Cochlear and GN Hearing Announce New, Expanded Partnership
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA & COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Hearing implant maker, Cochlear, and GN announced today that the two companies have signed an agreement to significantly expand their Smart Hearing Alliance collaboration. The Smart Hearing Alliance was established in 2015 to develop integrated hearing solutions – giving hearing aid and cochlear implant recipients access to the latest…
Read More
Cochlear Loses US Patent Case, Ordered to Pay $268 Million in Damages; Company Plans to Appeal Ruling
In an announcement Monday, a U.S. district court has ordered Australian hearing implant maker, Cochlear, to pay $268.1 million in damages in a patent infringement case brought against the company filed by the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research and Advanced Bionics LLC. Following the announcement, the company’s stock was trading down nearly four…
Read More
Cochlear Ltd Pledges $10 million to Johns Hopkins to Fund Hearing Loss and Public Health Research
CENTENNIAL, COLORADO — Cochlear Limited announced that it will be pledging a gift of $10 million to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to establish the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health. According to the announcement, the new Center will be led by Dr. Frank Lin and will be the first of…
Read More
Cochlear Ltd Announces Research Study Collaboration, and $1.9M Placement, with Sensorion
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Hearing implant maker, Cochlear Ltd, announced a strategic collaboration with French biotech firm, Sensorion. The collaboration will examine therapeutic approaches using Sensorion’s investigative drug, SENS-401, in combination with cochlear implants. According to the press release, the preclinical studies will be initiated in 2018, with possible clinical trials beginining as early as 2019.…
Read More
Remote Programming via Telemedicine Approved for Cochlear Implants
Telemedicine appears to be gaining some traction within audiology circles, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a remote feature for follow-up programming sessions for the Nucleus Cochlear Implant System on November 17. The remote programming feature is indicated for patients who have had six months of experience with their cochlear implant sound processor…
Read More
Earlens Announces Final Close of $118M Financing for Light-Driven Hearing Aid
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA — The Earlens Corporation announced this week the final close of its $73 million Series C preferred stock financing, and the establishment of a structured debt facility with CRG LP for up to $45 million. According to the company’s press release, proceeds from the financing will support the expanded commercialization of the…
Read More
Cochlear Acquires Sycle, World’s Largest Provider of Audiology Office Management Software
Cochlear Ltd, a leading implantable device manufacturer, announced on May 11 the acquisition of Sycle LLC. Sycle is one of the world’s largest providers of audiology practice management software. Sycle software is said to be used by over 7,000 clinics in the US, UK and Canada. In the US, Sycle has an estimated 70% market…
Read More
Chris Smith, head of Cochlear Americas, named to top job at world’s largest CI manufacturer
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA–Chris Smith, who has been head of operations in North America for Cochlear for more than a decade will become CEO of the Australian-based parent company, Cochlear announced on May 25. He will succeed Chris Roberts, who has been CEO of Cochlear, the world’s largest manufacturer of cochlear implants, since 2003. Smith, who will…
Read More
Five inventors of the cochlear implant to be awarded Russ Prize in engineering
WASHINGTON, DC–Five scientists whose contributions led to the invention of the cochlear implant, which has provided hearing to hundreds of thousands of deaf people, will receive the 2015 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, awarded biennially by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). The honorees–Graeme M. Clark, MD, PhD; Michael M. Merzenich, PhD; Erwin Hochmair,…
Read More
CMS plans to end Medicare coverage of bone-anchored hearing systems
By David H. Kirkwood This post was updated on July 31. CENTENNIAL, CO—People with hearing loss have long complained that Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of hearing aids. Now, older Americans who need help with their hearing face the loss of coverage for another type of treatment, osseo-integrated (or bone-anchored) devices, such as the Cochlear™…
Read More