HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania (www.LSGPA.com) invested just under $2.5 million last year in three Pennsylvania companies with the potential to make a significant impact on the future of healthcare. In all cases the investments were complemented by funds from other sources, bringing more than $25 million of new investment into the region.
“LSGPA continues to seek out opportunities to invest in the region’s most promising startups and is equally proud of our reputation for nurturing and continuing to invest in worthy portfolio companies as they mature,” said President and CEO, Dr. Mel Billingsley.
Just over $1.2 million of the $2.5 million deployed by LSGPA in 2018 went to MacuLogix, Inc., a fast-growing medical device company based in Middletown, PA, that will soon move to expanded headquarters in Harrisburg, PA. MacuLogix is working to eliminate blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by providing eye care professionals with the education and tools they need to detect and manage AMD, including the company’s AdaptDx automated dark adaptometer.
Micro Interventional Devices, Inc. (MID) was the recipient of $1 million in follow-on funding from LSGPA in 2018. Among the other investors in the firm this year was Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which invested $100,000. MID obtained CE Mark and FDA clearance for its Permaseal® transapical access and closure device in 2016. MID is currently conducting a 40 patient multi-site European trial of its MIATM, minimally invasive annuloplasty, technology for tricuspid valve repair. MIA utilizes the company's proprietary PolyCor® anchoring technology that is the key component in all of MID's products.
The third company, Ocunova Inc., is a 2018 spin out of the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine developing a therapeutic for the treatment of diabetic dry eye. LSGPA’s investment of $250,000 into the firm, which was matched by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners CNP, represented the first institutional funding into the company. In late 2018 Ocunova successfully completed a Phase II trial.
About LSGPA
The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania speeds commercialization of life sciences technologies through early stage investment and business development services. Since its inception in 2002 LSGPA has invested $28.7 million into 71 companies and projects. Collectively, these entities have attracted $579 million in follow-on funding, for a leverage ratio of 20:1. To learn more about the organization’s investment philosophy or to download application guidelines visit www.LSGPA.com