News Archive

Arsenal Medical announces today that they have received unconditional IDE approval from FDA to conduct a clinical study to examine the safety and effectiveness of ResQFoamTM, a self-expanding material for the treatment of severe internal bleeding in trauma patients.

An injectable foam that snakes through the abdomen is drawing big interest from the Pentagon, which hopes to use it to control bleeding from internal injuries on the battlefield. Arsenal Medical, a medical device firm based in Watertown, Mass., on Wednesday announced it had received $14 million from the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Arsenal Medical today announced that it has been granted a contract of more than $14 million to complete clinical and manufacturing development and the U.S. regulatory submission process to support product approval for its lead product candidate, ResQFoamTM.

This foam treatment is envisioned as an emergency “bridge to surgery” for warfighters who would otherwise die in the field.

Arsenal Medical and 480 Biomedical today announced $26.5 million in combined funding from a committed syndicate of investors to advance their respective product platforms. Arsenal Medical, a company developing novel, polymer based foam and nanofiber products, raised $16 million from Polaris Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Intersouth Partners. 480 Biomedical, a clinical stage company developing innovative bioresorbable scaffold products, raised $10.5 million from the same syndicate in conjunction with a long term strategic investor. Both rounds included a conversion of debt, in addition to new equity financing.

It looks like a simple caulking gun. But it’s no ordinary tool. “The potential impact is truly revolutionary,” says Dr. David King.

The new technology may be able to extend life up to three hours.

Data supporting clinical use of foam system presented at the 28th Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) Annual Scientific Assembly in Orlando, Florida

ON OBSERVING that most injured soldiers died before receiving medical attention, Dominique-Jean Larrey, a young surgeon in Napoleon’s army, proposed installing surgical teams near the front lines. Horse-drawn carriages would whisk the wounded from the battlefield to the closest field hospital, dramatically reducing casualties. Today the whisking is done by helicopter or ambulance and the treatment on arrival is incomparably better.

About 25 percent of battlefield casualties are medically preventable, according to the Army Institute of Surgical Research. But what if there was something that could buy that wounded soldier time? One local company is working on doing just that.