Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
Get this in your inbox everyday by subscribing to our newsletters.
5. Biostage unveils $5 million offering for organ regeneration tech
Organ regeneration specialist Biostage, formerly know as Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, announced that it will offer $5 million worth of common stock May 19 to fund its ongoing R&D efforts.
BSTG shares closed down -3.5% at $1.65 apiece yesterday on the news. Read more
4. Staar Surgical wins Health Canada nod as shares hit 52-week low
Implantable contact lens maker Staar Surgical said it earned Health Canada approval to sell its EVO Visian ICL in the country.
The device to correct myopia and astigmatism is permanently implanted between the iris and the eye’s natural lens. Staar sells 3 implantable lenses under its Visian franchise, but none are available in the U.S., according to the company’s website. Read more
3. BioVentrix touts 1st-in-human procedure for Revivent device
BioVentrix said it successfully implanted its micro-anchor Revivent device into a 64-year-old female patient suffering from heart failure symptoms following a heart attack.
The first-in-human test follows a similar successful procedure in a pre-clinical model last December. Researchers used Revivent in what it refers to as LIVE (less-invasive ventricular enhancement) a transcatheter-based procedure designed to reshape and reduce the size of the wall of the heart’s left ventricle. Read more
2. Mitralign drums up $40m Series E for heart valve repair devices
Mitralign said today that it raised a Series E round worth nearly $40 million for a pair of heart valve repair devices, its namesake Mitralign annuloplasty system and the Trialign device for tricuspid repair.
The Tewksbury, Mass.-based company said it plans to use some of the proceeds to pursue regulatory nods for the Trialign device in the U.S. and Europe. Some will also go toward getting the Mitralign device onto the European market, after CE Mark approval there in February, Mitralign said. Read more
1. Report: GE Healthcare CEO Flannery turns his eye from M&A to internal growth
GE Healthcare CEO John Flannery, who oversaw more than $26 billion in deals during his tenure as the conglomerate’s business development leader, is reportedly looking to a different playbook for growth at the healthcare business.
“When we look at the basic position of the company, we like the portfolio,” Flannery told BloombergTechnology. “So my mandate right now is to get the earnings growth going again, and there’s a lot to just better managing the portfolio we have, align it more with customers and outcomes, for a better margin rate.” Read more