Cryoport Inc. (Nasdaq: CYRX) recently expanded its international market presence by partnering with Dacos A/S, a laboratory equipment maker based Denmark.
Prior to Cyroport, Dacos had problems finding the “correct solution” for transporting temperature sensitive products, Dacos Chief Executive Max Terpager said.
“We are pleased to now have the opportunity to fulfill the needs of our client base by offering Cryoport’s solution to ensure that products are handled correctly during transportation, backed up by data and nonstop monitoring,” he said.
Under the deal, the Irvine-based provider of cold temperature logistics will provide transportation services to Dacos’ existing global client base of biopharmaceutical companies.
Cryoport provides lightweight, reusable shippers that keep materials in constant cold temperature for up to 10 days nonstop condition monitoring. The company currently supports 295 clinical trials, including 38 phase three efforts, according to its third-quarter earnings report. Its other units include logistics services for reproductive medicine and animal health.
Separately, the company appointed to its board of directors Daniel Hancock, a self-confessed “powertrain guy” who worked at General Motors for 43 years. Hancock, who retired in 2011, was GM’s vice president of global strategic product alliances responsible for partnering with global suppliers.
Hancock’s “business acumen, regional knowledge, alliance building experience and technical know-how will enable him to provide unique insights,” Cryoport Chairman and Chief Executive Jerrell Shelton said in a statement.
Hancock, who will serve on its audit and science and technology committees, is also board chairman of Loveland, Colo.-based SuperTurbo Technologies Inc. and is a board member of Vancouver, British Columbia-based clean gaseous fuel parts maker Westport Fuel Systems and San Diego-based Achates Power Inc.
Cryoport, which last week had a market cap around $260 million, has seen its shares decline 46% since a 52-week high last July.
Shimer Joins Masimo
Irvine-based patient monitoring device maker Masimo Corp. this month named as director Julie Shimer, who has over 30 years of product development experience.
Previously, Shimer was chief executive at medical device maker Welch Allyn and healthcare-focused communication firm Vocera Communications Inc. She is a board member of Netgear Inc. (Nasdaq: NTGR), Apollo Endosurgery Inc. (Nasdaq: APEN) and Avanos Medical Inc. (NYSE: AVNS). Her background includes stints at 3Com Corp., Motorola and AT&T’s Bell Laboratories.
“I’m particularly excited to have a fellow electrical engineer on our board,” Masimo Chief Executive Joe Kiani said.
Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) has a market value of $6.4 million as of press time.
Clinical
Urovant Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: UROV) last month enrolled its first patient in a Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating its drug vibegron in women with abdominal pain due to irritable bowel syndrome—predominant diarrhea or mixed episodes of diarrhea and constipation. The company said “there are no currently marketed drugs indicated specifically for IBS-associated pain.”
The study plans to enroll 200 patients in the U.S.
The Irvine-based pharmaceutical company develops therapies to treat urologic conditions. It’s valued at about $260 million.
Vibegron is also in an international phase 3 trial for overactive bladder and a second phase 3 trial of men with overactive bladder.
Rare Disease Trial
Irvine-based Cystinosis Research Foundation, the largest provider of grants for cystinosis research in the world, said the FDA granted approval for the first human clinical trial for stem cell and gene therapy treatment aimed at cystinosis—a rare genetic metabolic disease that slowly destroys the organs in the body.
It affects approximately 500 children and young adults in the U.S. and 2,000 people worldwide. The new therapy is currently led by Stephanie Cherqui, an associate professor of pediatrics at University of California San Diego.
