With a $750,000 investment from Connecticut Innovations Inc., Soft Tissue Regeneration Inc. is relocating from Charlottesville, Va., to a location in Connecticut not immediately disclosed.
Soft Tissue Regeneration is licensing technology from Drexel University to eliminate complications from grafting tissues to cure injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament. The company”™s chief science officer is Dr. Cato Laurencin, a former University of Virginia surgeon who was hired last year as dean of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington.
The Soft Tissue Regeneration procedure involves creating a synthetic, braided “scaffold” that is attached to the femur and tibia bones, stabilizing the knee to encourage the regeneration of ligament tissue.
The funding was included in a $3.5 million initial round of venture capital, with investors including MentorTech Ventures of Philadelphia.
Connecticut Innovations has its main office in Rocky Hill and is overseen by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
The case of the missing photomask market
Brookfield-based Photronics Inc. is shuttering a photomask production facility in Shanghai at a cost of 75 jobs.
Photronics said the move would save it up to $5 million annually, and expects little impact on its revenue. The company plans to take a charge of between $10 million and $14 million in its second-quarter results.
Photronics also has plants in Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
Photomasks are quartz plates that contain microscopic images of electronic circuits, a key element in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat-panel displays.
“While we remain extremely optimistic in our ability to continue growing our business within Asia, the integrated circuit mask market in China is not materializing as we had hoped,” said CEO Constantine Macricostas in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately China’s photomask market remains relatively small and we do not foresee a viable path to profitability within an acceptable timeframe.”
In its second fiscal quarter ending May 3, Photronics lost $10.1 million on sales of $83 million, down 25 percent from the comparable period in 2008. In June, Photronics raised $27 million in new financing, using the proceeds to pay off a loan from unspecified foreign lenders.
Aetna to administer Defense Dept. health care
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a contract valued as high as $16.7 billion to Hartford-based Aetna Inc. to administer the Tricare health insurance and services plan for 2.8 million military personnel and family members in 21 states, including Connecticut and New York.
Aetna replaces an affiliate of HealthNet Inc., which has its Northeast headquarters in Shelton.
Aetna currently serves 320,000 enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
The Pentagon also awarded Tricare contracts for several southern states to Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth, which owns Trumbull-based Oxford Health Plans; and in the West to Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp.
Shelton medical transcriber grows
Shelton-based iMedX Inc. acquired Medware Inc., with both companies providing transcription services for medical entities.
Medware and iMedX did not disclose financial terms.
Based in Orlando, Fla., Medware relies on more than 350 language experts versed in medical terms, with a U.S. customer base of more than 60 health systems and hospitals.
Catterton joins crows”™ feet fray
Greenwich-based Catterton Partners acquired the StriVectin brand of anti-wrinkle creams from affiliates of Klein-Becker.
StriVectin is the fastest-growing anti-aging brand in the United States, according to Catterton, a private equity firm that focuses its investments on consumer and retail brands. Catterton”™s New York City-based portfolio company Chrysallis will market StriVectin creams.
