures were performed without anesthesia when anatomy allowed that, and we were able to discharge the patients immediately after the procedure or several hours later.

This picture demonstrates the overwhelming benefit of CAPS technology, which leaves the healthy bladder tissue, versus the standard of care, which damages this vital organ. We are aiming for 510(k) clearance by the end of 2025. We see more close to follow. In parallel to that, we're already ready to expand our clinical data with additional indications, including cancers of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, and many more. The company has six granted and over 30 pending patents. In addition to that, we have a license for a family of patents from leading academic institutions.

The CAPS Medical team has extensive experience in the healthcare industry and a proven track record in leadership positions. The team is supported by a long list of world-renowned experts with extensive cancer care and market knowledge. Today, the company has raised over $11 million from private investors and strategic players, and we're now raising funds to support our next stages of development, which will include FDA clearance, preparation for commercialization for our initial indication, and expansion of our plasma shield product portfolio.

So just to recap, CAPS Medical offers a minimally invasive, selective solution that is suited for the treatment of a wide range of cancers. We have promising clinical data, amazing initial indications, and a huge addressable market. We have an experienced team that is backed by world-renowned experts in leading academic institutions, and we're dedicated to changing the standard of care for treating solid tumors, bringing new hope and promising a long-lasting effect for the patients. Thank you.

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