Past Winner Stories
Suros Surgical Systems
www.surossurgical.com
How could a small, unknown Indiana firm compete against a company owned by a market giant, one that had more than 80 field employees and that owned 100 percent of its market? How could it establish itself while gaining credibility and securing adequate funding to manufacture a clinically advanced medical device?
Suros Surgical Systems, Inc., founders Joe Mark and Mike Miller figured out a way and in doing so improved breast care by creating an alternative to existing biopsy technology. The Indianapolis business developed a new tool for physicians to use in doing vacuum assisted breast biopsies. The company's patented technology of the ATEC (Automated Tissue Excision and Collection) system provides a fully automated, minimally invasive approach to breast biopsy and tissue collection that has proved faster, safer, more clinically advanced and more economically smart than existing technology: the Mammotome, a device by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
With the average procedure time taking less than one minute and with a smaller needle diameter than other options, the ATEC system offers physicians and patients the most efficient and compassionate choice fur outpatient breast biopsy and excision - avoiding unnecessary surgery, pre- and post-op preparation and recovery, scarring, emotional trauma and lost family and work time.
Suros revolutionized the breast biopsy market in two phases over a 15-month period by introducing new and improved technology in April 2002 that offers the potential to significantly alter allocation of 1.5 million breast biopsy procedures performed annually in the United States. The ATEC technology moves more and more women out of the operating room for breast biopsy to a minimally invasive outpatient setting while achieving the same diagnostic results.
By adapting its improved technology for applications never before available in the breast biopsy market, Suros became the first and only company in the world to market a vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system compatible with all three imaging methods - ultrasound, stereotactic and MRI.
MRI -guided breast biopsy with ATEC is viewed as one of the most important advancements in women's health in the last decade. This ultra-sensitive imaging method is typically used fur the most high-risk patients to visualize abnormal breast lesions at the earliest possible stage that cancer can be detected.
The MRI breast-scanning market has doubled each year for the past three years, and its growth is expected to continue. The Suros ATEC system offers the only vacuum-assisted biopsy solution in the MRI modality. It has already been installed in more than 20 of the leading U.S. institutions that traditionally advance and endorse new health care technology and is used in more than 100 clinical sites in 28 states, Washington, D. C., Canada and Bermuda.
But the challenges Suros faced in a market dominated by one biopsy system for nearly a decade were numerous.
"The solution was to start small and local by tapping into available resources in Indiana in the areas of financial support, manufacturing, engineering and management," noted president and CEO Jim Pearson.
This strategy has allowed Suros to grow at a planned rate and reach $2.4 million in annual revenue in 2002 and an expected $8 million in 2003. The company has grown from three employees to 50 in 18 months and is in position to more than double its sales force and production levels by the first quarter of 2004. "Even during declining economic trends, the company was at a break-even point after just one year in business," noted Pearson.
Suros Surgical Systems, Inc., founders Joe Mark and Mike Miller figured out a way and in doing so improved breast care by creating an alternative to existing biopsy technology. The Indianapolis business developed a new tool for physicians to use in doing vacuum assisted breast biopsies. The company's patented technology of the ATEC (Automated Tissue Excision and Collection) system provides a fully automated, minimally invasive approach to breast biopsy and tissue collection that has proved faster, safer, more clinically advanced and more economically smart than existing technology: the Mammotome, a device by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
With the average procedure time taking less than one minute and with a smaller needle diameter than other options, the ATEC system offers physicians and patients the most efficient and compassionate choice fur outpatient breast biopsy and excision - avoiding unnecessary surgery, pre- and post-op preparation and recovery, scarring, emotional trauma and lost family and work time.
Suros revolutionized the breast biopsy market in two phases over a 15-month period by introducing new and improved technology in April 2002 that offers the potential to significantly alter allocation of 1.5 million breast biopsy procedures performed annually in the United States. The ATEC technology moves more and more women out of the operating room for breast biopsy to a minimally invasive outpatient setting while achieving the same diagnostic results.
By adapting its improved technology for applications never before available in the breast biopsy market, Suros became the first and only company in the world to market a vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system compatible with all three imaging methods - ultrasound, stereotactic and MRI.
MRI -guided breast biopsy with ATEC is viewed as one of the most important advancements in women's health in the last decade. This ultra-sensitive imaging method is typically used fur the most high-risk patients to visualize abnormal breast lesions at the earliest possible stage that cancer can be detected.
The MRI breast-scanning market has doubled each year for the past three years, and its growth is expected to continue. The Suros ATEC system offers the only vacuum-assisted biopsy solution in the MRI modality. It has already been installed in more than 20 of the leading U.S. institutions that traditionally advance and endorse new health care technology and is used in more than 100 clinical sites in 28 states, Washington, D. C., Canada and Bermuda.
But the challenges Suros faced in a market dominated by one biopsy system for nearly a decade were numerous.
"The solution was to start small and local by tapping into available resources in Indiana in the areas of financial support, manufacturing, engineering and management," noted president and CEO Jim Pearson.
This strategy has allowed Suros to grow at a planned rate and reach $2.4 million in annual revenue in 2002 and an expected $8 million in 2003. The company has grown from three employees to 50 in 18 months and is in position to more than double its sales force and production levels by the first quarter of 2004. "Even during declining economic trends, the company was at a break-even point after just one year in business," noted Pearson.