A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania (LSGPA; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) reported an investment of $500,000 in Apeliotus Vision Science (Atlanta), an early-stage company developing a simple, cost-effective tool for early diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is a progressive disease that affects the vision of more than 30 million people worldwide, yet there is currently no good means for early detection of the condition. Available methods are impractical for routine clinical testing because of the long turn-around time and high cost.

Apeliotus said it aims to change that with the AdaptDx, a technology developed by Dr. Greg Jackson of the Penn State College of Medicine (Hershey, Pennsylvania) and Dr. Cynthia Owsley at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

"In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 13 million people with some vision loss from AMD," said CEO John Edwards. "That translates into roughly one out of every six U.S. citizens over age 65, and the prevalence only rises as we age."

The AdaptDx measures the eye's ability to adapt to the dark. In an initial study the device detected the onset of AMD well before it became clinically evident, the company said. Researchers and investors hope that early detection, combined with therapy using currently available drugs, will prevent or slow vision loss. Similar in size, operation and cost to the instruments routinely used for glaucoma screening, the company said the AdaptDx test is completely non-invasive and takes less than 15 minutes.

The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania accelerates economic growth and life sciences technology commercialization through seed and pre-seed stage investments of up to $1 million in emerging life sciences companies.

In other financing news:

• Healthnostics (New York) said it has approved a reverse split of its Class A common stock at a ratio of 100-for-1, with a planned effectiveness by the end of the year. Each 100 shares of issued and outstanding common stock will be converted into one share of Class A common stock.

The company said the action is being taken "so that Healthnostics' stock price can return to a level more in line with the value of the company and to encourage greater interest in the stock by the investing community."

It also allows Healthnostics to increase shareholder value by capitalizing on and highlighting the continued growth and expansion of Global Medical Direct, in which Healthnostics has a major ownership interest.

Healthnostics is a medical and biotechnology analytics company. It provides comprehensive patient clinical monitoring and risk management systems to acute-care hospitals and utilizes its Internet portals to deliver medical and biotechnology resource information both to industry professionals and the public.

• MicroPhage (Longmont, Colorado) reported its latest round of financing, which brings total capital raised to $11 million. Investors in this round were a combination of existing and new investors, the company said. All funds to date have come from private investors.

MicroPhage said it would use the proceeds from this financing to complete the validation and launch preparation of its initial diagnostic products, which address the growing need for simple, rapid and highly accurate tests for hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA.