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University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Children's Mercy Hospital are Founding Members
Cambridge, Mass. – June 25, 2007 – The Institute for Pediatric Innovation (IPI), Inc., a recently formed nonprofit focused on improving healthcare for children, today announced the formation of a Consortium of Pediatric Hospitals – a group of nationally recognized children's hospitals that will collaborate with the Institute in its mission.
The Consortium is composed of founding members University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Children's Mercy Hospital. These hospitals are widely regarded as innovators in the field of pediatric care.
Pediatric clinicians are often limited by devices and drugs that have not been optimized for the treatment of children. The FDA has reported from various studies that about 70 percent of prescription drugs used on children may have been dispensed off label without proper pediatric dosing information. Medical devices used on children often have not been designed or sized for children.
IPI and its hospital consortium will identify priority needs in today's clinical care of children for redesigned devices, drugs reformulated specifically with a focus on children and promising new technologies for neonatal care.
"Pediatric healthcare has been a neglected, orphaned market," said Donald Lombardi, CEO of the Institute for Pediatric Innovation. "While many dedicated professionals and institutions are committed to providing top-notch pediatric care, they are hampered by inappropriate devices and drug formulations. In collaboration with these pioneering hospitals, we have a significant opportunity to effect positive change. We are creating new methods to stimulate development and commercial adoption of new medical products for children."
"We believe the IPI pediatric hospital consortium model is an excellent example of entrepreneurial philanthropy at work," said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which has supported IPI with an initial grant. "The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is focused on advancing innovation through collaborative models."
Executives from the founding hospitals commented on the formation of the new consortium:
"We look forward to enhancing healthcare for children through this new and unique collaboration," said Dr. Fred Rothstein, president and CEO of University Hospitals of Cleveland. "By bringing together the nation's leading children's hospitals and their faculty, this Institute will be a catalyst for innovations that will help us make great strides in caring for our youngest patients."
"Because children make up such a small percentage of the total population needing medical care, their needs are often overlooked in any national healthcare discussion. This new consortium will bring together world-class pediatric specialists, pediatric nurses and allied health professionals who are national leaders in their fields to help ensure that children's needs remain in the spotlight and receive the attention they deserve," said Randall L. O'Donnell, Ph.D., president and CEO of Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics in Kansas City.
About The Consortium of Children's Hospitals
The Consortium will be directed by an Executive Board made up of representatives from each of the Consortium hospital members. IPI will analyze the areas of clinical care that can most benefit from new products and select those that both hold promise for near-term commercial opportunity and can leverage the resources of the hospital member base. IPI and Consortium members will work with commercial entities that serve the pediatric marketplace.
About the Institute for Pediatric Innovation (IPI)
The Institute for Pediatric Innovation (www.pediatricinnovation.org) is a non-profit organization that was formed to improve the health of children by increasing the availability of innovative medical products with the unique attributes required for pediatric care. IPI seeks to transform pediatric healthcare from a neglected orphaned market to a magnet for industry and investor interest. IPI is led by an experienced team of experts in licensing technology in pediatric medical care, commercializing medical technology, and marketing medical devices and pharmaceutical products. IPI has received support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Children's Medical Ventures, Inc. and Oxford Bioscience Partners.
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