Founders

Philip Eggers of Cardiox Corporation

Meet Philip E. Eggers, founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cardiox Corporation.
 
What is Cardiox Corporation?
 
Cardiox Corporation is a Columbus, Ohio, company which is commercializing a patented, non-invasive procedure for detecting right-to-left cardiac shunts, a congenital condition that is present in over 20 percent of the population. If undiagnosed, this condition can lead to debilitating or life-threatening strokes or heart attacks. Currently undergoing clinical trials, this procedure represents a lower-cost diagnostic method that can be performed by a nurse in an office setting within 15 minutes.
 
Why did you start your business?

Cardiox was founded to meet an unmet need for non-invasive detection and quantification of the conductance of right-to-left cardiac shunts. The proprietary technology developed by our team enabled the detection of shunts that are currently undiagnosed until the occurrence of the first stroke or transient ischemic attack. If diagnosed before a stroke, right-to-left cardiac shunts can be “sealed” using established, minimally invasive transvascular closure techniques.
 
How did you come up with the idea?
 
Beginning in 2005, Cardiox began the development of a non-invasive method and system for the continuous monitoring of cardiac output and total circulating blood volume, important in the management of critically ill patients and patients recovering from surgery. The Cardiox team discovered that this technology was readily adaptable to a more urgent and unmet need for the detection of right-to-left cardiac shunts.
 
What resources or organizations in Ohio did you take advantage of, and how did they help?
 
The key organizations within Ohio that have greatly benefited Cardiox in its initial rounds of financing have included: Reservoir Venture Partners (Curtis Crocker), TechColumbus Regional Commercialization Fund (Will Indest), Co-Investment Fund LLC, Ohio TechAngel Fund and sidecar angel investors Early Stage Partners, North Coast Angel Fund, Glengary LLC, and the Ohio Third Frontier Biomedical Program.
 
What was the biggest surprise in starting your business?
 
I was surprised by the amount of funding sources that were not available in during the 1993-2004 period, when I sought to fund my prior companies. By 2006, when I launched Cardiox, I found the availability of innovation capital and resources within the region had progressed to the point where it was not only possible, but advantageous, to headquarter Cardiox in Central Ohio. 
  
Where did you find your first employee?
 
Larry Heaton was recruited by a Chicago-based executive search firm.  Mr. Heaton was formerly the President and COO of US Surgical and brought in-depth experience in the commercialization of medical devices.
 
What are some of the advantages to doing business in Ohio?
 
Ohio has the following advantages: a high technology infrastructure, lower housing costs than the San Francisco Bay Area or other high technology centers on the East and West coasts, the recent emergence of funding sources for start-up companies, and manufacturing sources

What inspires you?
 
Inventing solutions and developing commercializable products to address unmet health-care needs.
 
What companies or founders do you admire and why?
 
Apple and Steve Jobs for the vision and ability to engage the most talented staff in product design, development and manufacturing
 
What’s next for you and your company?

Cardiox platform technology also hopes to market a low-cost, prompt method for assessing liver function, a parameter critical to liver transplant, liver resection, cirrhosis management, septicemia and organ failure.


Writer: Catherine Podojil