Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Sedivention: One in five Europeans is currently affected by obesity. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be 1.5 billion severely overweight people worldwide, with a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m². These people are often marginalized and ridiculed. And they suffer from the associated diseases of diabetes, hypertension, or cancer. They cannot simply lose weight through increased discipline, diet, and exercise, because beyond a certain point, obesity leads to a disruption in the regulation of hunger and satiety, resulting in persistent, insatiable hunger.
Patients lose hunger
We develop a medical device, which, similar to a gastroscopy, is inserted into the stomach and destroys the nerve branches that transmit this excessive feeling of hunger to the brain. As a result, patients lose their hunger and can then lose weight. The drug Wegowy, promoted by Elon Musk, works in a similar way, only through the bloodstream rather than the nerves.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Sedivention: There are medications, gastric balloons, and surgical procedures for stomach reduction. What doesn't yet exist and what our device will be able to do: a one-time, minimally invasive, long-lasting reduction of hunger without medication, without implants, without surgery. The procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis by any specialist in gastrointestinal diseases – just like a gastroscopy.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Sedivention: We are an experienced team of doctors, engineers, and managers. We know each other from our previous professional careers and now want to create something completely new together. We asked ourselves: What is the greatest unsolved health problem facing humanity for which there is still no effective treatment? And that problem is obesity.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Sedivention: Finding investors for a very early-stage startup. We're not a university spin-off and have had to invest our own funds in research from the very beginning. On the other hand, our team has extensive experience in medical device development, is familiar with the regulatory processes, and we own the patents.
Therapy use in five years
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Sedivention: In one year, we aim to have further developed our prototype into a clinically viable, mass-produced product. In five years, we aim to complete the initial studies and have the catheter on the market. After winning startup competitions and awards, we've already received a lot of mail from obese patients who are very hopeful about our medical device. In five years, their hopes will be fulfilled, and the device will be available for treatment.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Sedivention: Wonderful. We have contacts/collaborations with both universities and are very grateful for the tremendous support and funding from Bayern Innovativ, Baystartup, BioM, UnternehmerTUM, Bayern Kapital, and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. We also owe a great deal to the HTGF and Science4Life from Hesse. There are many startups in the Munich area, and we are delighted to receive many invitations to events where you can learn a lot and make many contacts.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Sedivention: We hope to be both, but for now, perhaps better game changers.
