EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ:ETRM) closed its $29.8 million public offering of 17 million shares of common stock and 17 million corresponding warrants.The St. Paul, Minnesota-based anti-obesity device maker plans to use the $27.6 million it netted from the offering to support the regulatory approval of its neuroblocking Maestro RC system.The stock went for [...]

Hoping to push its groundbreaking obesity-fighting device across the proverbial finish line, EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ:ETRM) is selling 12 million new shares to the public

Minnesota medical device and biotech companies won about $24 million in tax credits and grants from the Qualified Therapeutic Discovery program. The $1 billion initiative born from federal healthcare reform law seeks to boost companies working on therapies that save money.

Let’s do it again.EnteroMedics Inc., based in Roseville, Minnesota, said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new clinical trial for its Maestro anti-obesity device that uses electricity to suppress hunger.The news represents a major victory for EnteroMedics whose previous study ended in failure. Last October, initial results from the EMPOWER studies [...]

Merck & Co. is no longer a drug company. Or at least that’s one of its top executives told the Innovations in Diabetes Summit in St. Louis Park, Minnesota Wednesday.Now before you start shorting Merck stock, the company, a longtime stalwart of Big Pharma, is still very much in the business of making pharmaceuticals. It’s [...]

CVRx Inc. in Plymouth, Minn. said Monday that hypertension patients using its Rheos stimulation device reported a sharp drop in blood pressure after four years.In a study presented to the European Society of Hypertension meeting, the company said patients’ average systolic blood pressure dropped 27 percent to 140 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) from 193 mmHg [...]

Ernie Andberg has a little more free time on his hands these days.The long-time “emerging medical device companies” equity analyst for Feltl & Co. in Minneapolis has not seen a lot of companies emerging lately.In fact, they’ve been disappearing all together. Case in point: Medtronic Inc.’s (NYSE: MDT) deal last week to acquire ATS Medical [...]

Someday, in the not-so-distant future, EnteroMedics Inc. officials might look back at late 2009 and laugh. Or cry.That ultimately depends on whether the Food and Drug Administration ultimately approves or rejects the company’s groundbreaking Maestro device. Approval means enormous financial success, the only implantable neurostimulation device in the United States designed to treat obesity. Rejection [...]

Patients will measure their vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse and weight, and respond to questions related to their diseases on a daily basis. A clinical care team will review the data, and will be able to use videoconferencing to further evaluate the patients.

EnteroMedics and Leptos are both developing a device that uses electricity to treat obesity. But that’s where the similarities end, EnteroMedics CEO Mark Knudson told me in a quick phone call.