Yearly Archives: 2017

MolecularMD obtains FDA Authorization for the MRDx® BCR-ABL Test as a Companion Diagnostic for Treatment-Free Remission in Ph+ CML-CP Patients Treated with Tasigna

SOURCE: MolecularMD

Portland, Oregon and Cambridge, Massachusetts – December 22, 2017

MolecularMD Corporation, a  diagnostics company that enables the development and commercialization of precision medicines in oncology, announced today the FDA authorization of the MRDx^® BCR-ABL Test as a companion diagnostic. The MRDx Test is indicated as an aid in identifying Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients in the chronic phase being treated with Tasigna^®* (nilotinib) capsules who may be candidates for treatment discontinuation and for monitoring of treatment-free remission (TFR).

TFR is the ability for eligible patients to sustain major molecular response (MMR) or deep molecular response (DMR) after discontinuing Tasigna, an FDA-approved BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)¹. These patients no longer take daily oral therapy but continue to be actively managed through frequently-scheduled monitoring of molecular response with the MRDx BCR-ABL Test.

The TFR data in the Tasigna label approved by the FDA includes the use of the MolecularMD MRDx BCR-ABL Test in the ENESTfreedom and ENESTop clinical studies. These trials evaluated the potential to maintain deep molecular response (DMR) after stopping Tasigna therapy among eligible patients 18 years of age or older with Ph+ CML-CP. The trials demonstrated that nearly half of the Ph+ CML-CP patients who discontinued Tasigna remained in TFR nearly two years after stopping treatment. Among patients who did lose molecular response during the TFR phase of the trials, nearly all regained MMR when Tasigna therapy was promptly reinitiated¹.

Now that the  inclusion of TFR data has been approved for Tasigna under priority review within first-line and second-line settings, discontinuation of daily oral therapy with Tasigna is a new option for physicians and their patients.  “This is a major advancement in CML treatment practice. The Tasigna label update represents a new milestone, which may significantly impact thousands of patients,” reflected Dan Snyder, CEO of MolecularMD.  “The FDA authorized MRDx BCR-ABL Test ensures that physicians have the information needed to identify  patients that meet the stringent eligibility criteria to attempt TFR and provides the robust sensitivity and accuracy necessary for monitoring minimal residual disease with confidence.”

Experts from The National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®) have published treatment guidelines for physicians who treat CML². These treatment guidelines suggest the best practice for cancer care, including criteria to select patients suitable for a TFR attempt. The duration of a molecular response is viewed as one of several critical aspects to patient management¹. MolecularMD’s MRDx Test is the only test authorized by the FDA for monitoring deep molecular response for TFR patients as a result of the analytical and clinical validation data demonstrated in the ENESTfreedom and ENESTop clinical studies¹.

MolecularMD is the exclusive manufacturer of the MRDx BCR-ABL Test and intends to provide  the companion diagnostic kit to reference laboratories that support their clinicians practicing TFR. MolecularMD has also received CE Marking for the MRDx Test, making it broadly accessible to clinicians and CML patients.

*Tasigna is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.

References:

1. Tasigna (nilotinib) Prescribing Information. East Hanover, New Jersey, USA: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; December 2017.

2. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines). CML. Version 1.2018

Fast-growing Tampa digital firm snares $4 million local venture investment

Ballast Point Ventures has invested in Symphonic Distribution Inc.

The $4 million is the first outside capital invested in Symphonic, based in Tampa and one of the largest independent music companies in the industry.

Symphonic, which partners with Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and others, provides new and established record labels and individual musicians with digital music distribution tools that allow content creators to quickly and cost effectively distribute their music to major music consumption platforms.

Full Article: Tampa Bay Business Journal

Ballast Point Ventures Announces Successful Exit From TicketBiscuit

Tampa, FL – October 30, 2017

Ballast Point Ventures III, LP (“BPV”) is pleased to announce that it has successfully exited its growth equity investment in TicketBiscuit, a Birmingham-based online ticketing and event platform, through an acquisition by eTix. BPV invested in TicketBiscuit to help the Company grow its salesforce, bolster marketing efforts, and develop additional technology products.

