Zelegent Inc (formerly Snorx Inc) is developing a surgical tool that allows otolaryngologist (ENT) sleep specialists to perform an in-office procedure that requires no general anesthesia, and may alleviate snoring by shortening, suspending, and stiffening a patient’s soft palate. The company announced that five experts in sleep disorder therapy have joined its clinical advisory board:
Peter Catalano, MD, FACS, FARS, chief of otolaryngology, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, and Professor of Otolaryngology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Catalano has presented more than 300 lectures on ENT surgical topics in more than 60 countries. Catalano is a consultant to many medical device companies and is an opinion leader in rhinology and surgery for snoring and sleep apnea.
Michael Friedman, MD, chairman of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. Friedman is also a professor of Otolaryngology at Rush University Medical Center. He has published more than 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and textbooks on snoring, sleep apnea, and thyroid and parathyroid surgery, including the textbook, Sleep Apnea and Snoring: Surgical and Non-Surgical Therapy. He serves on the sleep disorders committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
M. Boyd Gillespie, MD, MSCR, professor of otolaryngology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC. Gillespie has been the principal investigator in multiple clinical trials of implantable devices for snoring and sleep apnea, including Murphey AW et al Tranquill sling snoreplasty for snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea, presented at the Triological Society Combined Sections Meeting, Coronado Island, CA, on January 22, 2015. He is an international lecturer on sleep surgery.
Sam Mickelson, MD, FACS, ABSM, director, Atlanta Snoring and Sleep Disorder Institute and Medical Director, Advanced Sleep Laboratories, Atlanta. Mickelson is one of the most widely published sleep, snoring, and OSA researchers in the world, and one of the most sought-after sleep disorder specialists of the Southeastern United States. He is a past chairman of the sleep disorders committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology and continues to serve on the committee.
B. Tucker Woodson, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Woodson is also the director of the Froedtert Hospital/MCW Sleep Disorders Program, and an internationally recognized expert in obstructive sleep apnea. Woodson has served on multiple International and National Committees of the American Academy of Otolaryngolgy, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and is past president of the International Surgical Sleep Society. He was the representative of the American Board of Otolarygology to the Examination Committee for the development of ABMS Sleep subcertification. He has published more than 150 articles, abstracts, and book chapters on sleep medicine and surgery.
In related news, Zelegent has joined EvoNexus, a technology incubator with locations in San Diego and Irvine. It is one of 55 companies in the program, selected from 1,060 companies that went through the application process. In the 6 years since its inception, EvoNexus companies have collectively raised $231 million in funding, created over 1,000 jobs in Southern California, and generated $379 million in acquisitions. Zelegent moved into EvoNexus Irvine’s office space on May 8, 2015.
“We are honored that some of the world’s foremost sleep disorder experts are advising us on our technology and participating in the refinement of our device,” says Alexander K. Arrow, MD, CFA, Zelegent CEO, in a release. “We are fortunate to be one of the few companies accepted into the EvoNexus Irvine incubator program.”
