Company news
Indianapolis-based VoCare Inc. has raised $2.2 million from angel investors to launch a mobile device that connects doctors with patients, and expects to reach $3.5 million in fundraising by the end of the year. The startup has developed a device that can combine a tablet computer with a cell phone and a pendant device that calls for help in case of a fall. The company intends to charge about $600 for the device, which could replace a traditional cell phone, plus $120 per month for communication services. VoCare, which has six employees, hired Indianapolis-based AGS Capital LLC to do the fundraising.
Eli Lilly and Co. plans to invest as much as $150 million in three venture-capital funds to aid development of medicines. The funds may be worth up to $250 million each, and Indianapolis-based Lilly will contribute as much as 20 percent of the money, according to Bloomberg News. CMEA Capital, a San Francisco venture-capital firm, started raising money in August for one of the funds with Lilly. Lilly needs to find new medicines as drugs accounting for nearly half its 2009 sales are set to lose patent protection in the next three years, led by bestselling antipsychotic Zyprexa. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker spoke with more than 80 venture-capital and private-equity firms over a year before choosing partners, Bloomberg reported.
Major Hospital and St. Francis Hospital opened a $1.5 million cardiology center on Monday. The UnaVie center, located in the Intelliplex Medical Arts Center in Shelbyville, will house cardiologists, pulmonologists and other medical staff. Dr. Chris Ballast will serve as medical director for the cardiac clinic.
Columbus Regional Hospital has joined the Indiana Network for Patient Care, which allows more than 65 hospitals, long-term-care and other health care providers to swap clinical information about patients. The network, operated by the Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Institute Inc., processes 2.5 million transactions daily, including lab test results and medication and treatment histories. The network is also part of the Indianapolis-based Indiana Health Information Exchange. Columbus Regional is a 225-bed hospital south of Indianapolis.