Founded in 2001 by Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Gale, TicketBiscuit has a rich history of pioneering innovations in online ticketing, including mobile ticketing, seatPOWER® high-demand reserved seating, and Share and Tear® scanner-free admission control. TicketBiscuit provides a suite of ticketing software and services to music venues, comedy clubs, festivals, event centers and many other attractive niche vertical markets across the country, and experienced strong organic growth in these markets during BPV’s investment period.

Robert Faber, a Partner with BPV, served on TicketBiscuit’s board of directors prior to the acquisition. He remarked, “We are pleased to have partnered with the outstanding management team at TicketBiscuit and appreciate their excellent work in creating substantial value for all the shareholders. TicketBiscuit fits the profile of the type of well-managed, rapidly growing firms in the Southeast with which Ballast Point Ventures seeks to partner.  In addition, we were pleased to be a part of helping to build a successful company in the burgeoning Birmingham technology community where our firm has deep ties and interest.”

“Our team has worked relentlessly to build and support cutting edge technology and provide the best ticketing experience on the planet, and we are pleased to see that hard work pay off in a compelling combination with eTix” said Jeff Gale, Founder and CEO of TicketBiscuit. He continued, “Ballast Point Ventures was a great partner for us at our stage of development, and we greatly enjoyed working with Robert and the team at BPV.”

About TicketBiscuit
Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, TicketBiscuit provides proprietary software that powers the online ticket sales of over 2,000 clients and partners across North America and around the world. TicketBiscuit’s complete suite of services and solutions empowers clients to sell tickets online through mobile optimized websites, telephone call center, and the TicketBiscuit web-based box office interface.  For more information on TicketBiscuit, please visit http://www.ticketbiscuit.com

About BPV
Ballast Point Ventures, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a later stage venture capital and growth equity firm founded in 2002 to provide expansion capital for rapidly growing, privately owned companies, with a particular emphasis on companies located in the Southeast and Texas.  The BPV partners have more than 80 years of combined experience investing in and building high-growth companies in several industries, including health care, software, technology-enabled business services, communications, and consumer.  BPV has $360 million under management and seeks to make initial equity investments ranging in size from $4 million to $10 million. For more information on Ballast Point Ventures, please visit http://ballastpointventures.com/

MeYou Health Names New CEO, Raises New Capital, and Enters a New Market

SOURCE: PRWEB

With a new CEO and additional equity financing to optimize wellness program delivery for small and midsize employers, MeYou Health is ready to become the first provider of a wellness software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution in the SMB market.

Boston, MA. (PRWEB) September 27, 2017

MeYou Health (MYH) today announced that Trapper Markelz, current President and Chief Operations Officer, has been named Chief Executive Officer of the Company. MYH has also secured additional equity financing from Ballast Point Ventures and other current investors to accelerate the Company’s efforts to optimize wellness program delivery for small and midsize employers. Both announcements are part of a major initiative by MYH to take its highly automated white-label platform for health plans and layer on a fully self-service customer interface to enable the Company to become the first provider of a wellness software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution in the SMB market.

Mr. Markelz, 40, began his career at MYH in 2009 as Head of Product, and in 2015 assumed the role of General Manager. He was named President and Chief Operating Officer in 2016 after MeYou Health was spun out from its former parent company, and he has been instrumental in building and scaling sales operations, account management, implementation, B2B marketing, and automated digital enrollment marketing.

Matt Rice, a partner with Ballast Point Ventures and Chairman of the MYH Board of Directors, says, “Trapper is the ideal person to lead the talented team at MeYou Health, as his vision, judgment, and leadership have been crucial to the Company’s success over the years. MYH’s move into the HR SaaS market has momentum, and we are excited to fund additional growth.”

“I’m very excited by this opportunity and see it as a great honor to lead this Company,” says Mr. Markelz. “Over the last eight years, our team has learned enormously from our work with hundreds of employers, both large and small. MeYou Health has always been a software company, and now we can use that software expertise to deliver a market-leading, fully automated solution.”

