Travis Mickle’s work developing better drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is deeply personal – he has ADHD and so do his children. After receiving his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Iowa, Mickle went on to work at New River Pharmaceuticals, where he developed the leading treatment for ADHD, Vyvanse. Now he […]
Neurological
Medtech stories we missed this week: September 8, 2017
From BrainScope’s pediatric traumatic brain injury assessment device to EOS Imaging releasing new surgery planning software, here are seven medtech stories we missed this week but thought were still worth a mention. 1. BrainScope to develop pediatric traumatic brain injury assessment device BrainScope announced in a Sept. 7 press release that it will immediately start creating […]
Lyndra lands $105m deal with Allergan for once-weekly Alzheimer’s drugs
Boston-based startup Lyndra said today that it is partnering with pharma giant Allergan (NYSE:AGN) to develop orally administered, once-weekly products for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The collaboration will combine Allergan’s proprietary Alzheimer’s drugs with Lyndra’s sustained-release technology, which is designed to temporarily reside in the stomach for up to one week while delivering a drug. […]
Acorda shares plunge -30% after FDA refuses to review NDA
Shares in Acorda Therapeutics (NSDQ:ACOR) dropped nearly -30% today after the FDA told the company that the new drug application for its inhaled Parkinson’s disease treatment is incomplete. The FDA’s refusal to file letter surprised analysts. The note from the regulatory agency had to do with the date when the manufacturing site would be ready for […]
Titan wins FDA nod to study Parkinson’s implant
Titan Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:TTNP) said today that the FDA cleared the investigational new drug application for its ropinirole implant designed to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The Phase I/II trial, which is slated to enroll 20 patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, will transition patients taking oral ropinirole to Titan’s ropinirole implant for three months of treatment, […]
Novartis launches MS study using data collected from smartphones
Novartis (NYSE:NVS) said today that it is launching a research study to better understand the daily challenges facing people with multiple sclerosis. The study is designed to collect data from physical tasks and symptoms using participants’ smartphones. The company said it hopes to find new potential ways to measure treatment effectiveness. The elevateMS study, developed with […]
Alzeca Biosciences raises $11m for Alzheimer’s diagnostic imaging agent
Alzeca Biosciences said today that it raised $11 million in a Series A round to fund the development of its MRI imaging agent designed for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company touts its ADx nanoparticle as the first MRI contrast agent to target amyloid – a brain protein linked […]
MIT researchers developing device to pump drugs to the brain
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a pump to deliver drugs directly to the brain. Alejandro Aponte, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Puerto Rico, has spent his summer working with Michael Cima, a professor of engineering, as part of MIT’s Summer Scholars program. The team’s pump prototype is attached […]
Electrical fields can heal brain damage: Here’s how
Electrical fields can guide neural stem cells into a specific location to repair brain damage, according to new research from the University of California at Davis. Min Zhao, a researcher at UC Davis, studies how electric fields can guide wound healing. His previous research has shown that electric fields are able to attract cells into […]
Using robot assistance in neurosurgery for faster seizure mapping
Head shaved, a little boy rests on the operating table, deep under anesthesia. His parents have brought him to Boston Children’s Hospital in hopes of determining the cause of his seizures. Now, neurosurgeons Scellig Stone, MD, PhD, Joseph Madsen, MD, and their colleagues in the Epilepsy Center are performing a procedure designed to monitor seizure […]