MedCity News

MedCity News » Northeast Ohio

MedCity News

Cleveland Clinic Innovations executive still dogged by Kansas controversy

February 8, 2012

An executive hired last year by Cleveland Clinic Innovations was faulted for destroying documents, misusing public funds for personal expenses and creating an uncomfortable work environment by having an office romance in his previous job at a Kansas economic development group, according to a recently released audit by the state of Kansas. However, the $960,000, 900-page [...]

MedCity News

Neurostimulation company Checkpoint raises $1.7M, looks to CE Mark

February 8, 2012

Neurostimulation company Checkpoint Surgical has raised a $1.7 million series B round of investment and expects to win European regulatory approval of its intraoperative device shortly. The Cleveland-area company will use the new funding to boost its U.S. sales and marketing staff, CEO Len Cosentino said. Checkpoint received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance to sell its [...]

MedCity News

Does $100M Cleveland Bio Fund have a future after CEO’s indictment?

February 8, 2012

The chief executive of what was touted as a $100 million investment fund aimed in part at Ohio medical device companies has been indicted for his alleged role in the failure of a suburban Cleveland credit union. The indictment of 43-year-old businessman Eddy Zai, who was charged with 34 counts related to more than $16 million [...]

MedCity News

STERIS System 1E sales continue to lag earlier projections

February 7, 2012

Sterilization products maker STERIS (NYSE:STE) reported that shipments of its System 1E sterilizer continue to fall below the company’s earlier projections. The Mentor, Ohio-based company now projects that it’ll ship 4,000 System 1E units in its fiscal 2012, which is scheduled to end on March 31, company executives said Tuesday in a conference call to discuss [...]

MedCity News

Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve pair up for brain injury research lab

February 6, 2012

Two Cleveland medical research hotshots are teaming up in the lucrative quest to prevent traumatic brain, neck and spine injuries and create new strategies for concussion recovery, diagnosis and prevention. The Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University will form the Cleveland Traumatic Neuromechanics Consortium, the institutions announced Friday, pairing the Clinic’s talent in medical research, [...]

MedCity News

Watch local 2012 Super Bowl ads from Cleveland Clinic, other hospitals

February 6, 2012

Healthcare was nowhere to be found between Budweiser and Clint Eastwood Super Bowl commercials. Instead, healthcare systems chose the local route for their 2012 Super Bowl advertising. If you were in California, Minnesota, Ohio, Virginia or other markets you saw local hospitals and healthcare Super Bowl ads. The Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. ran [...]

MedCity News

Invacare still negotiating with FDA over possible plant shutdown

February 2, 2012

Home health products supplier Invacare (NYSE:IVC) is still enmeshed in negotiations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over a possible shutdown of some wheelchair production at an Elyria, Ohio plant. In December, Invacare announced that the FDA had asked it to enter into a legal agreement that would require the company to suspend “certain” wheelchair [...]

MedCity News

Scheduling software company OnShift closes $3M series B round

February 2, 2012

Web-based staff scheduling company OnShift has closed a $3 million series B round of investment. MedCity News yesterday reported that OnShift had closed a round, but company officials declined to disclose the dollar amount at the time. The latest round was led by an unspecified client of West Capital Advisors, which comanages strategic venture funds on an [...]

MedCity News

Explorys ‘rocks Big Data’ at health IT recruiting event

February 2, 2012

It was a glimpse back into the halcyon days of the tech boom over a decade ago: a promising IT startup hosts a party at a large venue, the CEO’s band performs and the drinks and conversation flow freely. Except it was 2012 and Cleveland Clinic spinoff Explorys, the party’s host, is one of the leaders [...]

MedCity News

Scheduling software maker OnShift to close on new round of investment

February 1, 2012

Healthcare scheduling software developer OnShift will double down on a new state loan and expansion plans with a new round of private fund-raising. A regulatory document said the company has raised $4.5 million in equity, though the company says that number is inaccurate for the current round. OnShift is expected to formally announce its fund-raise on [...]

MedCity News

Athersys touts results of phase 1 blood diseases trial

February 1, 2012

Stem cell therapy developer Athersys (NASDAQ:ATHX) reported positive results from a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with leukemia and similar blood diseases. The trial showed that the company’s MultiStem technology may reduce the incidence and severity of graft-versus-host disease, according to a statement from Cleveland-based Athersys. Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) often occurs after a stem cell [...]

MedCity News

Stem cell company Athersys gets grant to study traumatic brain injury

February 1, 2012

Stem cell developer Athersys (NASDAQ:ATHX) has received $3.6 million in new grant funding, with one of the grants going toward studying its MultiStem technology for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. A $1.9 million grant to study traumatic brain injury (TBI) comes from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, according to a statement from [...]

MedCity News

Healthcare scheduling software firm OnShift gets state loan, plans new hires

February 1, 2012

Healthcare scheduling software developer OnShift has obtained a $512,000 loan from the state of Ohio that it’ll use to further develop its technology. Cleveland-based OnShift is planning various product enhancements, including boosting the software’s analytics and adding new capabilities for long-term care providers, CEO Mark Woodka said. “We’re still at an early stage of development, and having [...]

