James M McNally, PhD
Ativa Medical Corp, developer of the world’s first multi-detection micro lab to help clinicians make immediate treatment decisions, has announced the appointment of James M. McNally, PhD, as president and CEO.
McNally takes to Ativa 25-plus years of executive leadership experience in the medical device and diagnostics industry, including most recently serving as vice president of Quest Diagnostics’ products division, including its point-of-care companies. He has been awarded 12 patents for his healthcare and diagnostic innovations.
“In my career, I’ve had the opportunity to review hundreds of diagnostic instruments and businesses,” said McNally. “We believe Ativa’s system will be able to deliver central lab quality results in about 5 minutes during a single office visit. Clinicians will be able to better diagnose and treat patients, while significantly reducing traditional lab test costs. I look forward to taking this important technology through commercialization.”
Ativa’s micro lab combines flow cytometry, electrochemistry, colorimetric testing, and imaging into a single system. Each test is run on a single, inexpensive, disposable card specifically tailored to the test of choice.
When launched, Ativa’s system should enable healthcare professionals to obtain results in minutes, rather than hours or days, to improve the patient experience. Practitioners will get critical test information for detecting and managing disease during the clinical visit, where it is most valuable. The Ativa system also reduces the chances for lab test errors and misdiagnoses, as it does not require sample handling by multiple healthcare staff.
“Ativa’s micro lab, with the footprint of a toaster, will ultimately be able to accurately and efficiently test up to 90% of Medicare’s top 30 blood tests,” McNally said. “Ativa’s patented disposable microfluidic cards need only a drop of blood, yet compete with the quality and consistency of large lab instruments, based on our pre-clinical complete blood count results.”
The Ativa micro lab has advanced to demonstrating equivalence to central lab-based systems costing many times the price. The Ativa system’s technology, including key microfluidic components, sample preparation, disposable test cards, diagnostic tests and instrumentation, is covered by 80 U.S. patents and 184 patents worldwide.
“The Ativa system holds great potential where speed-to-diagnosis is critical, such as emergency rooms and urgent care facilities, as well as in private physician offices and retail clinics and pharmacies,” McNally continued. “Because of the system’s affordability and portability, we believe there will be great interest in this system in emerging countries, many of which lack access to quality lab testing of any kind.”
“Jim McNally’s experience with an array of point-of-care products, including navigating commercialization issues and the FDA, gives him important insights to lead Ativa at this stage,” said James B. Stake, chairman of Ativa’s board of directors. “This system presents a breakthrough product in clinical diagnostics.”
For further information, visit Ativa Medical.
