Aquamer Medical Corp. is sinking away for good.
The tiny medical device company, unable to find a market for its injectable hydrogel products, is planning to merge with an online-search startup and will become Kwick Search Corp.
The change-over is expected to close by the end of the summer, CEO Marshall Sterman told MassDevice.
Although its holds the rights to several water-based bulking agents used to treat acid reflux, urinary problems and wrinkles, the Lawrence-based firm has largely been a company in name only since it was spun out as a publicly traded firm from Bellacasa Productions Inc. in 2007. Ultimately, its status as a public company became its most valuable asset, creating an inviting instrument for another company looking for speedy entry into the public markets through a reverse merger.
Sterman said the new company will retain its medical intellectual property with the intent of selling it to another firm.
“I’d be happy to talk with anybody who sees the potential in these products and would be willing to put some money behind them,” he told us.
Aquamer also owns the patent for an artificial kneecap made of hydrogel, which can used alone to replace a damaged patella or as part of a total knee replacement.