MeYou Health provides a full-feature, turn-key wellness suite optimized for small and midsize businesses. Designed for digital delivery, MeYou Health’s platform was built from the ground up to give employers a social, engaging, and effective alternative to traditional wellness programming. With industry-leading engagement and multiple clinical trials demonstrating impact, MeYou Health’s programs deliver measurable results to even the smallest organization. Founded in 2009 and based in Boston, MA, MeYou Health is made up of talented people from healthcare, engineering, design, and research backgrounds, all dedicated to helping employers improve their employees’ health and well-being.

MolecularMD Announces Partnership with Indica Labs

SOURCE: StockGuru.com

PORTLAND, Ore. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MolecularMD, a provider of molecular and tissue-based clinical trial assays and diagnostics for oncology based drug development programs, has announced a partnership agreement with Indica Labs, a leader in digital pathology imaging tools and services.

The collaboration between the companies leverages MolecularMD’s diagnostic clinical testing solutions with Indica Labs’ digital biomarker analysis services to enable an efficient transition of pre-clinical research to the diagnostic setting and deployment of advanced image analysis workflows. Mindful that many of its clients are using Indica Labs’ products and services, MolecularMD envisions the partnership will facilitate seamless transition of image analysis methods to the clinical trial setting for accelerated drug development programs.

“Indica Labs’ HALO^TM image analysis software and the HALO Link^TM image management system provides advanced image analysis capabilities in a global collaborative environment,” said Doug Bowman, Vice President of Pharma Services at Indica Labs.  “This agreement will allow our clients to take advantage of MolecularMD’s capabilities, and MolecularMD’s clients to develop quantitative assays to better understand biomarker expression levels and spatial relationships relative to the tissue microenvironment.”

“The agreement will provide our clients with integrated genomic and phenotypic biomarker analyses that are crucial for accurate and effective patient stratification,” said Dan Snyder, President and Chief Executive Officer at MolecularMD.

“Indica Labs fills our clients’ needs for digital biomarker analysis and enhances our proposition to immuno-oncology development programs. These capabilities will provide unique advantages and accelerate pipeline decisions. The use of advanced algorithms for IHC data interpretation holds the possibility of improved patient outcomes,” said Snyder.

Indica Labs will attend the Pathology Visions 2017 Conference; which brings together the luminaries and key opinion leaders in digital pathology. More information about the partnership can be found at the Indica Labs Booth #7. Pathology Visions 2017 will be held from October 1-3, 2017 in San Diego at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. For more information about Pathology Visions 2017, click here.

About MolecularMD
MolecularMD Corporation develops and commercializes specialty molecular diagnostics for oncology applications. Its tests are designed to allow appropriate selection, monitoring and management of patients treated with molecularly-targeted cancer therapies. MolecularMD integrates gold standard and innovative platform technologies with custom clinical assay design and validation to accelerate all phases of clinical development, including FDA approval and commercialization of in vitro companion diagnostic tests for novel anticancer agents. A private company based in Portland, Oregon, MolecularMD was founded by Dr. Brian Druker, director of the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, and Sheridan G. Snyder, entrepreneur and founder of Genzyme Corporation.  Learn more at www.molecularmd.com

Contact Information:
Fritz Eibel, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer
feibel@molecularmd.com

About Indica Labs
Indica Labs is the first company to offer tissue specific and application specific image analysis algorithms in a truly integrated digital pathology environment. Pharmaceutical, healthcare, and research organizations worldwide utilize Indica tools for high-throughput, whole-slide image quantification in areas such as neuroscience, metabolism, oncology, toxicological pathology, and more. Learn more at www.indicalab.com

Contact information:
Douglas Bowman, VP of Pharma Services
dbowman@indicalab.com

TissueTech, Inc. Names John Arnott, Industry Executive, to Board of Directors

SOURCE: TissueTech, Inc.

Arnott brings experience in a wide range of global healthcare

MIAMI – August 3, 2017 – TissueTech Inc. announced today that it has named John Arnott to its Board of Directors. Mr. Arnott was most recently Operating Partner and Executive Chairman of multiple portfolio companies for The Riverside Company, one of largest and oldest global private equity firms.

