Company News |In The News | Archive – 2004 | | 2006 | 2007 | 2008
September 23, 2005 – Ed Cannon, Ph.D. joins SmartCells Board
On September 23, 2005 Dr. Ed Cannon joined the SmartCells board replacing Alec Dingee. SmartCells' President and CEO, Todd Zion, Ph.D. said, “Alec has helped us tremendously, first while he was Chairman of the MIT Venture Mentoring Service and later when he generously agreed to serve on the board through our first year of operations. We're very pleased to welcome Ed, who brings extensive experience in building successful pharmaceutical companies, most recently as founding President of Elixir Pharmaceuticals and before that as a founder and senior executive at Dyax Corp., Protein Bioengineering Corp. and Hygeia Sciences.”
August 1, 2005 – SmartCells, Inc. Receives SBIR funds from NIH/NIDDK
On August 1, 2005 SmartCells, Inc. received notice that it was awarded funding for the second year of its Phase I SBIR grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant was awarded on the basis of progress achieved in the development of SmartInsulin during the first year of the grant. When the second year of Phase I is successful, the company will be eligible for up to $1 million per year for 3 years in Phase II funds.
July 1, 2005 – New Investment: Angel Healthcare Investors, Boston
(Angel Capital Association)
“The goal is to help the young firms get further down their development path without burning so much cash. SmartCells, Inc., one of our second quarter deals, is a great example of how this model can work in the biotech sector.”
June 30, 2005 - Thomas Lancaster, Ph. D. promoted to Vice President of Research and Development
On June 30, 2005 Thomas Lancaster, Ph. D. was promoted from Director of Chemistry to Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Lancaster will direct the company's scientific and pharmacology operations and oversee formulation development, in vivo testing, manufacturing and quality control activities. SmartCells' President and CEO, Todd Zion, Ph.D. said, "Tom has been with the company since we started operations and has taken on progressively more responsibility for managing SmartInsulin development. This promotion reflects the confidence we have in his scientific leadership." Dr. Lancaster received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a NSF Graduate Fellow and an Elf Autochem Fellow.
May 4, 2005 - Howard A. Wolpert, M.D. joins Medical Advisory Board
On May 3, 2005 Howard Wolpert, M.D. joined the Medical Advisory Board of SmartCells, Inc. Dr. Wolpert is Senior Physician in the Section on Adult Diabetes and Director of the Insulin Pump Program at Joslin Diabetes Center. He has been an expert advisor to the New England Healthcare Institute for its report on the introduction of continuous glucose monitoring into diabetes management. Dr. Wolpert completed his medical degree at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in South Africa and his residency training at Harvard Medical School.
April 25, 2005 - SmartCells Completes Series A Financing
SmartCells, Inc. completed its Series A financing on April 22, 2009, bringing the total raised in the round to over $1 million. The financing was provided by private investors, including members of the Boston chapter of the Keiretsu Forum. Another group of private investors, Angel Healthcare Investors of Newton, MA, also participated in the financing. Dr. Todd C. Zion, SmartCells’ co-founder, President and CEO said, “With the completion of our initial round of financing and our success in obtaining funds from government grants, we have the resources we need to accomplish the key objectives in our early product development plan. I am also gratified by the vote of confidence our company has earned from two of Boston’s leading angel investment groups”.
January 31, 2005 - SmartCells Medical Advisory Board Established
On January 28, 2005, SmartCells, Inc. established its Medical Advisory Board with Dr. Lloyd Axelrod and Dr. Enrico Cagliero as founding members. Dr. Axelrod is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the author of 50 articles and nearly 20 book chapters. Dr. Cagliero is a clinical research physician at the Diabetes Center of Massachusetts General Hospital and is in charge of the clinical trial unit of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center for Islet Transplantation at Harvard Medical School. The Medical Advisory Board will provide guidance to SmartCells' management team on the clinical uses for SmartInsulin, the design of clinical trials and the use of the company's technologies for new therapeutic applications.