More than 2.5 million people suffer from urinary incontinence in France, according to Health Insurance. This is a very serious problem and one that is likely to become more important in the years to come with the aging of the population.
Philippe Pouletty, doctor in medicine, co-founder and managing director of Truffle Capital, created several companies specializing in medical research. And the‘one of them, Affluent Medical, has just implanted a new type of sphincter, because it is remote controlled. He explains, Tuesday March 12, on franceinfo, that“there are no limits to science and technology, as long as you give yourself the time and significant financial resources”.
franceinfo: What’s new about this artificial sphincter?
Philippe Pouletty : It is a small box which is implanted in around thirty minutes in the patient’s abdomen, with a small motor which will control this small sleeve which the urologist will install around the patient’s urethra. For patients who suffer from severe urinary incontinence, you don’t die from it, but it’s terrible: you no longer have a social life, you can no longer control your bladder. And with this little remote control that looks like a car remote control, the patient will be able to close or open his sphincter when he needs to urinate, so he will no longer need a diaper. He will be able to return to a normal social life, go to the cinema, to a restaurant.
We’ve been implanting sphincters for 20 years, what’s the difference?
There was a sphincter which had been developed 40 years ago, very inconvenient, which patients had difficulty supporting and was difficult to control. This is a very big difference compared to the existing one. And what is striking is that until now very few companies were interested in this very serious problem.
How many people are affected?
400 million people worldwide, mostly women and some men. What is this due to? Bladder cancer, prostate cancer in men, repeated pregnancies in women with a weakening of the muscles controlling the bladder.
“A first patient has just been successfully implanted in Prague, in the presence of an eminent surgeon from Cochin Hospital who came.”
Philippe Poulettyfranceinfo
Of course, we have to be careful because we are still going to take care of around ten, around fifteen patients in Prague, in Poland. Then, there will be a larger clinical trial in Europe which will involve around 70 patients, before this product, if the results are satisfactory, arrives on the European, American and Asian market.
Is your role financing?
What we do is create businesses. When we see that there is a huge need, we think that science, technology can, in a few years, develop a product that will meet this need, whether for urinary incontinence, heart valves , products against obesity… That’s what fascinates us. Our goal is to make these very innovative products available to tens of millions of patients around the world.
If you don’t fund them, no one does? Public research doesn’t do it?
No, because the mission of public research is to do science very early on. We are going to take over to transform a great scientific innovation into technology, into a product. And it takes years to develop an implantable product in humans, whether in cardiology or urology, and therefore it is very expensive. But that’s what we do at Truffle Capital, with companies like Affluent which is listed on the stock exchange, but which needs around ten years before being able to put a product on the market.
You are notably at the origin of one of the first artificial hearts, Carmat. Today, its success is mixed…
No, the success of Carmat is proven, since the heart has been approved in Europe for marketing. It’s a Rolls, it’s a Ferrari, the Carmat heart, there is no equivalent. So it takes time. But it’s a bit like Tesla who revolutionized the automobile: for years, people said “Stop, it will never work, it costs too much, etc.”.
“I am convinced that Carmat will be the world leader, because only 5% of patients, whose hearts no longer work, will be lucky enough to have a transplant.”
Philippe Poulettyfranceinfo
The others will die in their beds within a few years of heart failure. But for me, Carmat is already the past. And what excites us are today’s companies: Affluent Medical, BariaTek against obesity… And there are no limits to science and technology, as long as you give yourself time and significant financial resources to develop such products.
Are there other similar funds in Europe?
There are funds in the United States – the leading country for biotechnology globally – Medtech. There are quite a few funds in Europe which finance companies, but existing companies, funds which, like us, decide one day to develop a heart valve, to develop an artificial urinary sphincter, to develop a product against obesity . There are very, very few who create businesses.
How do you explain it?
Because it takes time. It’s perhaps riskier, but hey, for us, it’s not a risk, it’s a passion. It takes time and we succeed much more often than we think. Since we have very experienced management teams, and this is the case with Affluent Medical. So we don’t set a too precise deadline, because it could take a few years more, a few years less. And since we keep in mind our mission which is to improve the lives of patients, to increase the lives of patients.