Mr. Arnott’s career in healthcare dates back four decades and he has an extensive background in corporate, private equity, international, regional and country operating environments, including senior positions with Idex Corporation, Alpine Biomed, Sierra Scientific, Hospira and Abbott Laboratories.

“Given John’s long and accomplished career, we feel he will be a strong addition to our board as we maintain our status as the leading experts in the scientific understanding and innovative clinical application of umbilical cord and amniotic tissue in regenerative medicine,” said Amy Tseng, Chief Executive Officer of TissueTech. “Just recently, TissueTech surpassed 300,000 human implants performed by clinicians. That milestone demonstrates that we’ve been increasingly successful in finding new and important arenas where regenerative therapy offers the potential to address underserved and unmet clinical needs and improve patients’ lives. The addition of John further strengthens our board due to his experience across a number of healthcare sectors with large global organizations.”

Mr. Arnott’s career launched in 1977 when he began work for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, ultimately serving as Chief Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer for the Welsh National Blood Transfusion Service. From 1990 to 2003, he held several executive positions at Abbott Laboratories, including Vice President and Regional Director of European Operations and corporate Vice President of the Hospital Products Division. Before joining Riverside, he served as Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of Alpine Biomed, Executive Chairman of Sierra Scientific and President of Idex Health & Science LLC.

“TissueTech continues to pioneer the clinical application of the regenerative properties of human umbilical cord and amniotic membrane,” Arnott said. “Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in the development and commercialization of some of the world’s most innovative medical products. I look forward to bringing that experience to an organization that is committed to advancing the practice of medicine with continued innovation in regenerative medicine.”

About TissueTech, Inc.

TissueTech, Inc., the parent company of Amniox Medical, Inc. and Bio-Tissue, Inc., pioneered the development and clinical application of regenerative, amniotic tissue-based products. Amniox Medical markets products for use in the musculoskeletal and wound care markets; Bio-Tissue markets products for the ophthalmology and optometry markets. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported TissueTech’s research with more than 30 continuous years of research grants. Since the company’s inception, clinicians have performed more than 300,000 human implants of the company’s products and published more than 300 peer-reviewed studies supporting its technology platform. The company’s first product, AmnioGraft®, is the only tissue graft designated by the FDA as homologous for promoting ophthalmic wound healing while suppressing scarring and inflammation.

Media Contact: Chris Gale, cgale@greentarget.com

TissueTech, Inc. Names Dr. Herbert B. Slade as Chief Medical Officer

SOURCE: TissueTech, Inc.

MIAMI – August 1, 2017 – TissueTech, Inc. announced today that Herbert B. Slade, MD, has been named the company’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Slade, who will lead the execution of TissueTech’s clinical research strategies and be the primary liaison for medical affairs, has more than 25 years of healthcare industry-based experience, most recently at Smith & Nephew plc, where he was CMO and Senior Vice President of Research and Development for the wound care division.

Dr. Slade’s previous research background includes prestigious work with Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. Dr. Salk recruited Dr. Slade from academia to develop an HIV therapeutic vaccine joint venture, where Dr. Slade held the position of Director of AIDS and Immunology at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer.

Dr. Slade later became CMO of 3M Pharmaceuticals for 12 years. Following that appointment, he joined DFB Pharmaceuticals, serving as CMO for Healthpoint Biotherapeutics. After Healthpoint was acquired by Smith & Nephew in 2012, Slade’s role expanded to include their wound care division.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I join the TissueTech executive team. As the first company to commercialize amniotic membrane based technologies for clinical use, it is a pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine,” said Dr. Slade. “The company has an innovative vision for the future development of this platform technology, and I know that my experience in clinical development can be an asset to support the company in achieving those objectives.”

Dr. Slade received his undergraduate degree in biology from Hamilton College and his M.D. from State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.

