BOA Biomedical

BOA Biomedical, Inc. is a biotechnology company founded in 2018 as a joint venture between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the medtech investment firm Miraki Innovation. The company was established to commercialize a novel technology developed at the Wyss Institute by a team led by Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., and Lead Senior Staff Scientist Michael Super, Ph.D. This technology, for which BOA has an exclusive worldwide license, aims to address the critical global health challenges of sepsis and antibiotic-resistant infections.

The company's core technology is an extracorporeal blood filtration system that functions like an artificial spleen to rapidly remove a broad range of pathogens and their toxic byproducts from the blood. The system utilizes a genetically engineered protein that binds to over 100 clinically relevant bacteria, fungi, parasites, toxins, and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. By physically cleansing the blood, the device is designed to stabilize patients, mitigate the progression to sepsis, and work in synergy with existing antimicrobial treatments. This approach is particularly significant as it can be used without first identifying the specific pathogen and addresses the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

BOA Biomedical is developing this platform for both therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The therapeutic product, known as GARNET™, is an extracorporeal device for cleansing blood. In early 2019, the company received Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a first-in-human clinical study. The first subject was enrolled in the trial in mid-2021. The company, backed by investors including Miraki Innovation, Harvard University, and the Wyss Institute, has raised $8.61M in a Series A funding round in February 2019. Although one source lists the company as "deadpooled," multiple press releases from 2021 indicate active clinical trials, and PitchBook lists it as a private, venture capital-backed company headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

Keywords: extracorporeal blood cleansing, sepsis treatment, antibiotic resistance, infectious disease diagnostics, pathogen removal, blood filtration, medical countermeasure, Wyss Institute, pan-pathogen therapeutic, medical device, biotechnology, bloodstream infection, GARNET, Miraki Innovation, inflammation, biothreats, hospital-acquired infections, blood purification, HealthTech, Life Sciences