A Medical Device Daily

Imalux (Cleveland), developer of the Niris Imaging System based on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technology, reported the receipt of a Fast-Track research grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, Maryland). The award of up to $2.3 million is to fund Imalux’s accelerated development of video rate OCT for early stage cancer visualization.

The Phase 1 funding of the grant in the amount of $322,000 is in place for the first year of the project. Assuming satisfactory achievement of the Phase 1 requirements, Fast-Track Phase 2 funding of $2 million will be available to continue the project for two years.

Bill Sanford, Imalux CEO and chairman, said, “The new funding, combined with our recent successful equity financing, will enable Imalux to accelerate our planned product development activities.

He added, “Bladder cancer is the fifth most expensive cancer in the U.S., accounting for over $5 billion in direct medical costs annually. Because of the prevalence of bladder cancer and its known high rate of recurrence and progression, it is one of our specific target applications that will benefit from the development and commercialization of improved diagnostic and surveillance capabilities.”

In contract news, Aetna (Plantation, Florida) reported that it has reached agreement on a contract with Martin Memorial Medical Center and Martin Memorial Hospital South (both Stuart, Florida), expanding its HMO network in Martin County. Both facilities already participate in Aetna’s PPO network.

Under the agreement, which took effect Nov. 1, members of Aetna’s HMO plans will be able to receive covered in-patient and outpatient services at in-network rates from the two facilities.

Ruth Fricke, Aetna’s head of network operations for Florida, said, “We’ve enjoyed a strong relationship with the Martin Memorial facilities on the PPO side of our business. Now, as we look to grow our HMO presence in Martin County, we’re gratified Martin Memorial will be part of our network.”

Aetna provides health benefits to nearly 330,000 members in South Florida. Those members have access to a contracted network of 54 hospitals, 2,000 primary care physicians and 4,100 specialists.

“We feel this new agreement will be extremely beneficial to residents of the Treasure Coast,” said Mark Cocorullo, senior vice president and CFO of Martin Memorial Health Systems. “The contract will allow us to continue providing the best possible care to members of our community who utilize Aetna.”

Martin Memorial Health Systems is a not-for-profit, community-based health care organization.