Haystack Dx- Improving Neuromuscular Health

Advancing electrodiagnostic medicine with an intelligent diagnostic device.

The Problem

There is a clinical unmet need to improve the diagnostic procedure for neuromuscular disorders. For nearly a century, patients experiencing symptoms such as muscle numbness, weakness and tingling have been undergoing a diagnostic procedure called Electromyography (EMG) that falls short at delivering high clinical value. EMG is the current and primary diagnostic procedure for nerves and muscle disorders, which has remained unchanged with no major technological advancement for almost 80 years. While the technique has been useful since it was first developed, it has a low diagnostic performance with a 60% diagnostic agreement, 70% specificity, and 60% sensitivity. Thus far, techniques to improve the procedure have become complementary to EMG.

What The Company Does

Haystack Dx invented a patent-pending needle impedance electromyography (iEMG) enhanced technology to improve the diagnosis and means for monitoring the therapeutic treatment of those patients suffering from NMDs. The advanced needle technology builds upon the clinical standard EMG needle and integrates a new electrical impedance sensing modality into the same EMG needle. The addition of electrical impedance technology into an EMG needle offers a new window to obtain complementary electrical information on muscle health not available with existing EMG technology. Specifically, unlike standard EMG, iEMG technology will offer quantified results.

Market

Today, NMDs impact the quality of life of well over 100 million people worldwide including the exceedingly common carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with 8 million new cases per year to less common and fatal Lou Gehrig’s Disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) with 6 thousand new cases each year. The market for EMG is over $700 million, and this is primarily for neuromuscular disorders. There’s an opportunity to expand into a billion dollar market to help people with chronic muscle pain.

Business Model

Haystack Dx’s revenue model relies on the three-part system with a price per unit for the device and hardware in addition to a price per unit plus subscription fee for the software. Their proposed pricing structure, which may ultimately change as they further hone their strategies, includes:

• Disposable iEMG needle: $20/needle (~$5 more than current needles)
• Hardware system: $30k/unit (~about the same price as a new system)
• AI-powered software: $2k annual subscription per license

Traction

The team is still in the development phase wrapping up their first entire system this spring. They have brought on a pharma partner to begin using their device to understand the effectiveness of drug development. They hope to bring on other partners and customers in the near future

Founding Team Background

Haystack Dx was co-founded by Mai Le and Benjamin Sanchez-Terrones. The team is comprised of innovative, experienced individuals with expertise in both basic and clinical research, development of technologies, as well as commercialization of medical technology. Each member of our team has complimentary skill sets to ensure the company’s success.

What They Need Help With

Haystack Dx is looking for warm intros to investors and potential pharma customers. Connect with the Haystack Dx team.

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