Better biopsies to advance precision medicine
Limaca Medical is developing a game changer in endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy for Precision Medicine.
Cancer treatment is rapidly advancing towards precision medicine. By analyzing individual’s cancer cells, genetic profiling is used to identify genomic defects and to tailor precise treatment to the individual patient. Limaca’s first steps in precision medicine are in the field of pancreatic cancer.


Pancreatic cancer is a deadly cancer with a low survival rate of 9%. Current methods used for biopsy sampling are outdated and provide tissue samples that are inadequate for genetic profiling. Limaca’s Precision™ delivers high-grade biopsy samples, optimal for advanced diagnosis. The improved biopsies increase the success rate of genetic profiling diagnosis and enable patient-specific treatment.

Product
Precision™, developed by Limaca, is an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided biopsy device for improved diagnosis of the gastrointestinal system and adjacent organ tumors.
Precision™ samples high-quality core-tissue for precise analysis and patient-specific treatment.
Precision™ provides improved diagnostic accuracy with improved clinical outcomes.
- Automated, electro-mechanical REVOLVING needle
- Improved procedure efficiency
- Improved diagnostic accuracy
- Excellent sample quality that meets diagnostic testing requirement
- Enabling greater patient-specific treatments

The opportunity
The medical device market seeks an endoscopic ultrasound biopsy needle that can retrieve core tissue with fewer stabs and increased sample quality for improved diagnostic accuracy and clinical outcomes.
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy is a minimally invasive procedure that utilizes ultrasound imaging to guide a thin and hollow needle for tissue sampling to diagnose benign and malignant lesions of the GI tract and adjacent organs. Unfortunately, this procedure requires “stabbing” the lesion over twenty times to acquire an adequate sample. Current manual needles obtain tissue samples that are adequate for cytological (cell) analysis only and inadequate for advanced patient-specific genetic profiling analysis.
Cancer treatment is rapidly advancing towards precision medicine. By analyzing an individual’s cancer cells, genetic profiling is used to identify genomic defects and to tailor precise treatment to the individual patient.
According to The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), there is an urgent need for every pancreatic cancer patient to get tested through a genetic profiling platform. Furthermore, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines state that every patient with pancreatic cancer should get testing – both genetic profiling of their tumor and germline (genetic) testing for alterations they were born with.
Limaca’s initial market introduction is focused on biopsy sampling for pancreatic cancer. Future market developments will address biopsy sampling for the diagnosis of lung cancer, lymphoma cancer and other cancers where subcutaneous tissue sampling are difficult to obtain.
Read Source
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Mar 02, 2020
Company and Team
Limaca Medical was founded in 2017 in cooperation with Rambam Health Care, a leading Israeli medical center and The Trendlines Group in collaboration with the Israel Innovation Authority. Limaca has partnered from a very early stage with Integer, a global leader in advanced medical device manufacturing and outsourcing.

IYAD KHAMAYSI, MD
FOUNDER & MEDICAL DIRECTOR
Director, Invasive Endoscopy Unit, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rambam Health Care, Israel; Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Technion Institute of Technology; research expertise in clinical and experimental endoscopy, pancreatic cancer, experimental models of pancreatitis and rheology of pancreatic cysts.

ASSAF KLEIN
CEO
20 years’ experience in medical device companies; managerial and R&D positions in the fields of gastroenterology spine and cardiovascular; projects include implantable devices and delivery systems;
former CEO, MediValve; MBA, Bar-Ilan University; B.Sc., mechanical engineering, Technion Institute of Technology, Israel.

CARL RICKENBAUGH
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
President, First Keel Consulting; current board member Paragonix Technologies; former M&A Head Bard Peripheral Vascular & Biopsy (13 years); and M&A Head at EQT Private Equity Company Clinical Innovations (successfully exited to Patricia AB company Laborie Medical in 2020); leadership in sales, marketing and product development at Abbott Laboratories (13 years).
OUR PARTNERS AND INVESTORS
Contact
17 Tchelet Street
Misgav Business Park
M.P. Misgav 2017400 • Israel
Office: +972.72.2607000
Fax: +972.72.2607261
assaf@limaca-medical.com