Two Ohio device firms aim for $1.1M in state loans

Two Ohio medical device companies are under consideration for state loans worth a combined $1.1 million.

Columbus-based skin biopsy device maker CleveX Inc. is seeking a $637,500 loan that it would use to purchase equipment and machinery to boost production capacity for its ExiClip line of devices. The company aims to continue producing a version called the ExiClip-M, while also developing a new version for larger biopsies called the ExiClip-L.

The seven-year loan would come with an interest rate of 1 percent in its first year, and 7 percent for the remaining years, according to documents from the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD).

Youngstown-based Syncro Medical Innovations is looking for a $490,500 loan to protect intellectual property and acquire equipment and machinery. The project would enable Syncro, which has developed a feeding tube called the BlueTube, to increase annual production and sales from 5,000 units to 25,000, according to the documents.

The seven-year loan would carry an annual interest rate of 7 percent.

Each of the loan applications are being approved by the Development Financing Advisory Council, but still require approval from the State Controlling Board, an ODOD spokeswoman said.

The CleveX project would create10 new jobs while retaining three, and the Syncro project would create 30 jobs and retain another four, according to the documents from ODOD.