We saw headlines from health IT firms and drug developers in New England this week.
—Cambridge, MA-based drug developer Stromedix is looking to kick off a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, and has attracted some debt-based financing to cover the costs, Ryan wrote. CEO Michael Gilman says the firm has also gotten interest from potential pharmaceutical partners for the drug, STX-100, a treatment for the lung disorder idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
—Alexandra Drane, founder and president of Beverly, MA-based health IT firm Eliza, teamed up with Google chief health strategist Roni Zeiger to launch a website called Seduce Health for discussing hot health topics in a more provocative way. They’re looking to YouTube clips featuring high profile people in the healthcare field to help inspire people to make healthier decisions.
—Lebanon, NH-based stealth mode biotech startup Arsanis raised $9.6 million in equity-based funding, according to an SEC filing. The firm has Tillman Gerngross, CEO and co-founder of Lebanon-based antibody discovery firm Adimab, as a director and executive. The filing also lists Adimab backers from Polaris Venture Partners, SV Life Sciences, and OrbiMed Advisors as members of the Arsanis board of directors.
—Todd Park, the chief technology officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took the stage as keynote speaker at our Xconomy Xchange on the future of health IT in Cambridge on Wednesday night. He also sat on a panel with other veteran health IT investors and execs.
—Luke took a look at the work Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), a Thousand Oaks, CA based firm with significant R&D operations in Cambridge, is doing on a drug follow up its hit antibody drug for bone disorders, denosumab. If the new treatment, AMG785, succeeds in clinical trials, Amgen could snap up a bigger share of the more than $9 billion osteoporosis market.
