About this episode

Henry Norton interviews Karun Naga about Apreo Health's innovative approach to treating severe emphysema and the challenges faced in the medtech industry.

In this episode, Henry Norton sits down with Karun Naga, CEO of Apreo Health, to talk about one of the most underserved patient populations in respiratory medicine and why everything the industry tried before was heading in the wrong direction. Karun takes us inside the 25-year journey from the original Emphasys Medical valve device through to Apreo's BREATHE Airway Scaffold, a fundamentally different, non-destructive approach to treating severe emphysema. He explains how a June 2021 cadaver lab session in Minnesota confirmed the science, how the team raised $130 million despite most investors wanting to wait, and why a mechanical engineer turned patent lawyer ended up leading a clinical-stage medtech company. Key Topics Why the original emphysema valve approach was answering the wrong question How Apreo's BREATHE Airway Scaffold works differently to every predecessor The Foundry's venture studio model and what "maniacal focus" actually looks like IP strategy for medtech founders: filing early, going broad, and securing global options Raising $130M when most investors wanted to wait for the data Related Insights The career path from mechanical engineering to patent law…

People in this episode

Host: Henry Norton

Guest: Karun Naga

Topics covered

• emphysema treatment
• medtech innovation
• clinical trials
• investor relations
• intellectual property
• medical devices

Keywords

• emphysema
• Apreo Health
• BREATHE Airway Scaffold
• medtech
• clinical-stage
• investing
• intellectual property
• medical devices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apreo Health, Emphasys Medical, The Foundry, Inari, Penumbra

Products: BREATHE Airway Scaffold

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