BALTIMORE, Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Urological Association (AUA) is proud to unveil the 14 companies selected through a rigorous and highly competitive process for the third annual Innovation Nexus Showcase. This premier event provides investigators, startups and mid-sized companies with a unique platform to present their innovations to a panel of industry leaders and potential investors dedicated to advancing urological care.

Innovation Nexus represents the AUA’s long-term commitment to fostering a urology incubator that drives groundbreaking discoveries in collaboration with key stakeholders to enhance patient care. As part of this multifaceted initiative, the AUA hosts an annual Innovation Nexus Conference, with the third event taking place on April 25 in Las Vegas, NV, ahead of the AUA Annual Meeting. This dynamic, one-day event brings together startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors and urologists to accelerate urologic innovation through showcases, discussion forums, industry reverse pitches, emerging concepts sessions and valuable networking opportunities.

This year, the AUA is showcasing more companies than ever before. Each company will present products—devices, artificial intelligence platforms, diagnostic tests, etc.—covering a variety of urologic issues such as prostate cancer, male contraception, incontinence, bladder cancer and hypertension.

“Now in its third year, the Innovation Nexus Conference continues to exceed expectations in both attendance and the caliber of groundbreaking innovations presented,” said Steven Kaplan, MD, FACS, chair of the AUA’s Research Council. “This year’s showcases highlight a diverse array of urologic advancements with the potential to improve countless lives.”

Congratulations to the 14 companies selected for the 2025 Showcase:

• Andromeda Surgical is building autonomous surgical robots starting with laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP/ThuLEP). They use real-time AI guidance and mapping to reduce the learning curve and empower every surgeon to operate at a world expert level.
• Avlos Medical, LLC develops halofuginone-coated medical devices to prevent scar and stricture formation without affecting normal tissue healing. Their Phase 0 study showed excellent results for male urethral stricture disease, with no disease recurrence in a small trial, positioning them as leaders in innovative solutions for improved surgical outcomes.
• Bot Image, Inc. received unique 5-pillar FDA clearance for prostate cancer screening, detection, diagnosis, segmentation and classification of suspect cancer lesions using non-contrast MRI, lending itself as an ideal tool for cognitive fusion biopsy and treatment guidance.
• CathConnect is a medical device that improves the safety of urinary catheters by allowing the tube to disconnect when pulled. The device is an independent accessory and can be installed into any urinary catheter.
• Contraline is a biotechnology company at the forefront of male contraception. Contraline is advancing two revolutionary, clinical-stage products: ADAM, the first long-lasting and reversible vas-occlusive hydrogel implant, as well as NES/T, a transdermal, daily-use hormonal gel.
• Dolor Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage pharmaceutical company from Northwestern University. Its primary goal is to develop treatments for high-unmet medical needs and urologic conditions.
• DriQ Health harnesses AI-powered remote monitoring technology to revolutionize senior care through its innovative, disposable battery-free incontinence detection system. Their platform uniquely integrates incontinence monitoring with fall and mobility detection, providing caregivers with real-time insights to enhance the quality of life for seniors while improving operational efficiency in care facilities.
• HomeScope is a home cystoscope that captures diagnostic-grade images of the bladder, ensuring accurate detection of lesions and other abnormalities. By allowing patients or non-urologic health care providers to perform remote cystoscopy, HomeScope reduces travel time and costs, improves patient comfort and expands access to care.
• InnoCare Urologics, LLC’s developed a urinary safety catheter that automatically deflates if pulled out with the balloon inflated. Pulling forces activate a deflation mechanism, deflating the balloon before forced removal.
• ProArc Medical is a clinical-stage startup that has developed a groundbreaking treatment for BPH - a novel transurethral self-embedding prostatic implant. This innovative solution, named "Omega," aims to provide long-lasting relief from BPH while ensuring a simple, safe and minimally invasive delivery method.
• ProFocalTM is a novel “Cooled Laser Focal Therapy“ system that has been specifically designed and engineered to ablate prostate tissue. A single transperineal probe with integrated cooling and dual temperature sensors provide a safe, reliable and highly accurate ablation.
• PS Fertility provides innovative male fertility diagnostic tests that have the power to significantly change fertility treatment by detecting whether sperm is capable of fertilization.                               
• Vesica Health's mission is to improve the early detection of bladder cancer with its clinically validated, noninvasive, urine-based AssureMDx test. This test identifies high-risk hematuria patients for timely referral to urology for clinical evaluation.
• Verve Medical is an early-stage medical device company focused on the treatment of hypertension. Verve’s unique urological transurethral approach targets and treats the nerves responsible for hypertension at the source within the renal pelvis of the kidney with RF ablation.                         

 For more information on the Showcase and to register to attend the April 25 event, please visit: https://auanexus.org/

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology and has nearly 26,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

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• American Urological Association Announces 2025 Innovation Nexus Showcase Selections

Corey Del Bianco
American Urological Association
443-689-4033
cdelbianco@auanet.org