Crospon named ‘Innovator of the Year’

Irish Small Firms Association recognises Crospon at Small Business Awards

Monday 8th March 2010

Crospon, a medical device developer based in Galway, Ireland, has been named ‘Innovator of the Year’ at the Small Firms Association, 2010 National Small Business Awards which were held in Dublin on Thursday 4th March 2010.

The Awards which were attended by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen T.D. are aimed at celebrating the achievements of small business in Ireland, and to recognise the vital contribution of the small business sector to Irish industry.

Pictured left to right: Frank Ryan, Chief Executive, Enterprise Ireland, An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen T.D., John O' Dea CEO, Crospon and Aidan O' Boyle, Chairman, Irish Small Firms Association

Crospon which develops leading edge minimally invasive medical devices for monitoring, diagnosis and therapy in the gastroenterology area, emerged as winner of the Innovator of the Year category, a grouping in which several leading life sciences companies were shortlisted from across Ireland.

Commenting on the Award, John O’Dea, chief executive officer, Crospon said, “We are very honoured to be named ‘Innovator of the Year’ by the Small Firms Association. The quality of the companies listed within our category is testament to the growing strength and importance of the Irish medical device industry to Ireland. 2010 looks set to be another landmark year in the development of Crospon and hopefully we can live up to our title and continue to provide innovation and leadership in the medical device space.”

In January Crospon announced the completion of a €2 million round of funding and that the Company’s flagship gastroenterology product, EndoFLIP^® has received clearance from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

Obtaining FDA clearance for the EndoFLIP^® device was another significant milestone in the product’s development. This clearance will permit the company to sell EndoFLIP^® in the U.S. market and assist Crospon in continuing to build the clinical evidence base to support wider indications for use of EndoFLIP^®, particularly in the bariatric surgery area. During 2009, Crospon announced the establishment of a US operation in Carlsbad, California.

This latest award follows the 2009 success where Crospon received the Overall Medical Technology Excellence Award and the Gold Award for Innovation and Research and Development at the Irish Medical Device Association Awards.

Crospon was also awarded the Connaught Business Achievers Award for 2008 in the ‘Ones to Watch’ category and the company’s Smart Drug Delivery Patch in conjunction with HP was listed in Popular Science’s magazines annual ‘Best of What’s New’ for 2008.

SFA National Small Business Awards Interview

The sixth annual SFA National Small Business Awards ceremony took place on 4 March in Trinity College Dublin. Galway-based company Crospon’s scooping of the Innovator of the Year award is closely linked to its ability to listen to the healthcare community in its product-development process.

Click here to view the interview: