CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Seventh Sense Biosystems, a privately held medical device company developing the novel Touch Activated Phlebotomy (TAP) painless blood sampling system, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Howard Weisman as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Weisman will also serve on the company’s Board of Directors.
The company also announced that it has closed the final tranche of a $10 million series-A financing with existing investors Flagship Ventures and Polaris Venture Partners. The company will use this financing to complete clinical testing and to commercialize its first TAP-based blood collection device for point of care diagnostics.
“Howard has tremendous operations and commercialization experience, and we are excited to be adding his leadership to the company as it prepares for market entry with the innovative TAP technology,” said Doug Cole, MD, partner at Flagship Ventures and board member at Seventh Sense Biosystems. “We expect the company to emerge as one of the most important new players in diagnostics, by commercializing a universal, painless system to access blood, which can interface with a broad range of analytical systems.”
Mr. Weisman has extensive experience launching medical products and most recently was the founder, Chairman, and CEO of EKR Therapeutics, Inc., which announced its sale to Cornerstone Therapeutics (CRTX) in May 2012. Prior to his role at EKR, Mr. Weisman co-founded ESP Pharma, Inc., serving as its President and Chief Operating Officer from its initial funding in 2001 through to its sale to PDL BioPharma (PDLI) in 2005 for over $500 million. He began his career in sales and marketing at Merck and Co, Inc. and later joined Parke Davis, a division of Warner Lambert, to oversee the launch of its diabetes franchise in 1995.
“We look forward to introducing the first pain-free, fully integrated blood sampling device into the point of care market,” said Weisman. “The Touch Activated Phlebotomy painless blood sampling system has the potential to eliminate many key barriers to acquiring important health information, which we believe can have a substantial impact on patient care.”
Building on extensive, on-going human testing of the TAP technology, Seventh Sense Biosystems plans to initiate the pivotal trial of its lead point of care blood sampling device in early 2013. Based on these results, the company intends to seek U.S. regulatory clearance in mid-2013. With a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supporting diagnostics in low resources settings, the company is concurrently developing a high-volume TAP blood collection system for a broad range of tests and panels.
About Seventh Sense Biosystems, Inc.
Founded in 2008, Seventh Sense is developing an array of products based on the company’s proprietary Touch Activated Phlebotomy (TAP) painless blood collection platform, with an initial focus on enabling important diagnostic testing at the point of care by reducing the discomfort, anxiety and hassle of blood sample collection. Seventh Sense receives funding from investors Flagship Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. In 2011, Seventh Sense was awarded a $3.28 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting innovative decentralized diagnostics platforms. For more information, please visit www.7sbio.com.
Contact:
Polaris Venture Partners
John Lacey, 781-392-5514
jlacey@polarisventures.com
