Minnesota company raising $3 million to produce needlestick-resistant syringe

Protectus Medical Devices' syringe

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Protectus Medical Devices, which has developed a syringe to avoid needlestick injuries, is raising $3 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money would fund marketing and manufacturing of 200,000 syringes by the middle of next year, according to the company’s quarterly earnings report. The company hopes to have at least $1.2 million raised by the end of the year, according to the quarterly report filed last month.

As the company’s own comparison video shows, there are already scores of competing solutions on the market for the problem of needlestick injuries. Protectus thinks its “self-sheathing syringe” is simpler, cheaper and safer than other anti-stick protections on the market. It comes with a retracting plastic cylinder that covers the needle. The cylinder automatically retracts when an injection is given or when drawing medication.

It already has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell and market the device.

Protectus in July completed a reverse merger with E-18 Corp. and is now traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. It is raising money through debt, warrants other securities. The company on Monday announced that medical industry executive Michael Sheppard has joined its board.