St. Louis Business Journal by Patricia Miller, Editor
Otologics LLC, a medical device company with St. Louis ties that was founded in 1996, has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Otologics makes middle ear hearing implants based on Dr. John Fredrickson’s research into improving hearing by coupling a vibrator to the ossicular chain in the 1970s while he was a surgeon and researcher at Washington University School of Medicine. During the 1980s, Fredrickson formally launched an implantable hearing research project.
That attracted funding that led to the formation of Otologics, which was founded by Jose Bedoya in Boulder, Colo. Otologics products include MET, the semi-implantable hearing system, and Carina, the fully implantable hearing system, which the company claims is the only such system that offers a rechargeable battery and a microphone that is fully implanted under the skin.
Otologics filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Missouri. It listed assets of $10 million to $50 million and gave the same range for its debts. The company’s major creditor is SA Neurelec with $5.5 million owed, according to its bankruptcy filing. Attorney David Warfield is handling the case for Otologics.