MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcend Medical, Inc. today announced the appointment of Mitchell B. Campbell as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. In addition, the company announced the recent close of a Series A funding with an initial $7-million round of funds from investors, which include venture capital firms Morgenthaler Ventures and Split Rock Partners.
Transcend Medical represents the first company incubated by ForSight Labs, which was founded in 2005 to create new ophthalmic device companies in partnership with The Foundry, a medical device incubator also based in Menlo Park. Hanson S. Gifford III, President and CEO of The Foundry, has been the acting CEO during the incubation period of Transcend prior to Mr. Campbell joining the team on November 1.
“Mitch brings a wealth of experience to Transcend Medical and his knowledge of the ophthalmic world is exactly what we were looking for in our CEO search. We are thrilled to have him lead this first project,” said Eugene de Juan, Jr. M.D., the founder of ForSight Labs. “I am excited about the opportunity to move this project forward and joining at this early stage allows us the ability to set forth a solid strategic path for success,” says Campbell. Prior to joining Transcend Medical, Mr. Campbell was the Chairman, President and CEO of Refractec, Inc. Over a nine-year period Mr. Campbell successfully led the company through the research & development, clinical trial, FDA approval and market launch of a vision correction device designed to eliminate the need for baby-boomers to wear reading glasses.
The $7 million round will allow Transcend Medical to move forward in the development of a novel idea for the treatment of glaucoma, the leading cause of adult blindness in the United States. The company has seen promising results in its early work and plans to use the funds to continue development and complete the clinical investigations needed for market approval.
“Arresting glaucoma before it can more seriously impair sight will become an important contribution to Graceful Aging - a key concept behind virtually all our medical device investing,” says Robert (Robin) Bellas, General Partner at Morgenthaler Ventures.
“This is just the kind of breakthrough innovation we envisioned when we invested in ForSight Labs,” says Dave Stassen, Managing Director of Split Rock Partners. “We believe that ophthalmology is particularly ripe for the kind of minimally-invasive device design that The Foundry has pioneered for other medical specialties.”
About Transcend Medical, Inc.
Based in Menlo Park, CA, Transcend Medical, Inc. is focused on the research and development of novel devices for the treatment of glaucoma, the leading cause of adult irreversible blindness. Over two million people in the U.S. alone are afflicted with the disease today, and the numbers are expected to grow to three million by the year 2020. The Transcend Medical approach is focused on replacing the current therapies for the treatment of glaucoma with a less invasive procedure that can be performed in an office based setting with minimal complications.
About ForSight Labs
ForSight Labs is an ophthalmic medical device incubator designed to create high-growth eye care companies. Its investors include The Foundry (www.thefoundry.com), Morgenthaler Ventures (www.morgenthaler.com), Split Rock Partners (www.splitrock.com), and Versant Ventures (www.versantventures.com). It was founded in 2005 and is based in Menlo Park, CA. For more information, please visit ForSight Labs website at www.forsightlabs.com.
Source: Transcend Medical, Inc.
