Neurostimulation pain-relief device company SPR Therapeutics has been approved for a $900,000 loan from the state of Ohio.The financing comes after Cleveland-area SPR earlier this year raised a $2.2 million series A round and announced that it was on the hunt for strategic partnerships that could range from licensing deals to outright acquisition.A representative of [...]

Maybe Cleveland’s chief rival in the medical mart competition is stronger than previously thought.The Nashville Medical Trade Center announced its biggest tenant yet, an 80,000-square foot multi-vendor showroom that will feature RFID (radio frequency identification) and RTLS (real-time locating systems) technologies in healthcare.Multiple companies associated with the RFID in Healthcare Consortium, a trade group, are [...]

The medical imaging industry, or at least its leading trade group, would have us believe it’s “unsettling” that pricey medical imaging procedures like CT scans and MRIs are on the decline.To the contrary, it’s a welcome and somewhat rare sign that the U.S. health industry is actually getting something right, and that profits and the [...]

It isn’t easy to get profit-hungry Wall Street excited about a drug that hasn’t yet been tested in humans and is at best years and years away from generating any sales, but Athersys (NASDAQ:ATHX) CEO Gil Van Bokkelen did his best in a recent conference call with investment analysts.That’s because there are recent signs that [...]

Fresh off receiving the CE Mark for its cervical spinal disc replacement device, AxioMed Spine has added $5 million to its series D round of investment.The latest funding tranche brings Cleveland-area AxioMed’s series D round to $20 million, chief financial officer Jerry Baty said.European regulatory approval for AxioMed’s cervical disc complements the CE Mark for [...]

Federal grants can be a lifeline that allows life sciences startups to refine their technologies before they commercialize, but the nondilutive government funding can be hard to get.The success rate for companies seeking grants through the government’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs hovers between 11 percent and 15 percent, according [...]

It’s a pretty safe bet that you’d be happy if someone agreed to pay you more to do the same thing you’ve already been doing.So, surely primary care doctors can appreciate one provision of the federal health reform law that bumps Medicaid rates for primary care up to the same level as Medicare rates, right? [...]

Surgical sponge detection company ClearCount Medical Solutions has raised $1.5 million, according to a regulatory filing.Pittsburgh-based ClearCount has been quiet on the fundraising front since August 2010, when it announced a $5 million series B round of investment led by Draper Triangle Ventures.ClearCount Medical has developed the SmartSponge and SmartWand systems, which use radio-frequency identification [...]

Drugs that mimic beneficial bacteria found in the human gut, implantable and incisionless weight loss devices and stem cells that restore pancreatic function.If the world is going to make a dent in the diabetes epidemic, it’ll require innovative approaches like those mentioned above – and more.Solutions to the “whole body” problem of diabetes are coming [...]

A health coaching startup founded by Cleveland Clinic wellness chief Dr. Michael Roizen and TV star Dr. Mehmet Oz has raised $1.6 million, according to a regulatory document.MedCity News reported in March that Enforcer eCoaching was aiming to raise $3 million in investment funding. A subsequent regulatory filing revealed that the company has raised $1.6 [...]