MedCity News

Cleveland Clinic’s Abu Dhabi hospital to open in fourth quarter of 2013

January 30, 2012

The property developers behind Cleveland Clinic‘s 364-bed hospital in Abu Dhabi project that the hospital will open to patients in the fourth quarter of 2013. The final phase of construction is due for completion and handover in the second quarter of 2013, with the opening scheduled for later in the year, according to a statement from [...]

MedCity News

Regenerative medicine company encouraged by heart failure trial

January 27, 2012

Regenerative medicine company Juventas Therapeutics is touting the results from 12-month data of a phase 1 clinical trial of heart failure patients. At 12 months, heart failure patients treated with the company’s stem cell therapy showed “significant” improvements in two key measures — a six-minute distance-walking test, as well as the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure [...]

MedCity News

Magnetic feeding tube company Syncro Medical raising more cash

January 27, 2012

A company that’s developed a magnetic feeding tube for critically ill patients has raised $250,000. Syncro Medical Innovations‘ fundraising was revealed in a regulatory document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The funding came in the form of debt from one investor. Syncro CEO Gary Wakeford didn’t return a call. The company sells two versions [...]

MedCity News

Simbionix aims to lead patient-specific surgery simulation market

January 26, 2012

Medical education company Simbionix is looking to become the industry leader in what could be the next generation of surgical simulation technology: patient-specific simulation. Patient-specific simulation refers to importing scans of a particular patient’s body, such as CTAs, into a simulator to allow a doctor to rehearse a near-exact replica of the operation he’ll conduct the [...]

MedCity News

MetroHealth lost $2.7M last year, expects $10M surplus in ’12

January 26, 2012

Public safety net hospital MetroHealth System lost $2.7 million last year, but hospitals officials are feeling optimistic about 2012 and are predicting a $10 million surplus. Recent trends have MetroHealth leaders feeling confident as they look toward the rest of this year: rising patient volume, a reduction in staffing expenses and an increase in outpatient services, [...]

MedCity News

Facing FDA scrutiny, Invacare moving some wheelchair production to Mexico

January 25, 2012

Invacare (NYSE:IVC) plans to move production of a line of manual wheelchairs to Mexico from Ohio, as the home health products company is in the midst of negotiating a legal settlement with the FDA over issues with wheelchair production in the Elyria, Ohio, plant. The Cleveland-area company will shift production of its Solara line of manual [...]

MedCity News

Simbionix acquires arthroscopic surgery simulation technology

January 25, 2012

Medical education company Simbionix has acquired for an undisclosed amount surgical simulation technology that helps doctors train for arthroscopic procedures. Simbionix’s acquisition of the Arthro VR product line from Spanish firm GMV will expand its customer reach among orthopedic surgeons, according to a statement from Cleveland- and Israel-based Simbionix. The arthroscopic simulators combine fiberglass limb replicas with [...]

MedCity News

Cleveland Clinic opens Saudi Arabia office to focus on medical education

January 23, 2012

Cleveland Clinic has opened a new office in Saudi Arabia, with the primary focus of its new location to be medical education and training. The office in the Saudi capital of Riyadh opened Sunday and employs three Clinic workers, Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said.

MedCity News

Cleveland Clinic cardiologists: You can die from a broken heart

January 20, 2012

Intense grief, such as what’s felt at the death of a spouse, can increase a person’s risk of developing cardiac problems that lead to death, according to a new article by two prominent Cleveland Clinic cardiologists. The article — “Can you really die of a broken heart?” — appears in Psychology Today and was penned by [...]

MedCity News

Latest Mobile MIM radiology app gets Canadian regulatory approval

January 19, 2012

Health IT firm MIM Software has obtained Canadian regulatory approval to begin marketing version 3.0 of its Mobile MIM radiology app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app is now cleared in Canada for diagnostic X-ray and ultrasound viewing, as well as radiation oncology treatment plan review and approval, according to a statement from [...]

MedCity News

How will Cleveland Clinic Innovations follow up its best-ever year?

January 19, 2012

2011 was likely the best ever for Cleveland Clinic Innovations in its more than a decade of existence. The Innovations group, which is charged with commercializing medical inventions by Clinic health providers, last year enjoyed its largest-ever exit, pulled in its biggest-ever donation, signed what was touted as a first-of-its-kind deal to provide commercialization services to [...]

MedCity News

Biotech company that makes omega-3 oils from algae raises $2.5M

January 18, 2012

A biotechnology startup that’s developed a manufacturing process for producing omega-3 fatty acids from algae has closed $2.5 million of an anticipated $5 million series A round. Two AlgiSys executives — CEO Michael LoPresti and chief technology officer Charles Roe — confirmed the funding but were hesitant to reveal much more because the round is still [...]