EndoDrill seen as promising new EUS technology
BiBBInstruments’ endoscopic ultrasound instrument EndoDrill GI was recognised as a “New Kid on the Block” at the ESGE Days conference, indicating its emergence as a promising technology in the EUS field, challenging traditional methods of endoscopic tissue sampling. BioStock spoke with BiBB’s CEO Fredrik Lindblad to get his reaction to the conference.
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a procedure for diagnosing and staging tumours in hard-to-reach areas of the gastrointestinal tract and nearby organs. As the name suggests, it involves the use of a long flexible tube (an endoscope) paired with a small ultrasound device. The samples themselves are taken with a fine needle instrument that runs through the endoscope’s channel, either through fine needle aspiration (FNA) or fine needle biopsy (FNB).
However, due to tissue fragmentation and blood contamination, the detection rates with these methods are still unsatisfactory, overall.
BiBBInstruments aims to fill the gap in EUS sampling
To fill the gap, the Swedish medical device company BiBBInstruments (BiBB) has developed EndoDrill – an EUS device based on core needle biopsy (CNB) instead of FNA or FNB. The innovation relies on a motorised drilling motion rather than a manual stabbing motion, which provides cleaner samples, thus leading to a quicker and more accurate diagnosis. There are three product variants: lead product EndoDrill GI (gastrointestinal tract), EndDrill EBUS (lungs) and EndoDrill URO (bladder).
»EndoDrill GI is considered a very effective EUS biopsy instrument that already at the first attempt takes core biopsies of a quality that [physicians] have not experienced before« – BiBB’s CEO, Fredrik Lindblad
EndoDrill is the world’s first market-cleared electric-driven biopsy instrument for endoscopy, and the GI variant has been called a “game-changer” in EUS sampling and “FNB on steroids.” High praise has come from physicians at UC Davis in the US and at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm who have conducted the first clinical cases with the device in recent weeks. Read all about this here. Since February, after the first successful clinical procedures at UC Davis were announced, BiBB’s share price has risen close to 60 per cent.
These comments mirror the positive results from a pilot study with EndoDrill GI, which were recently published in the peer reviewed Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. The data show 100 per cent diagnostic accuracy for the device, and they demonstrate that EndoDrill GI provided superior samples compared to those taken in the same tumours with a leading standard biopsy instrument.
EndoDrill recognised at ESGE Days
BiBB’s CEO Fredrik Lindblad and founder and CMO Dr Charles Walther attended the ESGE Days congress in Berlin on April 25–27. There, they met the doctors from UC Davis and Karolinska who have used the EndoDrill GI biopsy system.
During one of the sessions, titled “EUS Novelties in EUS Tissue Acquisition,” led by Dr Livia Archibugi from IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milano, EndoDrill was mentioned as a “New Kid on the Block.” During her presentation, Dr Archibungi referred to the promising data published on EndoDrill GI.
CEO insights
BioStock reached out to BiBB’s CEO Fredrik Lindblad to get his take on the experience at ESGE Days.
Fredrik, what was Dr Archibugi’s message when she referred to EndoDrill as a “new kid on the block?”
– Dr Archibugi had obviously read our recently published article in the peer reviewed Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. EndoDrill stands out both as a highly efficient biopsy instrument and a new concept with an motorised rotating cylinder tip instead of traditional manually handled stabbing needle instruments. The focus was on the fact that EndoDrill is the first core needle biopsy instrument (CNB) for endoscopic ultrasound and not yet another FNA/FNA instrument.
Can you share some of the feedback from the doctors who have already used EndoDrill when you met them at the conference?
– It was very encouraging that our endoscopists, who independently of each other evaluated EndoDrill GI in the USA and Sweden, describe their experiences with the product in a very similar way. EndoDrill GI is considered a very effective EUS biopsy instrument that already at the first attempt takes core biopsies of a quality that they have not experienced before.
– It was also a bonus to hear Dr. Antonio Mendoza Ladd from UC Davis in Sacramento, California, describe that he had performed re-biopsies on some patients who had previously been sampled with standard manual fine needles with unclear results.Using EndoDrill GI, he obtained core biopsies that resulted in established diagnoses and immediate start of adapted cancer treatment.
The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.
