🧠 The Miami Story of Incisionless Brain Surgery
When medicine meets innovation – meet the CEO of Insightec
FEATURED CONTENT:
Entrepreneurship Meets Medicine: Learn how a Miami company uses focused ultrasound to help cure tremors in our latest On Site Video feature with Insightec CEO Dr. Maurice Ferré. Watch here.
Miami native Dr. Maurice Ferré has been at the forefront of the evolution in healthcare innovation. That rings particularly true regarding the brain, the least understood biological organ.
Dr. Ferré saw that as an opportunity early on. Combining his passion for helping others and entrepreneurship, he has successfully run three companies in the medtech space focusing on the brain.
“I love the idea that I can help people's lives, and I can do it very effectively as a business leader,” he told Opportunity Miami in our latest On Site Video Feature. His latest company, Insightec, uses focused ultrasound on the brain to treat tremors.
The concept is known as incisionless surgery.
“We're going to look at this in the future and we're going to say, how on earth did we ever do surgeries when we opened people up?,” he said.
USING ENERGY FOR BRAIN SURGERY
Dr. Ferré explained that an electronic scalpel with focused ultrasound is a more precise, noninvasive procedure. It is used inside an MRI machine that allows doctors to have a real-time visualization of the brain.
He explained that the tool has been in development for over 25 years. Insightec is an Israeli company founded in 1999 with its U.S. headquarters in Miami. The technology currently treats patients with essential tremors and Parkinson’s Disease. Medications can stop working after a few decades. “And then you don’t have too many alternatives,” he said.
The company has deployed over 200 systems globally, 83 of them in the Americas. They are also in almost every major academic institution. Insightec’s research shows that its technology can immediately reduce or remove tremors. They have a 74% response rate from patients who have undergone the procedure – over 22,000 so far.
“But we’re just on the tip of the iceberg,” he noted, adding that they have treated only three percent of the patient population.
ENTREPRENEUR IN MEDTECH
Dr. Ferré outlines his career in three phases: visualization, robotics and precision, and finally incisions.
He founded Visualization Technology Inc. in 1993. The company became a leader in image-guided surgery with a navigation platform during procedures involving the ear, nose, and throat, which enhanced accuracy and precision. It was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2002.
The next year he co-founded Miami-based MAKO Surgical Corp., a robotic surgical company.
“It was a time where there weren't a lot of medical device companies down here,” he said. “I was excited to do not only what I’m passionate about in terms of helping people, but also being able to do it here in South Florida.” The company was acquired by Stryker Corp. for $1.65 billion in 2013.
He joined Insightec in 2016 as CEO.
One of the things that Miami can become great at is healthcare and life sciences, he said, with companies like Insightec playing a major role in the local industry, spurring economic growth.
“We've got this energy of young people that are coming to our city…people that are immigrants,” he said, adding: “And what I love about immigrants is that they're hungry. They want to change the world. I know what that feels like.”
FAMILY ROOTS IN MIAMI
Dr. Ferré said he was inspired early on by a family legacy of service and purpose.
His grandfather was a pioneering businessman from Puerto Rico who eventually moved to Miami, with his company becoming the largest employer in South Florida during Miami’s small-town days.
His uncle, Luis Ferré, was a former governor of Puerto Rico.
His father, the late Maurice Antonio Ferré, served six terms as mayor during critical times in Miami’s history. Maurice said his father helped to promote Miami in Latin America, attracting banks and businesses to the city while helping to form key institutions such as the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and The Miami-Dade Beacon Council, which powers Opportunity Miami.
That legacy of contributing to Miami’s evolution into a major global city continues.
TREATING MORE THAN TREMORS
Insightec secured the largest funding round of 2024 in Florida – $150 million in equity financing.
“This financing provides Insightec with a runway to expand incisionless neurosurgery to the many patients suffering from movement disorders and continue to make calculated and strategic investments in new indications,” Dr. Ferré said in a statement.
Essential tremors in Parkinson’s is just the beginning.
The company has identified over 30 different diseases that they can target.
“We're committed to continuously building on this,” Dr. Ferré continued. “It's a lifelong vision that is going to really have an impact on millions and millions of lives.”
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