For more than a century, most women have suffered during gynecological procedures performed with Pozzi forceps. Equipped with claws, these forceps too often cause bleeding, sharp pain and the risk of tearing flesh. That's why Aspivix, a Vaud-based start-up, has developed an alternative that respects women's intimacy and is less painful, based on the suction cup principle.
The story begins with David Finci, a gynecologist in Geneva, who regularly uses Pozzi's forceps in his practice. However, he is uncomfortable with the tool, which causes pain and bleeding in most of his patients. David spoke to his brother, Julien Finci, an engineer who studied at the EPFL. He came up with the idea of replacing the forceps with a suction cup. At the time, Julien was working for an American company where he met Mathieu Horras, who joined the venture to take charge of marketing and finance. David, Julien and Mathieu created Aspivix. "Of course, it didn't all happen overnight: there were challenges to overcome, and a lot of thought went into it," notes Mathieu Horras, co-founder and CEO of Aspivix.
The hardest part of replacing the Pozzi forceps was inventing a tool that was just as easy to use. Everyone knows how to use forceps," explains Mathieu Horras, "so our principle is deliberately simple, with the patient's well-being always in mind." Aspivix's innovation consists of a suction cup that generates a vacuum, as with a syringe, and when the vacuum is released, the suction cup adheres to the cervix. It's as easy to use as the current forceps, causes little pain and respects women's intimacy.
It was also clear to the three co-founders that they needed to maintain the technological edge of their product. It was Innovaud who advised them to contact Alliance to develop a second generation of their tool. They worked with Élise Gortchacow, innovation mentor in innovation. "Élise helped us identify our development needs, as well as the financial assistance we could obtain. We decided to opt for a Eureka project. Élise's help was invaluable, as these are complicated applications to put together and write, with many constraints," explains Mathieu.
Aspivix a également bénéficié d’un coaching Platinn pour relever leur deuxième défi : organiser la chaine logistique de leur produit. C’est là que Thomas Maeier les a soutenus afin d’identifier les bons partenaires et définir les bons critères de sélection. Actuellement en phase de test par les utilisateur·ices, leur produit peut changer la vie de nombreuses femmes. En janvier 2023, ils ont obtenu l’autorisation de mise sur le marché aux États-Unis et ils attendent encore cette autorisation pour l’Europe. Le 11 mars dernier, leurs recherches ont été publiées dans le journal Contraception aux États-Unis.
Nous avons la chance que notre produit résolve un véritable problème pour des milliers, voire des millions, de patientes et de gynécologues. Mais nous sommes aussi une jeune start-up et nous ne serions pas là sans l’aide d’Alliance, de Platinn et des autres organisations qui nous ont soutenues.
Site Internet : www.aspivix.com
Camille Pousin, le 16.03.2023.