Baltimore: A new partnership between the University of Maryland and Breethe,
Inc. is the next step in bringing a portable artificial lung to patients
with respiratory failure. The
Baltimore Business Journal covered the announcement between UM Ventures, the university's commercialization office, and Breethe, Inc., founded in 2014 by Bartley Griffith, MD, professor of surgery and executive director of the Program in Lung Healing at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The backpack-size blood oxygenation machine will allow hospital-bound patients to return to their homes while using the device. Breethe, Inc., founded by a UMB School of Medicine faculty member and based at the BioPark, has been selected as the featured start-up for the March 12th Committee meeting. The company is developing the world's first wearable artificial lung and licensed its technology from UMB. Dr. Bartley Griffith, the co-founder, is a professor of surgery at UMB's School of Medicine. Dr. Griffith's clinical work focuses on coronary artery surgery, mitral and aortic valve replacement and aneurysmal disease of the thoracic aorta. He has directed more than 1,200 heart transplants and 600 lung transplants.
