A Medical Device Daily

Palyon Medical (New York), a device company developing technologies for the treatment of chronic pain, spasticity and other neurological diseases, said it has secured a $21 million Series A financing round led by Baird Venture Parners.

The proceeds will be used to finance a multi-site clinical study and to commercialize Palyon's programmable implantable drug delivery system, which is designed to deliver targeted doses of pain medication directly to the spinal area, the company said.

Baird led the round, with Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, Fountain Healthcare Partners, BB Biotech Ventures, Cross Atlantic Partners and Arcus Ventures also participating in the transaction. Michael Liang of Baird Venture Partners will join the board of Palyon, along with representatives from other investors, the company noted.

According to Palyon, up to 20% of chronic pain patients do not respond to conventional medical management, such as oral medications and physical therapy, and may become candidates for interventional pain management therapies, such as its programmable implantable drug delivery system.

Arteriocyte (Cleveland) reported a $4.99 million award from the Ohio Third Frontier commission's research commercialization program. The award will be used to expand clinical applications for Arteriocyte's commercially available Magellan Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and bone marrow derived stem cell product "Stem-Prep" and will further the company's development of its NANEX stem cell expansion technology for Blood Pharming, Arteriocyte noted.

Arteriocyte's collaborators in the program include Cleveland Clinic, the Ohio State University (Columbus), the University of Toledo (Toledo, Ohio), Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland) and University Hospitals Case Medical Center (Cleveland). In addition, Arteriocyte said it is leveraging "world-renowned expertise" from the Johns-Hopkins University (Baltimore), Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Tufts University (Medford, Massachusetts), and the University of Utah (Salt Lake City) to enhance its Ohio-based development.

"Arteriocyte's award represents the best of what Ohio Third Frontier contributes to advancing commercialization of novel technologies here in Ohio," Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher said. "In less than four years Arteriocyte has grown from its first employee to twenty-four, transitioning from an innovative idea into a commercial stage company with significant and sustainable economic impact in Ohio."

The award will be used to broaden Arteriocyte's Magellan medical device platform, a rapid bedside stem cell and platelet concentration technology. The company is developing Magellan Stem-Prep to allow physicians to create a concentrated unit of therapeutic stem cells and platelets from a patient's own marrow in the operating room during a surgical procedure. Support from Ohio Third Frontier will enable Arteriocyte to execute multiple clinical trials focused on Magellan STtem-Prep in the treatment of critical limb ischemia and cardiac disease, and antibiotic-coupled Magellan PRP for the prevention of surgical site infections, the company noted.

Additionally, funding from Ohio Third Frontier will enable Arteriocyte to launch its clinical scale therapeutic stem cell expansion Nanex technology, which the company in-licensed from Johns Hopkins. Arteriocyte is transferring the manufacturing of Nanex into its Cleveland Research and Development Center and is developing the Nanex platform technology for use in Blood Pharming in both acute and chronic care transfusion settings.