Month: April 2011

Cellular Dynamics International has raised $30 million of funding from mostly Midwestern investors in a deal that hints at the possibility of an initial public offering. The round brings to $100 million the total amount raised by the six-year-old, privately-held company. Cellular Dynamics, known as CDI, will use the latest investments to launch new stem cell lines and increase production capacity, said Robert Palay, chairman and chief executive officer. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/7)

The federal budget plan unveiled by House Republican Paul Ryan on Tuesday represents a breathtaking reversal in the size, scope and role of the federal government and draws a politically explosive line between the governing agendas of the two parties. Chief among the hot buttons it pushes is Medicare, which would end in its present form under the Ryan plan, with its guaranteed and defined benefits replaced by a system in which the government helps people pay their health insurance premiums and gradually reduces the amount of money it would otherwise spend on each Medicare recipient. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/6)

A Brookfield company that connects patients to health care appointments will announce Wednesday it has raised $4 million of venture capital funding. MyHealthDirect raised the money from two firms: Arboretum Ventures, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Chrysalis Ventures, of Louisville, Ky. It will use the funds to expand, said Jay Mason, founder and chief executive officer. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/6)

ProCertus BioPharm has raised $1.7 million to fund clinical trials to determine whether its products can safely help cancer patients avoid side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. The funding round was led by Novartis Venture Fund and Venture Investors, both of which already were investors in the Madison company. A first-time investor, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, also joined in the financing. ProCertus' products are applied to skin or the inside of the mouth minutes before cancer therapy to protect cells that will be exposed to chemotherapy and radiation. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/6)

A Hartland medical products manufacturer ceased production Monday after the U.S. Marshals Service arrived to seize materials. H&P Industries, which makes alcohol wipes and other products distributed by Triad Group, has been under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration for bacterial contamination issues. Triad Group has been sued by a Texas couple who blame the firm for the death of their 2-year-old son. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/5)

Gov. Scott Walker's new budget-repair bill would take money from a state insurance fund that might otherwise go toward holding down state employees' health care costs. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/5)

This month, the Wisconsin Medical Society will hold its annual meeting, and one of the major topics will be concussions and student athletes. Physician Tim Bartholow, a top medical society official, said society members want to raise awareness of the issue of concussions. Fifteen or more years ago, Bartholow said medical professionals didn't have enough information to know that concussions could have devastating consequences. Now there is more information and more science. (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/5)