pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) is touting its inclusion on Russell Investment Group’s Microcap Index.
According to the Watertown, Mass.-based maker of eye therapy implants, their selection means automatic inclusion in the "appropriate growth and value style indexes."
Taris Biomedical hired Sarma Duddu to be its new president and CEO.
The Lexington, Mass.-based durg/device developer said Duddu brings 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience to the corner office, where he’ll start immediately.
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) licensee Alimera Sciences (NSDQ:ALIM) submitted a Marketing Authorization Application in several European Union countries for Iluvien, an ophthalmic drug/device combination.
Iluvien is a sustained release drug delivery system that delivers flucocinolone acetonide, a steroid for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.
By Mary Vanac
Two northeast Ohio start-ups that are developing treatments for psoriasis and for people who have trouble swallowing are getting $25,000 grants from the Innovation Fund of the Lorain County Community College Foundation.
Fluence Therapeutics Inc. of Akron, which has licensed photodynamic therapy technology from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, is developing both a drug and a medical device to treat psoriasis. The company will use its grant for three things, CEO Warren Goldenberg said.
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) reeled a $15.3 million payment from Alimera Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:ALIM) triggered by Alimera’s April 21 initial public offering.
The two companies are collaborating on a drug-device combination called Iluvien, designed to treat diabetic macular edema. Last week Alimera raised $72 million in its IPO, selling 6.6 million shares at $11 each.
Echo Therapeutics Inc. (OTC:ECTE) and Ferndale Pharma Group Inc. enrolled the first patients in a clinical trial of Echo’s Prelude SkinPrep device and Ferndale’s 4 percent topical lidocaine, ahead of an application for 510(k) clearance for the drug-device combo from the Food & Drug Administration.
Franklin, Mass.-based Echo’s Prelude device is a needle-free, transdermal drug delivery system that ablates a thin layer of skin before a drug is applied.
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) is touting a study of a drug-device combination that it says helps slow the advance of a degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa.
The disease involves the gradual deterioration of the rods and cones that make up the retina. Symptoms begin with night blindness and progress over years or decades to tunnel vision and, often, total blindness. CEO Dr. Paul Ashton told MassDevice that the Watertown, Mass.-based company’s Durasert is inserted into the back of the eye, where it slowly releases a steroid called fluocinolone acetonide.
As MicroCHIPS Inc. prepares to leave the laboratory and enter clinical development, the company is bringing in a new CEO to replace outgoing co-founder John Santini.
The Bedford, Mass.-based drug delivery systems developer tapped Ajit Gill, the former CEO of Auspex Pharmaceuticals and Nektar Therapeutics, for its corner office. In addition to his duties as president and CEO, Gill will also sit on the company’s board of directors.
By Thomas Lee
There’s a fine line between the nose and the brain. Actually, it’s called the olfactory nerve, which researchers believe can serve as an ideal way to deliver drugs to the central nervous system.
White Bear Lake, Minn.-based start-up MedInvent LLC hopes to ride the strong initial sales of its NasoNeb drug delivery device for sinusitis sufferers to eventually target neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.
Isis Biopolymer Inc., a company developing a new generation of non-invasive drug delivery patches, has raised $3 million through an equity sale to existing investors.
The Providence, R.I.-based firm has developed the Isis Patch, a compact, wireless, active iontophoretic patch using a design that implements advances in microprocessors, thin film batteries, biopolymers and adhesives.
In a statement sent to MassDevice, CEO Emma Durand said the current round “clearly shows the confidence of the investment community in Isis Biopolymer and our innovative transdermal drug delivery and biosensor technology.”
