Former Neuralink Exec Launches Member Retention Effort

Science Foundation, The brain-computer interface startup was founded in 2021 by a previous company nervous President Max Hudak launched a new division of the company with the aim of extending the life of human organs. And no, not brains.

Alameda, Calif.-based Science aims to improve existing perfusion systems that continuously circulate blood through vital organs when they can’t function on their own. This technology is used to preserve organs for transplantation and as a life support measure for patients when the heart and lungs stop working, but it is costly and expensive. Science wants to create a system that is smaller, more portable and can provide long-term support.

Until now, the focus of science has been on neural interfaces and vision restoration. The company is working on a “biohybrid” interface that uses live neurons instead of wires to connect to the brain. Immediately, she looked to commercialize her retinal implant, which it did well Restore some vision In patients with advanced macular degeneration, allowing them to read letters, numbers and words. Science acquired the implant in 2024 from French startup Pixium Vision, which was facing bankruptcy, and jumped ahead of Elon Musk’s Neuralink to develop an implant for vision loss.

“In a sense, they’re both life-extending technologies, and that’s the goal of both neural interfaces and this,” Hudak says of organ perfusion.

Hudak co-founded Neuralink with Musk and others in 2016, but left in 2021 to start Project Science and serve as its CEO. Since its founding, Science has raised about $290 million, according to venture capital database Pitchbook.

Hudak was inspired to work on organ preservation after reading about… Case of a 17-year-old young man In Boston whose lungs failed due to cystic fibrosis. He was receiving support with a type of perfusion called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, while waiting for the transplant. But after two months on the waiting list, he developed complications that made him ineligible for a transplant. His doctors and parents faced the ethical dilemma of keeping him alive on ECMO, which is supposed to serve as a short-term bridge. Eventually, the oxygen machine in the machine began to malfunction and doctors chose not to replace it. Shortly after, the boy lost consciousness and died.

ECMO machines are used during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients who have developed lung failure, and they are expensive and resource-intensive. They cost thousands of dollars a day to operate, and patients are attached to them at the hospital. It consists of a large circle of tubes that must be moved on a bedside cart, and requires constant monitoring and frequent manual adjustments. Due to its high cost, it is not available in all hospitals.