The founders of Aferetica have decades of operational and managerial experience in dialysis, intensive care, cardiology, and medical devices in general.
Aferetica was created as a catalyst for the creation of a network of clinicians, academics, researchers, industrialists and institutions capable of creating, validating and using apheresis therapies in clinical practice, as well as promoting their use in new and unexplored clinical areas.
These therapies are much more than mere products. They also represent knowledge, specific expertise, therapeutic protocols, clinical research and debate – in a nutshell, a separate culture.
Aferetica has its roots in the Mirandolese Biomedical District incubator, where expertise, technology, and business and manufacturing capabilities allow Aferetica to develop and produce therapies and products quickly and efficiently.
Particularly important amongst Aferetica's proposals is the development of systems for the perfusion and purification of organs destined for transplant. Organs destined for transplant are always in short supply, compared with a growing demand. This results in longer and longer waiting lists. It should of course be the case that every organ, including those from marginal donors, is used. Organ perfusion techniques have been proposed recently to improve usability. Aferetica aims to radically increase the suitability of organs for transplantation by combining existing perfusion and purification systems with its own system, the patent for which has already been filed and accepted, with clinical experience scheduled for the autumn.
Aferetica has been recognised as an innovative startup at a regional and national level, and has won significant regional support. It has presented projects at a national and European level in collaboration with major institutions such as the Universities of Bologna, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Turin and Bari, as well as the Mario Negri Pharmacological Research Institute at the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Mauro Atti is the CEO, with thirty years experience in the field of dialysis and apheresis therapy. He was Director of Marketing for the Hospal brand at the Gambro Group, first in Italy, then globally. For over ten years, he worked at Bellco, simultaneously covering the roles of Director of Sales & Marketing and Scientific Director. He has produced over 100 publications in the field of purification of the blood.
Stefano Rimondi is a founder and business angel. In the course of his career, he has played leading roles in major biomedical companies. He was CEO of Bellco s.r.l., CEO of Sorin Group Italy SpA, and Business Unit Director for kidney therapies in Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and at the Baxter Group. Rimondi is currently president of Assobiomedica, the Confindustria association that represents companies operating in the biomedical, diagnostic and general electromedical fields.
