Company Views on Evolution and Advances in Medical Devices Discussed

Interphex2007, New York, NY (Apr. 24)-Reflecting the advances of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole and the success of individual companies in the growth of the pharmaceutical industry, Bill Cook, founder and CEO of Cook Group Inc. (Bloomington, IN, www.cookgroup.com) in a key note address at Interphex2007 described the benefits of keeping a company private and touched on the future of medical devices. Cook’s comments come as Interphex2007 was co-located this year with PharmaMedDevice, a conference and trade show designed to show the convergence of the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biologic industries.

Cook Group was founded in 1963 with only $1500 in start-up capital and has since grown to a conglomerate of companies. Its family of companies include medical-device manufacturing companies that produce products for interventional radiology, interventional cardiology, urology, neuroradiology, vascular medicine, critical care, and many other disciplines; allied manufacturing companies manufacture many specialized industrial parts; and Cook Group affiliates that offer such commercial enterprises as transportation and travel, real estate, and retail services.
 
Cook Inc, which started out manufacturing percutaneous wire guides, catheters, and needles, has grown to include in vitro fertilization equipment, stone removal baskets, and, the company’s latest development, small intestinal submucosa (SIS). SIS is a biomaterial harvested from porcine small intestine that, once implanted, will be colonized by host tissues and blood vessels, essentially becoming part of the surrounding tissue. SIS provides support, acting as a scaffold for guided tissue incorporation.  It has numerous uses, including treatment for hernias, repairing lung perforations, lip augmentation, and facial reconstruction.