Pinnacle Therapeutics

THE COMPANY
Pinnacle Therapeutics, a medical device company based in Irvine, CA, was founded in 2010.

THE CONCEPT
Every year, more than 600,000 surgeries are performed to alter the shape of the cartilage in the ear and nose for both functional and aesthetic purposes, accounting for more than $1 billion in revenue. Yet the intrinsic risks and inexact nature of current techniques make this more of an art than science. Pinnacle Therapeutics has successfully combined both and developed AcuShape^TM, a minimally invasive device for cartilage reshaping in plastic surgery applications for the head, face, and neck. The clinical efficacy and safety profile of AcuShape^TM is well-documented. Its low cost, low risk, and easy implementation make AcuShape^TM highly attractive to physicians who seek to perform office-based interventions and to patients who do not want major surgery.

Steven Chan is currently an MD/MBA student at UCI who will be pursuing a career in psychiatry. He has experience in online marketing and medical device business development.

Mohammed Elayan is a former market researcher with experience in the consumer products industry with The Nielsen Company and The Kellogg Company. He is currently a second-year law student at UCI and will pursue a career working with emerging and high-growth companies.

Allen Foulad is currently a MD student at UCI and will enter a head and neck surgical residency this fall. He serves as a clinical consultant who will identify and address the needs of potential consumers.

Lawrence Kim is currently an MD/MBA student at UCI who will be pursuing a career in internal medicine. His interests include biotechnology and entrepreneurship.

Cyrus Manuel is a junior project scientist at the Beckman Laser Institute and Clinic at UCI who will be pursuing a career in head and neck surgery. He is currently heading live animal studies to further establish the clinical efficacy and safety of AcuShapeTM.

Khoa Tu is currently an MD/MBA student at UCI who will be pursuing a career in emergency medicine. He has experience conducting clinical research on medical devices.

Ed Wu is currently an MD/MBA student at UCI who will be pursuing a career in head and neck surgery. He has conducted extensive basic science research on cartilage reshaping under the direction of Dr. Brian Wong.

AcuShape^TM has enormous market potential because of both the high volume of cartilage shape change surgeries performed each year in the U.S. and the clinical and economic value it provides to both patients and physicians.

For the patient, AcuShape^TM is an attractive alternative to surgery with respect to intrinsic risks, recovery time, complication, and cost. For the physician, AcuShape^TM has the potential to significantly increase procedure volume, as the procedure may be performed in the office under local anesthesia and lasts less than 10 minutes. Compare this to rhinoplasty, which on average requires 1-3 hours of operating room time. The patient must endure general anesthesia and bear all the risks and would be unable to return to work until 7-10 days after the surgery.