InVivo Therapeutics Corp. named Christopher Pritchard as its chief science officer.
The MIT PhD joined the Cambridge, Mass.-based tissue regeneration developer in 2007 and served as its director of research & development. The early-stage medical device company is working on treatments for severe spinal cord injuries using stem cells with implantable polymers.
"Christopher is a rare breed of scientist in his understanding of both the scientific and business sides of our organization. When I met Chris he was seeking information for a loved one’s spinal cord injury, and when I mentioned we were hiring for our SCI team Chris was pumped," CEO Frank Reynolds said in prepared remarks.
Since joining InVivo, Pritchard has led InVivo‘s non-human primate studies.
In September 2009, the company filed suit against Oregon Health & Sciences University in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, accusing the university of breach of contract, breach of good faith, fraud, fraudulent inducement, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and unfair business practices. InVivo alleged the research facility failed to provide the agreed-upon number of primates for a second animal study and that complications following surgery to sever the monkeys’ spinal cords, which led to the euthanizing of four of the primates, were due to negligence on OHSU’s part. The failed study cost InVivo more than $500,000 and significantly derailed its plans, according to the company.
The two parties settled in January of this year for undisclosed terms.
InVivo has since resumed primate studies at St. Kitts Biomedical Research Facility in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the site of an initial primate study in 2007. The company also filed for an investigational device exemption from the Food & Drug Administration in December 2009, seeking to conduct human trials.