Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) is looking to bolster its position in the Parkinson’s disease market via a collaboration with Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) to develop a system to deliver drug therapies directly to the brain.
Drug-Device Combinations
Medtronic bankrolls drug-device trial for Nile Therapeutics heart failure treatment
pSivida and TechniScan drum up $10 million in private rounds
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) and TechniScan Inc. (OTC:TSNI) evidently wanted some privacy in their latest efforts to raise cash.
Watertown, Mass.-based pSivida, which develops ophthalmic drug-delivery devices, expects to net $9.9 million from an equity and warrant-based round involving a group of private investors, the company said today.
Surmodics accomodates Ramius with two new board members
SurModics Inc. (NSDQ:SRDX) named two board members put forth by its largest shareholder, New York-based investment firm Ramius LLC.
The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company said it named Ramius managing director Jeffrey Smith and Wheatley Partners partner Dr. David Dantzker to the board effective immediately.
FDA rejects Iluvien, pSivida-Alimera's drug-device eye treatment
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) partner Alimera Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:ALIM) received a rejection letter from the Food & Drug Administration for their drug-device combination Iluvien.
The two companies are developing the system to treat diabetic macular degeneration. The investigational drug delivery system is designed for sustained release of Iluvien with an intra-vitreal insert.
Pulmatrix lands $5.7 million grant from Uncle Sam
Pulmatrix Inc. landed a $5.7 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a drug/device combination aimed at protecting military personnel and civilians against biological weapons.
DARPA selected the Lexington, Mass.-based company as part of its “7-day Biodefense Initiative,” a project to develop inhaled therapeutics for respiratory infections caused by airborne agents.
Nonprofit takes risk out of device development for Medtronic
For companies like Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT), developing breakthrough technologies to treat untreatable diseases can be expensive and have little promise of financial returns.
The risk is high enough for — even companies as well-resourced as Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic — that alternative funding sources are welcomed and highly sought after.
pSivida's Q4 sales jump 388 percent
pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) sailed into the black with a 388 percent increase in revenues during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.
The Watertown, Mass.-based ophthalmic drug-delivery device maker posted net earnings of $13.1 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, on sales of $15.7 million during the three months ended June 30. That compares with a net loss of $534,000, or 3 cents per diluted share, on sales of $3.2 million during the same period last year.
Zogenix files for $90 million IPO
Zogenix Inc. is attempting to raise $90 million through an initial public offering.
The San Diego-based company said it plans utilize the new funds to help commercialize its Sumavel DosePro drug-device combination and the clinical advancement of its ZX002 drug in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.
FDA grants pSivida, Alimera expedited review for macular degeneration treatment
The Food & Drug Administration put pSivida Corp. (NSDQ:PSDV) and Alimera Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:ALIM) on the fast track, granting an expedited review for their drug/device combination designed to treat diabetic macular edema.
Watertown, Mass.-based pSivida and Alpharetta, Ga.-based Alimera filed a new drug application with the FDA in June for Iluvien, a sustained release drug delivery system that delivers flucocinolone acetonide, a steroid, for the treatment of DME.
