The Texas Medical Center’s accelerator TMCx unveiled the members of its inaugural class: 22 healthIT companies in informatics, medical devices, and biomaterials.
TMC executives hosted a meet-and-greet Monday morning to introduce the startup founders to the media just before the six-month accelerator program begins. “Our job is to make you successful,” says Bobby Robbins, TMC’s CEO. “We think we have a distinctive advantage over other accelerators, sitting in the shadows of the largest medical center in the world.”
Vapogenix, a Houston biotech that aims to build a better treatment for skin pain, has completed a $5.1 million Series B funding round—and is already looking at raising additional capital later this year.
The B round was led by Switzerland-based Pamoja Capital and GPG Ventures in Dallas.
Vapogenix is developing a rapidly acting topical analgesic to numb the skin for IV insertions or dermatological procedures, especially those in children. The idea is that volatile anesthetics, which are currently inhaled by patients during general anesthesia, can be marshaled into topical gels and liquids to alleviate pain.
Paracetamol tablets are the world’s most commonly used painkillers. According to a recent study published in the British journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, prolonged use of the drug can have very harmful side effects. EurActiv France reports.
Drug developer Tricida said Wednesday that investors have pledged $30 million in Series B funding to push forward its effort to join the crowded market for chronic kidney disease treatments. The company has one potential advantage: Its founders have been there before.
t wasn’t long ago that the antibiotics landscape was barren of startups with fresh ideas. But government initiatives like the Generating Antibiotics Initiatives Now (GAIN) Act—and, of course, the increasing need to combat drug-resistant bugs—are slowly starting to change things. The latest example: Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, which was officially launched this morning with the backing of three large pharmaceutical firms.
The commonly found adenovirus poses little problem for healthy people, whose immune systems can fight the respiratory and gastrointestinal infections the virus can cause. But in bone marrow and organ transplant patients, adenovirus often becomes deadly. Their weakened immune systems can’t fight off the virus, which studies show can be fatal in up to 80 percent of such cases.
Clearside Biomedical, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class drug therapies to treat blinding diseases of the eye, today announced the enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 2 randomized, controlled, masked, multi-center clinical trial for the treatment of macular edema associated with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) using Clearside’s proprietary formulation of triamcinolone acetonide, CLS-TA, administered via suprachoroidal (SCS) injection using Clearside’s proprietary microinjector.
Uber, the poster child of the sharing economy, came out of nowhere and managed to overhaul the traditional taxi business in just a few short years. It now has a valuation of approximately $41 billion.
Now Wall Street is searching for the next industry that can be Uber-fied. There are rooms full of analysts in search of the next “sharing economy” juggernaut. And I’ll bet they’re not looking at health care — an industry that’s proven one of the most difficult to drag into the tech age.
But they could be missing something big. Recent movement from the U.S.’s biggest retailers into the primary care business indicates that health care might finally be in for some big disruption.
In a bid to provide quick, convenient access to care for common, easy-to-diagnose ailments, UW Medicine—the University of Washington’s healthcare organization—began an online virtual clinic in January using telemedicine services from Seattle-based Carena.
People in Washington can schedule a face-to-face visit with a doctor or nurse anytime of the day or night for help with minor illnesses and injuries, from acne to flu to warts. It costs $40 a visit, conducted via Web cam on a computer, smartphone or tablet usually within a half an hour of scheduling. The healthcare providers can write prescriptions for some medications.
Des médecins du Centre de cardiologie de Leipzig (Saxe) ont réalisé la première implantation de défibrillateur de nouvelle génération chez un patient atteint de troubles cardio-vasculaires.
