San Antonio — Prytime Medical Devices has signed a deal that would have Harrisburg, NC-based Combat Medical Systems distribute and sell the company’s medical device, a catheter that can be used to control hemorrhaging, to the U.S. military and federal government.
Prytime, which is headquartered near San Antonio in Boerne, TX, sells a catheter that can be used in emergency and critical care situations to prevent patients from bleeding to death after a traumatic injury. The device, used by vascular and trauma surgeons, received FDA clearance in October 2015, when Prytime was known as Pryor Medical Devices. It received clearance to sell in Europe last November.
Combat Medical sells or distributes a bevy of products, ranging from bandages to airway control devices to tourniquets, that might be used in tactical medicine. The company has “meaningful” relationships with the Department of Defense, Prytime says.
The device, which Prytime calls the ER-REBOA Catheter, is intended for patients who are hemorrhaging blood after a traumatic injury. When there isn’t enough blood reaching the heart and the brain, it can hinder blood flow to the body’s organs, something known as cardiovascular collapse, and even death, Prytime says on its website. (REBOA stands for resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta.)
The catheter, which is inserted through the femoral artery, has a balloon attached to it that can be inflated in a large blood vessel, such as the aorta, helping redirect blood flow to the organs instead of just out of the body. The device helps a clinician temporarily control the hemorrhaging, providing more time to operate in attempt to stem the hemorrhaging, Prytime says.
Prytime has a sales staff of six that push its product to commercial clients in the U.S. Prytime didn’t disclose pricing details.