Galway's enterprising Galway medtech team driving Embo and Perfuze
A story of serial entrepreneurship, ambition and determination to save lives.
Over the last two decades University of Galway Innovation Office has supported over 100 start ups. Ninety-three are still active and there are 25 more opportunities in the pipeline of this research-intensive innovation ecosystem. Behind each new venture are incredibly committed innovators who mentor and give back to the community.
Chief among these has been the team of three behind Embo, which was ultimately acquired for €43 million back in 2016. The team continued innovating and went on to develop another impactful new business, Perfuze.
Embo at University of Galway - the start of an amazing journey
Embo Medical, which spun out of University of Galway in 2012, was founded by Wayne Allen, Liam Mullins and Colin Forde. Medical technology industry experts, they began their journey together as Fellows on the BioInnovate Programme at University of Galway, which develops novel medical solutions to address unmet clinical needs.
Allen, Mullins and Forde had a great start-up mindset from day one. First, they identified the most appropriate need. Building a talented team with the right people helped them to navigate issues around funding, manufacturing and clinical trials. They also succeeded in attracting key industry players in their sector to acquire the technology and bring it to market. Then they started all over again.
During the BioInnovate Ireland programme and the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund on campus the team went through a rigorous process of clinical immersion in University Hospital Galway. They saw first-hand the challenges encountered by patients and clinicians when performing embolisation procedures. Embolisation shuts down blood flow to a diseased vessel or organ; stopping the blood flow to a tumour, for example.
Embo - from campus spin-out to €43 million acquisition
The Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund enabled the team to develop the technical and clinical solution to a point where it was ready to secure investment.
A new home in the Innovation Centre on campus allowed the Embo team to move from their research lab in the university's engineering building and to operate as a start-up business, while continuing to work with relevant researchers and clinicians proving and developing their solution. The Innovation Centre leverages Galway's innovation network and our university’s extensive research capabilities to equip start-ups with what they need to thrive, as well as offering incubation facilities, business mentorship and wet labs on campus.
Chief Technology Officer Liam Mullins said ‘With our unmet clinical need in place, we needed to validate the solution that would lead to Embo’s technology reducing blood vessel treatment time by more than 80 per cent. The Caterpillar takes just five minutes in total to deploy and has inbuilt anti-migration features to ensure that only the intended vessel is blocked by the procedure, versus up to 45 minutes for embolisation coils.’
As a result, in 2014 Embo Medical raised €3 million in investment to further develop the product and gain market traction. The investment syndicate included the AIB Seed Capital Fund, Irrus Investments and the Halo Business Angel Network. The venture was also supported by Enterprise Ireland under its high potential start-up (HPSU) fund.
At that time the company employed 12 people - primarily engineering graduates from the University - to expand the product pipeline and to prepare its approval submission to the Food and Drugs Administration in the US. In 2016 Embo Medical was acquired by CR Bard for over €43 million. The Caterpillar device, now fully approved, is being delivered to patients successfully.
Perfuze, a new venture based on unmet clinical needs and lack of advances in stroke therapy.
It doesn’t end there - this team is part of the current success story that is Perfuze. Wayne Allen and Liam Mullins set up Perfuze in 2018. The company based its invention on unmet clinical need and lack of advances in stroke therapy; less than 50 per cent of stroke patients treated today achieve a positive clinical outcome. Research shows there are currently about 11 million strokes a year, leading to 4.5 million deaths. Total direct medical costs related to stroke are projected to be $100 billion (€87.5 billion) by 2035.
Perfuze’s clot removal technology was awarded commercialisation funding for the product concept from Enterprise Ireland. Through their partnership with the university, the Perfuze team had access to knowledge from the on-campus community that supported them to publish articles on how to use the device.
Horizon Europe funding enabled a collaboration with Beaumont Hospital; the expert national hospital in this space. This access to the hospital allowed the company to develop a workable solution to address this unmet clinical need very quickly. As a result, Perfuze developed an innovative medical technology for clot removal in stroke patients.
By 2022 Perfuze employed 22 people. After a year at the Innovation Centre on campus the company decided to grow their team, bringing together their R&D and manufacturing space under one roof, rather than outsourcing. They relocated to the IDA Business Park in Dangan, Galway, where they currently run the business.
That same year saw the company raise a total of €23 million to conduct US studies. LSP, one of Europe's largest healthcare investment firms, led the latest financing and was joined in the funding round by Dublin-based venture capital firm Seroba Life Sciences and SV Health along with some of the original investors. Today Perfuze has a team of 35.
In 2023 the company enrolled its first patient at Stony Brook Hospital, NY, USA, in a pivotal study to evaluate the Millipede 088 Superbore aspiration catheter. Perfuze also proudly announced FDA clearance for the second generation of the Millipede 088 access catheter and Millipede 070 aspiration catheter.
‘Perfuze aims to provide stroke physicians with innovative therapy solutions, to maximise the opportunity to completely remove blood clots from the brain and to completely restore blood flow,’ said Wayne Allen, CEO of Perfuze. ‘Our portfolio of products is designed to simplify removal of the clot, reduce procedural costs and time and ultimately to improve clinical outcomes.’
‘For us it's about improving clinical outcomes for stroke patients, making lives easier and better for the families of stroke victims and making a contribution by giving physicians better, more effective tools. We have a super team in Galway and enjoy watching them go from strength to strength.’
What's next?
Not to be phased by commercial challenges, these entrepreneurs are an inspiration to others in this region's unique Medical Technology cluster. They are consistently giving back to others as mentors and advisors and providing supports when needed.
Fiona Neary, Innovation Start Up Manager at University of Galway, met the founders recently and asked them: what’s next?
‘We are grateful to get the opportunity to create and develop cutting edge technology in Galway,’ said Wayne Allen, CEO, Perfuze.
‘For us it's about improving clinical outcomes for stroke patients, making lives easier and better for the families of stroke victims and making a contribution by giving physicians better, more effective tools. We have a super team in Galway and enjoy watching them go from strength to strength.’
For further information
Since 2020, University of Galway has generated 20 new spin-outs, 184 inventions and 60 licensed technologies, with over 240 industry collaborations. Our Innovation Office team empowers researchers with IP protection, legal expertise, and commercial guidance, turning discoveries into real-world impact.
The Innovation Office also mentors early-stage ventures through every stage, from ideation to scaling, providing access to our innovation network, on-campus incubation, and wet labs. At anyone time we have 30 start-ups on campus, and have supported over 100 in the last number of years.
Collaborating with industry, government, and global partners, we drive innovation that reaches far beyond our campus.
