Diabetes & Byetta

FYI

Items for the Week: Blood Sugar Readings In A Painless Blink Of The
Eye by Oculir, Inc.
on Tuesday, April 18 @ 14:01:10 CDT

Oculir™ is developing a non-invasive glucose meter that measures
glucose from the white of the eye (the conjunctiva). No contact with
the eye is required; simply point the sensor at the eye and click.

The commercial version of the Oculir™ glucose sensor will be the size
of a cell phone. Oculir™ will succeed where others have failed by
using the best measurement wavelengths in the Mid IR combined with a
unique measurement site - the white of the eye.
In most cases products like this never make it to market for a number

of reasons, the major one is financing for the development of the
technology and for the studies to pass FDA approval. But in this
case, you have one of the brightest people at the head of the
project, who has had a number of successes in obtaining venture
capital and bringing products to market, Dr. Burd.

One of the burdens diabetes patients face is the constant need to
monitor their blood sugar by pricking their fingers. Oculir, a San
Diego startup, is planning a pain-free alternative. The company is
developing a monitor that reads blood sugar levels by inspecting the
tiny blood vessels of the eye — without ever touching the eyeball.

The monitor works by bouncing a harmless beam of infrared light off
the white of the eye. Although invisible, the spectrum of light in
the probe is just the right wavelength to interact with glucose
molecules in blood flowing through tiny vessels in the thin membrane
covering the eye. "The light reflected back is proportional to the
amount of glucose in the blood," says CEO John Burd.

In December, Oculir raised $7.3 million in venture capital to fund
the studies necessary for Food & Drug Administration approval. Burd
says if all goes well, the device could go on sale in 2009. Oculir,
Inc.

Dr. Burd has dedicated his career to researching and developing novel
medical testing products, and to successfully bringing them to
market. He is a founder and is currently the President & CEO of
Oculir, Inc., developing a non-invasive glucose testing system for
people with diabetes. In addition, Dr. Burd was CEO of ImmuneTech,
makers of MyAllergyTest, a home test for allergies. Previously, Dr.
Burd was a General partner of Windamere Venture Partners, a Venture
Fund specializing in founding and funding healthcare companies.

While at Windamere from 1999 to 2003, he and his 2 partners founded
15 healthcare companies. These companies included MiraMedica, Inc.,
where Dr. Burd served as Chairman and CEO, which developed computer
aided detection systems for cancer detection. Founded in 2000,
MiraMedica was sold to Kodak in 2003. In addition, in 1999, Dr. Burd
founded DexCom, Inc which, just got FDA approval for their continuous
glucose monitor and served as its President & CEO.

Before DexCom, Dr. Burd was the founder, President/CEO and Chairman
of LXN Corporation. Who brought the fructosamine meter to market. Dr.
Burd directed the company’s work to finance, develop, manufacture,
and market a new diabetes self-management system. Johnson and Johnson
purchased LXN in 2001. Prior to LXN, Dr. Burd held executive
positions at QUIDEL Corporation, including Vice President of Research
and Development, where he directed the development of products for
the clinical lab, physician’s office and OTC markets.

Prior to QUIDEL, Dr. Burd was Executive Vice President and COO for
MAST Immunosystems, Inc. Dr. Burd began his career in medical product
research and development at Bayer (formerly Miles Laboratories, Inc.)
Dr. Burd has authored and co-authored numerous scientific articles
and is the owner of 23 U.S. patents. He holds a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Biochemistry from Purdue and earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in
Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin

================================

DID YOU KNOW:
DANGER: BAGGY TROUSERS; A SENIOR government expert wants big trousers
to come with a health warning. Professor Muir Gray believes shops
should attach labels to larger sizes telling overweight shoppers to
eat less, exercise more and even visit the doctor. Hi s advice comes
as research suggests a spare tyre, especially on men, can increase
the risk of heart disease and diabetes five-fold. The Glasgow - born
professor said: "I would like to see trousers with big waists carry
information about the risks of a large waist and suggesting people go
and see their doctor. "If the waist size was 44 and the leg size 49
the label could say, ‘Wait a minute, sunshine, you need a pair of
walking shoes as well.’"

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2004 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.