“In addition to being a dual board-certified subspecialist in pediatrics and clinical immunology, Dr. Slade has played pivotal roles in key medical research for a number of reputable companies,” said Amy Tseng, Chief Executive Officer of TissueTech. “As our company continues to grow – we recently achieved the milestone of 300,000 human implants performed by clinicians –an individual with the credentials and knowledge that Dr. Slade provides necessary support for our mission to continue to provide clinicians with advanced regenerative medicine therapies that improve patients’ lives.”

About TissueTech, Inc.

TissueTech, Inc., the parent company of Amniox Medical, Inc. and Bio-Tissue, Inc., pioneered the development and clinical application of regenerative, amniotic tissue-based products. Amniox Medical markets products for use in the musculoskeletal and wound care markets; Bio-Tissue markets products for the ophthalmology and optometry markets. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported TissueTech’s research with more than 30 continuous years of research grants. Since the company’s inception, clinicians have performed more than 300,000 human implants of the company’s products and published more than 300 peer-reviewed studies supporting its technology platform. The company’s first product, AmnioGraft®, is the only tissue graft designated by the FDA as homologous for promoting ophthalmic wound healing while suppressing scarring and inflammation.

Media Contact: Chris Gale, cgale@greentarget.com

Interested, dedicated, fascinated by the job

Today marks the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing and the first steps by humanity on another world.  In honor of the man who took those first steps, we’d like to reprint the 8/28/12 piece we wrote on the occasion of his passing. 

~~~

Astronaut Neil Armstrong passed away Saturday, and The Wall Street Journal reported something the pioneer once said about the success of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission – the odds of which he had placed at 50/50.

Mr. Armstrong described the required reliability of each component used in an Apollo mission – statistically speaking 0.99996, a mere 4 failures per 100,000 operations – and pointed out that such reliability would still yield roughly 1000 separate identifiable failures per flight.   In reality, though, they experienced only 150 per flight.  What explained the dramatic difference?

I can only attribute that to the fact that every guy in the project, every guy at the bench building something, every assembler, every inspector, every guy that’s setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, “If anything goes wrong here, it’s not going to be my fault, because my part is going to be better than I have to make it.” And when you have hundreds of thousands of people all doing their job a little better than they have to, you get an improvement in performance. And that’s the only reason we could have pulled this whole thing off. . . .

When I was working here at the Johnson Space Center, then the Manned Spacecraft Center, you could stand across the street and you could not tell when quitting time was, because people didn’t leave at quitting time in those days. People just worked, and they worked until whatever their job was done, and if they had to be there until five o’clock or seven o’clock or nine-thirty or whatever it was, they were just there. They did it, and then they went home. So four o’clock or four-thirty, whenever the bell rings, you didn’t see anybody leaving. Everybody was still working.

The way that happens and the way that made it different from other sectors of the government to which some people are sometimes properly critical is that this was a project in which everybody involved was, one, interested, two, dedicated, and, three, fascinated by the job they were doing. And whenever you have those ingredients, whether it be government or private industry or a retail store, you’re going to win.

Exhausted unshaven and lovin’ it

Interested, dedicated, fascinated by the job – Armstrong’s explanation could serve as an excellent description of the esprit de corps we find in good private growth companies.  Not too long ago we quoted Ben Dyer, president of Techdrawl, about how entrepreneurs need to inspire all the members of their team to share the founder’s drive in the early stages of a company:

All those textbook methods of performance reviews, pay incentives, etc. will come in handy when you get to the 50th or 100th employee, but right now you’ve got to be the one out front – with inexhaustible energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and a clearly articulated vision.

In a bit of serendipity we stumbled on this related post, from Richard Martin, which makes an interesting distinction between esprit de corps and teamwork:

Cohesion and esprit de corps are even more intangible. Where teamwork is built on the willingness of individual team members to subsume their own interests in favor of group interests, esprit de corps is built upon the willingness to sacrifice oneself, if needed, for the interests of the group. This is a level of commitment that few organizations in business achieve.

