NeoTract has received a Northern California business development group’s innovation award for creating implants that relieve the symptoms of enlarged prostate without surgery.
The #Gamechanger Award was for the UroLift System, which can treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) without loss of sexual function — one of the major fears of men considering a prostate-reduction operation. The award came from the Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group, which is composed of business and municipal leaders in an area of California near the state’s famed Silicon Valley.
Business executives, mayors and city economic development directors formed the Innovation Tri-Valley Group (ITV) to promote innovation and private-public collaboration. The Tri-Valley consists of three interconnected valleys that include the cities of Danville, Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and San Ramon.
“We are proud of the UroLift System, a game-changer that is setting a new standard for the treatment of BPH, a common men’s condition that severely impacts quality of life,” Dave Amerson, president of NeoTract, said in a press release. “It is gratifying to be recognized as an innovative company, and we are thrilled to be a part of this incredibly supportive and collaborative community.”
In March, NeoTract announced positive five-year results of its L.I.F.T. IDE clinical trial (NCT01294150) at the 18th annual European Association of Urology meeting (EAU’17) in London.
UroLift implants prevent men from having to urinate as often and let them eliminate more urine when they do, while preserving their sexual function, NeoTract said. Patients’ quality of life scores improved by 50 percent with the implants, and the implantation procedure had to be redone in only 2 to 3 percent of patients a year, the company said.
After four years, more than 86 percent of the patients in the study no longer needed BPH treatment, according to NeoTract.
UroLift implants relieve prostate obstruction and open the urethra — the gland that drains urine from the bladder — without cutting, heating, or removing prostate tissue.
Implantation can be done on an outpatient basis with a local anesthesia. There is usually no need after the procedure for a catheter to drain urine, NeoTract said.
Patients report rapid symptom relief within two weeks, it said. The study reinforced the company’s supposition that the results at five years would be as good as those at one month.
“The Tri-Valley is where the best minds in the world are at work,” said Dale Eldridge Kaye, chief executive officer of the ITV Leadership Group. “NeoTract is a company that truly values innovation and collaboration, and we are proud to have the company in our community.”