INNOKAS MEDICAL OY

Their core work

Innokas Medical is a Finnish medical device company specializing in the development and commercialization of therapeutic devices for cardiovascular and neurological emergencies. Their work spans two distinct but related clinical challenges: improving blood flow in peripheral arterial disease and minimizing brain damage after stroke through controlled body cooling. In the CUCUMBER project, they are bringing to market the world's first integrated medical cooling system for targeted temperature management — a device designed to reduce reperfusion injury in stroke patients following thrombectomy. They operate at the intersection of hardware engineering and clinical application, translating established medical science into deployable hospital devices.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Innokas Medical's H2020 trajectory shows a deliberate shift from peripheral circulatory disease toward acute neurological emergency care. Their first project, FlowOx (2016-2019), addressed peripheral arterial disease — a chronic vascular condition affecting limb circulation. By 2020, they pivoted to CUCUMBER, targeting the acute stroke pathway specifically: brain cooling after ischemic stroke and thrombectomy to limit reperfusion injury. The thread connecting both is therapeutic intervention in blood flow crises, but the clinical setting has moved from outpatient vascular care to high-acuity stroke units — a more demanding and commercially significant market.

Innokas Medical is moving up the clinical acuity ladder — from chronic vascular devices toward emergency neuroprotection, suggesting future collaboration opportunities in stroke care systems, ICU temperature management, and acute neurological intervention.

How they like to work

Innokas Medical has participated exclusively as a non-coordinating partner across both projects, suggesting they prefer to contribute their device expertise within consortia led by others — likely academic or clinical partners. With only 6 unique consortium partners across 2 projects, their network is small and likely tightly chosen rather than broad. This points to a specialist contributor model: they bring a specific technology to the table and let clinical or research partners drive the overall project structure.

Innokas Medical has worked with 6 unique partners across 4 countries, reflecting a compact, project-specific consortium approach rather than a broad pan-European network. Their geographic footprint is European but narrow, consistent with SMEs that build focused partnerships around specific device development goals.

What sets them apart

Innokas Medical occupies a rare niche as a Finnish SME with hands-on experience commercializing therapeutic devices in two distinct vascular-neurological application areas. Unlike university spinouts or pure-research organizations, they have twice received Innovation Action funding — meaning they have demonstrated to EU evaluators that their products are close to market, not just proof-of-concept. For consortium builders, they represent a credible industry partner who can anchor the exploitation and commercialization work packages that academic-heavy consortia typically struggle with.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CUCUMBER
  The largest and most recent project, with a 2020-2025 timeline, targets a high-impact clinical problem — stroke-related brain damage — with a first-of-kind integrated cooling device, positioning Innokas Medical at the forefront of a growing neuroprotection market.
• FlowOx
  Their first EU-funded project and highest individual grant (EUR 680,750), demonstrating early credibility as a medical device SME capable of securing Innovation Action funding for vascular therapy hardware.