Mr. Armstrong described himself (with characteristic humility) as:  “I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer.”  Perhaps that, and a bit more, Sir.  Godspeed.

89 years worth of “the greatest thing since sliced bread”

On this day in 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, MO, sold mechanically sliced bread for the first time in the history of the universe.  This gives us a great opportunity, on a Friday, to re-post a Greatest Hit from our Vintage Future Series – originally published on November 13, 2014:

Our Vintage Future series takes a tongue-in-cheek look back at the failed predictions of past generations of investors and futurists, and the sometimes tortuous routes to success of unlikely ideas.

In our line of work it’s good to guard against the hubris inherent in projecting conventional wisdom too far out into the future, and to remind ourselves that today’s trend can be tomorrow’s punchline – and vice versa.

Our VIIth installment takes a look at “the greatest thing” ever invented and a simple innovation that dramatically altered how we see the world.

Grok this:  Betty White is older than sliced bread!

Even sliced bread took 18 years to succeed.  Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a jeweler from Missouri, built his prototype “Machine for slicing an entire loaf of bread at a single location” in 1912 but saw it destroyed in a fire.  15 years later he filed his patent, but the end product languished due to its untidy appearance and concerns about freshness.  One year later a St. Louis baker named Gustav Papendick put it in cardboard trays and wrapped it in wax paper, yet even then it didn’t take off until it helped a little company called Wonder Bread go national in 1930.

Except for a brief ban during WWII (the steel used to build the slicers had more pressing uses), sliced bread grew quickly and became a platform on which others could dream and build – in this case new types of spreads and jams.

Sometimes a simple idea – like digging ditches – can change the world.  Before most cables ran underground, all electrical, telephone and telegraph wires were suspended from high poles, creating strange and crowded streetscapes.

A tower with 5000 phone lines in Stockholm, cused 1887-1913

BPV Invests in Pensacola-based Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems

Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems Raises Series B Growth Funding

SOURCE: Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems, LLC

PENSACOLA, Fla.—June 20, 2017—Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems, Inc. (IRIS), the industry leader in early detection systems for diabetic eye disease, today announced the company successfully closed a round of Series B financing. The round was led by Ballast Point Ventures, a later-stage venture capital and growth equity firm that invests in rapidly growing, privately owned companies in the health care and technology industries. The round also includes investments from two healthcare system funds, Providence Ventures and current IRIS customer, CoxHealth. Funds raised will be used to support the company’s expansion and growth strategy as well as to support IRIS’s goal of developing the next generation of products that detect eye disease and improve the monitoring and care of patients in diabetic populations.

“IRIS was founded with the idea that through innovative and forward-thinking preventative care systems, we could save the sight of millions of patients,” said IRIS Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sunil Gupta. “Everyone deserves a lifetime of sight. I am pleased that Ballast Point Ventures, Providence Ventures and CoxHealth have joined IRIS to improve the lives of patients with diabetes and see the value in our goal to develop the next generation of solutions.”

“With the capital from this financing, IRIS will be able to build on its leading position in the market while continuing to innovate and serve its forward-thinking health system clients,” said Matt Rice, Partner at Ballast Point Ventures. “We are excited to partner with Dr. Sunil Gupta, Jason Crawford, and the entire IRIS team to execute on the company’s mission of ending preventable blindness.”

“IRIS is emblematic of Providence Ventures’ investment strategy. Our fund’s interest was driven by deep insights collected from our Providence St. Joseph Health operating colleagues, and their enthusiasm regarding IRIS’s diverse and important value proposition. Providence St. Joseph Health’s clinical leaders are excited about the potential of the IRIS solution to dramatically enhance our ability to care for diabetic patients,” added Jeff Stolte, Partner at Providence Ventures.

“CoxHealth and IRIS have developed a partnership that has produced meaningful outcomes for our patients,” said Jake McWay, Senior Vice President and CFO of CoxHealth. “In recognition of the results we achieved over the last year, we were jointly awarded a 2017 Microsoft Health Innovation Award. We are excited to see the impact of this expansion and investment, and believe great things are ahead for this collaboration.”

