The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) announces six awardees chosen in its annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition to share in $250,000 in grants funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the advancement of pediatric medical devices. The competition, powered by NCC-PDI partner MedTech Innovator, focused on cardiovascular, NICU, and orthopaedic and spine devices, which are areas of critical need where innovation can significantly improve children's healthcare. The virtual event is part of the 8th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium presented by Children’s National Hospital in conjunction with The MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed.

This year’s pediatric device innovation awardees are:
• Adipomics, Inc.
• BioSense
• Innara Health
• Navi Medical Technologies
• Novonate
• Renata Medical

"Congratulations to all 10 companies who competed in this year’s finals for developing pioneering innovations that can provide much-needed medical device advancements for children," says Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.M.P., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National Hospital and principal investigator of NCC-PDI. "We thank the FDA for making these awards possible. Although more incentives for pediatric device development are needed, it is encouraging to witness the progress we have made since the inception of the PDC program."

In the last decade, only 24% of Class III life-saving devices approved by FDA were for pediatric use – and most of those were for children over 12. Less than 4% were labeled for pediatric patients ages 0-2 years old and the number of approved devices is even lower for neonatal patients.

"For far too long, pediatric specialists have been manipulating adult medical devices to create solutions for children’s bodies because it’s the only available option,” said Kurt Newman, M.D., president and CEO of Children’s National. “Children need and deserve devices that are conceived and designed with their biology and future in mind. I’m proud that the annual NCC-PDI symposium and pitch competition is spurring pediatric device innovation. The companies that were highlighted this year are creating solutions that will help children to lead healthier lives and grow up stronger."