Officials from InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. and MassDevelopment jointly announce 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,” says Greg Bialecki, 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,” states 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,” says 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.