CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), and MassDevelopment announced today that MassDevelopment has awarded InVivo Therapeutics a $2 million loan from its Emerging Technology Fund to help fund the commercialization of InVivo's groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions. InVivo will use the proceeds from this low cost, seven year term loan for general working capital purposes and to purchase equipment for the expansion of manufacturing and research capabilities at its new facility in Cambridge MA. As InVivo's business grows, the Company expects to substantially increase employment in manufacturing, sales, marketing, clinical, and regulatory positions over the next two years.
“Through its 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, the Patrick-Murray Administration has nurtured our life sciences industry in Massachusetts into a world-leader and a key part of our economic recovery,” said Greg Bialecki, the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development and MassDevelopment Board Chair. “Continuing to support our innovation economy is a leading focus in the Administration’s long-term economic development plan, and we applaud MassDevelopment’s financing of a vibrant, growing business in Massachusetts.”
“InVivo’s treatment of spinal cord injuries typifies the Commonwealth’s highly innovative life sciences companies,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. "We are pleased to provide financing through the Emerging Technology Fund to help support the commercialization of InVivo's technologies."
"We are encouraged by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s continued support of InVivo, which began in 2009 with a $500,000 Accelerator Loan from the Massachusetts Life Science Center when InVivo had only five employees,” said InVivo CEO Frank Reynolds. “Now, as we receive a $2 million loan from MassDevelopment, we exceed 30 employees in our new Kendall Square facility. We’ll continue to recruit the best and brightest minds in biomaterials and neuroscience. The proceeds from this loan will assist us in advancing multiple neurotrauma products into the clinic based on our innovative biopolymer scaffolding and hydrogel technologies."
InVivo’s products protect the spinal cord after injury by mitigating bleeding, inflammation, and further cell death that result from the body’s response to trauma. By minimizing these secondary injury processes and supporting subsequent repair and recovery, the body can locally reorganize toward functional recovery through the spared healthy tissue. The process, known as neuroplasticity, may result in partial functional recovery. The company’s lead product is a medical device that provides structural support to a damaged spinal cord, sparing tissue from scarring while improving recovery and prognosis.
About MassDevelopment
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2011, MassDevelopment financed or managed more than 300 projects generating investment of $3.8 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 10,000 jobs (2,547 permanent and 8,129 construction), and build or rehabilitate more than 1,000 residential units.
About InVivo Therapeutics
InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is focused on utilizing polymers as a platform technology to develop treatments to improve function in individuals paralyzed as a result of traumatic spinal cord injury. The Company was founded in 2005 on the basis of proprietary technology co-invented by Robert Langer, ScD., Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, M.D., who is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2011, data from a Company study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods and won the prestigious 2011 Apple Award from the American Spinal Injury Association recognizing excellence in SCI research. The publicly traded company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more details, visit www.invivotherapeutics.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, and the Company intends that such statements are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements include, but are not limited to, those relating to the expected approval of the FDA to conduct human clinical trials for the Company’s products, the expected commencement date of any approved human clinical trials, the expected size of the pilot study, the expectation that the scaffold product will be regulated under a HDE pathway, and the expected acceleration of commercialization of the Company’s products resulting therefrom. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s ability to obtain FDA approval to conduct human clinical trials; whether the human clinical trials produce acceptable results; the Company’s ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company’s products and technology in connection with spinal cord injuries; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, clinical studies and future product commercialization; and, the Company’s business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and subsequent filings with the SEC.
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this release. Subsequent events or circumstances occurring after such date may render these statements incomplete or out of date. The Company undertakes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update such statements.