Virtual Ports, Ltd., an Israel-based life science company that develops innovative products for use in laparoscopic surgical procedures, has closed an investment round supported by a group of local angel investors and will open its U.S. headquarters in Richmond at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park as a member of the Virginia Biosciences Commercialization Center.

Founded in May 2006, Virtual Ports recently graduated from the incubator program of the Misgav Venture Accelerator in Israel. In less than two years, the company has developed two medical devices and has received FDA clearance for both products. Virtual Ports is developing a complete line of devices designed to reduce the cost of laparoscopic procedures and reduce patient discomfort. (See the BioTech Park press release.)

The EndoGrab is a device for retracting internal organs and anchoring them to the internal abdominal wall during laparoscopic procedures. Inserted at the beginning of surgery, the device can  reduce the number of incisions. Another device, EndoClear, cleans the lens of the camera that guides the surgeon’s actions in order to avoid distractions retracting the camera from the cavity, reducing the length of the procedure by up to 10 minutes.

Endoscopic surgery is following the same path toward less invasive techniques that arthroscopy began two decades ago, contends Dr. Ken Zaslav, who founded the Sports Medicine Center at the Advanced Orthopedic Centers in Richmond. "Virtual Ports has a pipeline of tools that will revolutionize minimally invasive surgery. The new tools will make many surgeries less expensive, speed patient recovery times and hopefully improve medical outcomes."

As part of the Virginia Biosciences Commercialization Center, Virtual Ports has not only tapped locally raised growth capital but gained access to a support network that can advise on everything from medical science to clinical trials to the establishment of distribution channels. (See "Critical Mass" for a fuller description of what the Commercialization Center does.)