The IRIS retinal telemedicine platform was developed to help end preventable, permanent blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy through early diagnosis. The IRIS platform is in place at 94 health systems across 28 states. IRIS seamlessly sits within a primary care physician’s existing workflow, dramatically increasing a health system’s ability to achieve superior annual diabetic retinopathy compliance rates. IRIS enables health systems to increase access, improve care coordination, lower costs and achieve 5-Star outcomes. In four years, IRIS clients have examined 183,498 patients with diabetes and found sight-threatening disease in nearly 31,624. One-third of the patients examined with the IRIS technology have been diagnosed with some form of retinal pathology.

“Great strides have been made to unseat diabetic retinopathy as the leading cause of blindness worldwide. The only barrier to success is early detection. IRIS closes the care gap for those patients that do not receive annual diabetic retinal exams. This investment will allow IRIS’s committed team and partners to execute to our vision of preventing blindness both here in the U.S. and worldwide,” added Dr. Gupta.

“Ballast Point Ventures, Providence Ventures and CoxHealth bring a deep understanding of the importance of population health management,” said IRIS CEO, Jason Crawford. “This investment will help us continue to improve the infrastructure, technology and services we deliver to our customers. It will lead to innovation that will place IRIS in a strong position to fuel the future of our product and improve the lives of every patient with diabetes that we touch.”

Matt Rice from Ballast Point Ventures and Jeff Stolte from Providence Ventures will join the IRIS Board of Directors, and Dr. C. Mark Costley, M.D. of CoxHealth will serve as Chair of IRIS’s newly established Clinical Advisory Board.

IRIS was advised by Ziegler, a healthcare-focused investment bank headquartered in Chicago, Ill.

About Ballast Point Ventures

Ballast Point Ventures is a later-stage venture capital fund established to provide expansion capital for rapidly growing, privately owned companies in diverse industries, with a particular emphasis on companies located in the Southeast and Texas. The BPV partners have more than 70 years of combined experience investing in and building high-growth companies in a number of industries, including healthcare, business services, communications, technology, financial services and consumer. BPV has $360 million under management and seeks to make equity investments ranging in size from $4 million to $12 million. www.ballastpointventures.com

About Providence Ventures and Providence St. Joseph Health

Providence Ventures was founded in 2014 to manage a $150 million venture capital fund on behalf of Providence St. Joseph Health. Providence Ventures aims to drive innovation across the health care system to improve quality and convenience, lower cost and create better health outcomes. Providence St. Joseph Health is a new organization created by Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health with the goal of improving the health of the communities it serves, especially those who are poor and vulnerable. Together, its 111,000 caregivers (all employees) serve in 50 hospitals, 829 clinics and a comprehensive range of services across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

About CoxHealth
CoxHealth is the only locally owned, not-for-profit health system based in Springfield, Mo., and is nationally accredited by DNV GL – Healthcare. Established in 1906, the organization serves a 25-county service area in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, offering a comprehensive array of primary and specialty care through five hospitals and more than 80 clinics. CoxHealth also serves the unmet needs of its friends and neighbors by providing more than $148 million annually in community benefit. The health system includes Cox Medical Center South, Cox Medical Center Branson, Cox North Hospital, Meyer Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital, Cox Monett Hospital, Oxford HealthCare (the nation’s second largest hospital-based home health agency), Home Parenteral Services (home infusion therapy), CoxHealth Foundation, Cox College, Cox HealthPlans and more.

About Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems

Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (IRIS) is the industry leader in early detection systems for diabetic eye disease. The company’s IRIS solution is an end-to-end FDA-cleared, telemedicine system that has improved quality, expanded access and reduced costs for diabetic retinopathy exams across the U.S. IRIS was founded in 2011 by nationally recognized retina surgeon Dr. Sunil Gupta, with a vision to end preventable blindness through the development and deployment of retinal diagnostic services in the primary care setting. The IRIS team of physicians, technicians and best practice client success experts partner with forward-thinking providers and payers to enhance patient outcomes by closing care gaps in healthcare systems. IRIS is the recipient of the 2017 Microsoft Innovation Award and the 2016 Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award in Diabetic Retinopathy. For additional information, visit www.retinalscreenings.com