Velico Medical Announces BARDA Exercise of $15.5 Million Contract Option
Beverly, Massachusetts (PRWEB) September 09, 2015 -- Velico Medical today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has exercised its first option under its contract with Velico to further develop Velico’s Spray Dried Plasma technology (SpDP™). BARDA’s exercise of this option extends the contract through March 2017 and provides for up to approximately $15.5 million of additional funding to support the development of a system for spray drying plasma for transfusion. Spray dried plasma is being developed as an alternative to frozen plasma and is expected to play an important role wherever time to plasma transfusion is a critical factor in patient care. “A dry plasma product is our greatest need right now, from field military operations to supporting emergency care in rural America to advancing the life-saving tool kit of Level I trauma centers,” said Martin A. Schreiber, M.D., Chief of Trauma, Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University.
“We believe that BARDA’s approval of the next phase of the contract reflects recognition of Velico’s progress and the life-saving potential of this important technology. Our partnership with BARDA has been collaborative, constructive and has resulted in jointly developed solutions to a number of development challenges. We believe this collaboration has and will continue to deliver significant value for both parties as we advance toward clinical trials,” stated Bill Skillman, Velico’s CEO.
Once commercialized, dried plasma will be produced by regional blood centers using Velico’s system. Blood centers have been producing life-saving blood products for decades and will play an integral role in meeting the need for a frozen plasma alternative. Blood centers have the infrastructure, experience, and expertise to provide a sustainable source of life saving dried plasma for local use and for linking to national disaster management channels to support disaster recovery in mass casualty events.
BARDA funding of SpDP is non-dilutive to Velico Medical shareholders. This work is being performed under contract HHS0100201200005C funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About Velico Medical
Velico Medical, Inc. is a private, pre-clinical medical technology company focused on applying proprietary technologies to improving the quality, availability and economics of platelet and plasma transfusions. We are developing two separate product candidates that, if approved, are expected to improve patient outcomes and safety and result in a more effective blood delivery system. Our technologies are expected to solve critical unmet needs in transfusing these life-saving blood products and represent opportunities for significant savings for the healthcare delivery system. The technologies underlying our product candidates are the subject of issued and pending patent applications in countries of commercial consequence to us. Our strategy is to develop, commercialize and market single-use disposables for use in processing and storing platelets and plasma, as well as a companion instrument for spray drying plasma.
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Velico Contact:
Thomas A. Fitzgerald
Chief Financial Officer
978.232.8370, ext. 15
tfitzgerald(at)velicomedical(dot)com
Tom Fitzgerald, Velico Medical, Inc., +1 (978) 232-8370 Ext: 15, [email protected]
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