Friday, December 30, 2011

FluoroPharma taps Ascent’s Atinsky for board seat

By Rodney Brown

Boston’s FluoroPharma Medical Inc. has named Ascent Biomedical Ventures partner Lawrence Atinsky to the company’s board of directors, a position he will assume starting Jan. 3rd, 2012.

The release from FluoroPharma (OTCBB: FPMI) about Atinsky’s appointment to the board did not state that it was accompanied by any investment from Ascent, and there is no filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to indicate that there was any investment from Ascent. The venture capital firm does focus, however, on investing in “seed and early stage biomedical technology companies developing medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, healthcare services, and information technology,” according to the release.

FluoroPharma is working on the development of proprietary PET imaging products to evaluate cardiac disease at the cellular and molecular levels, based on technology licensed from Massachusetts General Hospital. It is focused on finding ways to detect acute and chronic coronary artery disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and currently has clinical trials underway for two products aimed at myocardial cell activity and inflamed plaques within the coronary arteries.

In July, FluoroPharma raised $2.36 million of a planned $6 million financing, combining equity and other security options from undisclosed investors. The company went public in May, when its previous incarnation, FluoroPharma Inc. merged with Commercial E Waste Management (CEWM), a shell company, that resulted in the formation of the combined public company, FluoroPharma Medical Inc.