Oncologix Tech, of Suwanee, GA, has suffered a setback in the development of its lead product, a radiation device for treating soft-tissue cancers. Recent testing has revealed that Oncologix’s Oncosphere System is releasing radiation at a higher rate than anticipated, a discovery that the company estimates will add $1 million to its projected development costs. The Oncosphere System is based on radioactive microparticles designed to deliver therapeutic radiation directly to a tumor site by introducing the microparticles into the artery that feeds the tumor tissue. What was uncovered in recent tests is something called “leaching,” which refers to the amount…
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Diamics, a Novato, CA-based company that develops molecular-based cancer screening and diagnostic systems, has secured a $6 million equity investment from Inverness Medical Innovations. The deal gives Inverness, a leading diagnostics company specializing in women’s health, 51% of the privately held firm. Under the terms of the agreement, Inverness will help drive commercialization of Diamics’ products. It will provide strategic and hands-on assistance with assay development, product design, and manufacturing and distribution. Diamics is developing products to improve the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening and to make the procedure less painful. Its FDA-cleared CerCol Cervical Cancer Collection System collects cellular…
Cartesia Dx, a Pittsburgh-based company whose technology uses three-dimensional and thermal images to spot inflammation, is the latest startup to receive backing from a local life sciences support group. Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), an organization that invests in emerging life sciences companies in Southwestern Pennsylvania, has invested $180,000 in Cartesia Dx, to support development and testing of a prototype for its Arthritis Imager device. Unlike other imaging modalities, such as x-ray and MRI, the Arthritis Imager can be used in an office setting and, according to the company, poses no radiation risk and can be performed in minutes. A…
Novocell, a stem cell engineering company based in San Diego, has raised $25 million in a Series C round. Led by Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation — with participation from existing investors Sanderling Ventures, Asset Management Company and Pacific Horizon Venture — the financing will support the company’s three platform technologies, all of which are targeted at treating chronic cellular diseases. Through human embryonic stem cell (hESC) engineering, Novocell seeks to generate an essentially unlimited supply of therapeutic cell types. The company has developed a process to efficiently convert hESC into insulin-producing pancreatic endocrine cells, a potentially effective treatment for…
PreMD, a Toronto-based company that makes heart-disease and cancer screening tests, has signed a licensing agreement with big pharma for what’s being touted as the world’s first test to use skin cholesterol to assess heart-disease risk. In exchange for an upfront payment of $500,000 and additional milestone payments of up to $6 million, PreMD is turning over U.S. marketing and distribution rights for the test, called PREVU, to AstraZeneca. PreMD will retain rights to future applications of the technology under the PREVU brand, and to promote PREVU to the life-insurance industry; AstraZeneca will exclusively market to healthcare professionals. In addition…
Oncologix Tech, a former long-distance phone company that in January sold off its primary assets to focus exclusively on its medical device subsidiary, has taken steps to further its commitment to the sector. For starters, it’s moving closer to the scientists and engineers working on its devices. The corporate offices will be moved from Grand Rapids, MI, to suburban Atlanta, in Suwanee, GA. That’s where the company’s R&D facility is, where development is taking place on Oncologix’s lead product, the Oncosphere System. The Oncosphere System is a radiation therapy device being developed for the treatment of soft-tissue cancers. It is…
Fortune Small Business is out with its annual FSB 100, a list of the most successful small public companies in the U.S. Almost a quarter of the list (21 companies) is made up of healthcare-related enterprises. Here’s a look at who made the cut and what makes them worthy: Palomar Medical Technologies, ranked number 8, is a Burlington, MA-based firm that makes pulsed light and laser systems for aesthetic applications such as permanent hair reduction, leg veins, acne, pigmented lesion removal, wrinkle reduction, vascular treatments and tattoo removal. Somanetics (13), of Troy, MI, makes the INVOS Cerebral Oximeter, a non-invasive…
CivaTech Oncology, a startup based in Research Triangle Park, NC, that’s developing a device for delivering more consistent radiation to prostate-cancer patients, has raised $800,000 in an oversubscribed private financing. The funding demonstrates angel investors’ confidence in the firm’s technology, which puts a new twist on brachytherapy. Typically, brachytherapy, a type of radiation treatment for cancer that utilizes implanted radioactive sources to kill tumor cells, surgically implants “seeds.” CivaTech Oncology’s new device will replace these individual seeds with a “radioactive string,” which the company believes should provide more uniform and consistent radiation delivery. CivaTech is starting with prostate cancer, but…