OcuSciences is growing its product portfolio
and its staff in Ann Arbor, leveraging its ocular test for diabetes technology.
The Ann Arbor-based start-up, a University of Michigan spin-out, is developing an ocular diagnostic technology for metabolomic diseases that allows doctors to diagnose patients with diseases like diabetes by scanning their eyes. The process has the potential to be more accurate and catch a diabetes diagnosis much earlier than traditional methods.
The 4-year-old company is already selling the high-end version of its product (retails for $115,000) and is preparing to sell the lower-cost version of it ($30,000-$35,000) before the end of this year. "That will be a high-volume device," says
Kurt Riegger, CEO of
OcuSciences.
The company has hired two people over the last year, expanding its staff to eight people. That could grow again as it continues to spin-out more versions of its principal technology.
OcuSciences conducted a clinical trial for a new version of its technology that can work with therapy for
Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration, which can cause blindness in older people. The firm is currently conducting two, two-year clinical trials on the technology with an international partner that Riegger declined to name.
If the therapy proves effective, Riegger hopes it will prove to be a viagra for the eye by helping it improve delivery of nutrients to the eyes and removal of waste products from it. "We hope we can slow and reverse this disease if we can catch it early enough," Riegger says.
Source: Kurt Riegger, CEO of OcuSciences
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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