Tomophase to commercialize OCT Imaging System for pulmonary applications with QTDP award

Tomophase Corporation, a leading developer of minimally invasive optical coherence tomography (OCT) tissue imaging devices, announced that it has received an award from the Departments of the Treasury and Health and Human Services for the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP.)

The Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project is a federally sponsored program that is targeted to projects that show a reasonable potential to:

• Result in new therapies to treat areas of unmet medical need or prevent, detect, or treat chronic or acute diseases and conditions;
• Reduce the long-term growth of health care costs in the United States; or
• Significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within 30 years.

The award also takes into consideration which projects show the greatest potential to create and sustain high-quality, high-paying U.S. jobs and to advance U.S. competitiveness in life, biological, and medical sciences. [Source: U.S. HHS website]

Tomophase has developed an OCT Imaging System (OCTIS™) initially for interventional pulmonology. The OCTIS fiber-optic catheter and image console is a minimally invasive bronchoscopic-based system that will provide image guidance for newly approved interventional therapies such as bronchial thermoplasty for severe asthma as well as real-time, cross-sectional, high-resolution visualization of airway microstructure for future therapies for emphysema and early stage lung cancer.

"We are very pleased to receive this award. It is recognition that research and development being conducted by Tomophase is state-of-the-art and holds significant potential for patients, families and caregivers as well as our current and future employees. We will continue to complete ongoing financing to produce the OCT Imaging System (OCTIS™) technology for interventional pulmonology," stated Ralph Johnston, Tomophase President and COO.

Dr. Peter Norris, Tomophase Chairman and CEO, said, "This award will help Tomophase in its efforts to commercialize OCT for pulmonary applications and indicates HHS recognition of its value in this respect. We hope to be first-to-market with an imaging system that will find acceptance within the interventional pulmonology community."