Crimson Medical Solutions Inc., the Spokane company that hopes to bring a standardized intravenous safety system to hospitals, is anticipating it will begin generating revenue this year.

The company is currently in preliminary talks to collaborate with health care systems and a medical device manufacturer and expects to complete validation of its IV management system this year, says CEO and co-founder Stephen Bone. It also plans to scale up manufacturing capabilities and begin sales.

The Journal last reported on Crimson Medical Solutions over three years ago when Bone was named a Rising Star after the startup took first place in the 2021 Northwest Entrepreneurial Challenge open division.

Shortly after that, Crimson Medical Solutions secured a utility patent with the help of Spokane-based intellectual property law firm Lee & Hayes PC.

“The protection for the patent is around a multipiece IV organization system in which the pieces have certain functionalities and different structures,” Bone says.

The system, called IV Manager uses color-coded medication identification labels and corresponding parts that connect to IV lines to differentiate them and keep them in order.

“We had it reviewed by an external patent reviewer as well, and they were really surprised at how broad and strong the protection was,” Bone says. “So Lee & Hayes really did a good job at protecting us in the IV line-organization space.”

Parts for the IV Manager system are manufactured in Tacoma, Washington, by contract manufacturer Molded Dimensions Group.

Bone says Crimson Medical Solutions will be looking to raise seed money to begin to scale up by year-end.

“We are still planning out the round and do not know how much we will be raising,” he says. “To date, we have been bootstrapping with about $100,000 in funding from dilutive sources and $40,000 from investments.”

Crimson Medical Solution’s initial trials were with Pullman Regional Hospital, in Pullman, Washington, and Columbia Basin Hospital, in Ephrata, Washington.

“Their main feedback at the time was that we needed to go to intensive care units because they had a lot more issues around IV line management at the time,” he says.

More recently, Crimson Medical Solutions has been conducting trials within Washington state-based MultiCare and Providence health care systems.

Bone says the company also is in discussions with the Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke's and Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health regional health care systems about conducting additional trials.

He says the company plans to launch its initial product in a geographically close market.

“We’re mainly targeting areas that we can drive to from Spokane. Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Canada,” he says. “Our focus is on trials that we can be very involved in because we’re still in a validation stage and making updates to the product so it fits the needs of ICU nurses.”

ICU units average 10 to 15 patients at a time and each patient averages about five IV lines, Bone says. Because of limited access points to insert IV lines it’s common to have multiple medications delivered through individual lines.

Compatibility of medications is a big safety focus for ICU Nurses, Bone says. “One of the ways that we aim to help is differentiating the line with clear identification, because they have so many, they look the same, and they tangle really easily.”

Bone says Crimson Medical Solutions recently received external validation for IV Manager via an award for patient-safety technology from the Society of Nursing Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, & Leaders.

The company also is looking to the broader market.

Crimson Medical Solutions met last week with a large medical device manufacturing company to discuss IV Line management in its infusion product portfolio, he says.

Earlier this month company representatives met with a “mid-U.S.” health care system about forming a collaboration with its innovation group.

“It’s pretty early-stage conversations, but we’re looking to set up one of those partnerships with either a health care system or a medical device manufacturer to give easier access to caregivers and resources for development,” he says.

The company recently brought on a chief clinical officer, a clinical research adviser, and an international adviser.

However, Bone, who co-founded the company in 2021, shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and biomedical engineering at Washington State University, is the company’s only full-time employee.

The startup is based in the Ignite Northwest/WSU Innovation Center building at 120 N. Pine, on the WSU Spokane campus. “I have a home office, and then I usually work here at least one day a week,” Bone says.

The other co-founders, both fellow WSU alums, Tyler Sager, a business development research analyst, and Tanner Stahl, a real estate investor, have full-time jobs in Seattle and Salt Lake City, respectively.

“They’re both mainly doing this on the side, and then our chief clinical officer is part time,” he says. “Other than that, it’s mainly consultants and advisers,” Bone says.

Crimson Medical Solutions also has received mentorship and support from Spokane-based business accelerator Ignite Northwest and WSU’s business incubator SP3NW.