About Life360 Innovations Inc.
Canadian Medical Device Manufacturer & Distributor
This is our story.
Necessity is often quoted as the “mother of invention” but rarely has solving an urgent personal need resulted in the creation of an organization that imagines, manufactures and distributes medical devices and products for men with urinary incontinence (UI). Contino®, a first of its kind male UI medical device, was the impetus for Life360 Innovations Inc. (Life360 Innovations). Ken Kunz, the inventor, is now almost 90 years old and still uses Contino® every day. This bears testament to its credibility, effectiveness and ease of use.
Robert Orr, President & CEO, co-founded Life360 Innovations in 2010, along with his father Russ, to support Ken. Ken was in his mid-70s and suffered from UI, the result of radical prostatectomy surgery in 2007 that successfully addressed his prostate cancer but left him with UI. Ken was frustrated by this and developed a personal UI medical device that he used for years, with great success. That ultimately led to the formation of Life360 Innovations and the creation of Contino®.
For context, UI is a distressing and complex medical condition that has a significant impact on physical, mental and emotional well-being. A Canadian Continence Foundation publication in 2018 estimated that approximately 3.5 million adults in Canada suffer from some form of UI, approximately one-third men and two-thirds female. Worldwide, an estimated 420 million adults suffer from UI.
Initially, we focused on the filing and prosecution of our first US patent for the Contino®. As the opportunity developed, Robert became more involved and the decision was made to put together a detailed program to pursue the opportunity more fully. This began by transforming Ken’s personal prototype into a licensed medical device. Our first key partner was the MAKE+ Group, a healthcare-focused prototype program developed by the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
As the demands grew, Robert decided to focus exclusively on the opportunity and left an accomplished career as a finance professional to become a full-time entrepreneur. The key motivations for the career change were to take on a new challenge/opportunity and to do something different that could positively impact the lives of men like Ken. Robert expected that bringing a new product to market would be challenging but he thought his prior work experience, personal networks and professional discipline would carry them through the challenges. As it turns out, the process has been much more challenging and rewarding than originally expected. The key motivations have not changed and they still drive Life360 Innovations’ executive team, Advisory Board and Board of Directors.
Canada is our initial focus, however, we have established a platform to expand globally. We have made significant foundational investments to develop and comprehensively protect our brands and our intellectual property. As well, we have implemented a scalable enterprise resource platform (ERP) and developed an ISO 13485:2016 quality management system that is compliant with Canadian, EU and US regulations. Our manufacturing process is scalable and we have pioneered an innovative distribution platform that aligns with experienced medical professionals within our partner network. In addition to expanding globally, we intend to develop and manufacture other health focussed products that will leverage our developed capability. Our pipeline of products includes a female version of Contino®, a medical device for fecal incontinence and other urology-related medical devices. A graphic summary of our history is:
