In today’s Bulldog update of technology news: Envisia gets positive trial results; Raleigh one of best spots in the world to start a career; nearly half of smartphones sold on installment plans.

Envisia trial results for glaucoma drug positive

Envisia Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel extended-release therapies in ophthalmology, says the first clinical trial of its lead product, ENV515, showed significant and clinically meaningful results in lowering eye pressure in glaucoma patients.

With these results, Envisia has chosen to advance ENV515 into a 12-month study that is designed to evaluate the long-term interoccular-pressure-lowering effect of ENV515, which in pre-clinical studies demonstrated up to eight months of IOP-lowering effect after a single dose.

months of IOP-lowering effect after a single dose. The company says the results demonstrate the power of its PRINT engineering and manufacturing platform technology in developing therapies for ocular diseases. It plans to apply it to other ocular problems, such as age-related macular degeneration.

“This phase 2a study outcome is a promising start in the clinical development of ENV515 and the goal of an extended-release therapy that has the potential to provide sustained IOP control for the vast majority of glaucoma patients for multiple months after a single dose,” said Steven L. Mansberger, M.D., MPH, Vice-Chair, Director of Glaucoma Services at Devers Eye Institute and lead investigator for the ENV515 phase 2a trial.

Raleigh one of the best places to start a career

Raleigh is one of the best places to start a career worldwide, according to a new report from Cambridge, MA-based Hubspot. The site ranked the top 12 cities worldwide on cost of living, jobs, and quality of life.

Raleigh landed at number seven in the ranking.

Austin, Texas claimed the top spot, followed by Amsterdam, Netherlands; Santiago, Chile; Washington, DC; Denver, CO; Houston; and trailed by Montreal Canada, Boston; Dallas, Minneapolis, and Sydney, Australia.

For the full report see: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-cities-start-career-after-college

Nearly half of smartphones sold on installment plans

In the quarter that ended in August, 47 percent of smartphones sold in the U.S. wer tied to installment plans, according to Kantar WordlPanel ComTech.

Buys made via standard contracts accounted for 20 percent of sales. The rest were prepaid plans.

All four major US carriers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile – offer plans that require buyers to pay for or lease the phone in full with the option to upgrade to a new phone after a certain period.

During the quarter 55 percent of iPhone installment plans were for an iPhone 6, while 22 percent were for an iPhone 6 Plus. Of the Samsung phones bought on an installment plan, 36 percent were for the Galaxy S6, while Galaxy S6 Edge had 12 percent.