Founded Q1 2018
Stage Technology development
Investors The Trendlines Group, Sheba Medical Center
CEO David Shashar, MD
Lioness, developed by PregnanTech, is a small device to prevent preterm birth.
PregnanTech is developing Lioness, a small, game-changing device to prevent preterm birth.
Lioness is a disposable silicone device that is placed in the vagina and secured high around the uterine cervix. Lioness maintains its position in the cervix despite pressure and contractions and prevents the “cascade” that leads to preterm birth by stopping cervical dilatation and keeping the cervix elongated.
The technology draws on the advantages of cerclage and pessaries; yet, without their drawbacks. Other advantages —
PregnanTech’s preterm birth kit devices includes Lioness, a deployment apparatus, and a cervix grasping tool.
2019: USPTO issues Notice of Allowance for PregnanTech’s patent application
PregnanTech CEO David Shashar, MD, introduces Lioness at the 1st World Congress on Women’s Health Innovation and Inventions in Tel Aviv, July 2019.
David Shashar has vast experience in inventing, innovating and developing medical technologies. Prior to leading PregnanTech, he was the medical director of multidisciplinary collaboration platforms at Sheba Medical Center, where he was assigned to proactively align physicians and engineers from the Israeli medical industry and academia to develop cost-effective, innovative medical technological solutions to meet pressing clinical problems.
David received his medical degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology. He holds an executive master’s in business administration from the Kellogg-Recanati Business School and a master’s in biomedical engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
Preterm birth (defined as delivery between 24 and 37 weeks of pregnancy) is the #1 problem in obstetrics. According to the World Health Organization, One in 10 babies worldwide is born preterm; that is, 15 million a year. Of these, 1 million will die and 1 million will suffer substantial disabilities for the rest of their life, breathing disorders, feeding disorders, and neural disabilities.
Babies born prematurely pose a huge financial burden to the health care system and families. In the United States, costs associated with preterm births surpass $26 billion. It is estimated that between 9% and 17% of all pregnant women are at risk for preterm birth.
Obstetricians are at a loss in treating preterm birth. Currently available treatments such as medications, hormones, suturing the cervix (cerclage), and pessaries are unsatisfactory.
PregnanTech estimates the market potential for Lioness is more than $2 billion annually in developed countries alone.
