OCT imaging company Michelson Diagnostics closes $3.8M of $6.1M Series B financing
Multibeam optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system maker Michelson Diagnostics (Maidstone, Kent, England) has closed the $3.8 million (£2.5 million) first tranche of its Series B financing. This was led by global medical technology business Smith & Nephew (its strategic investor), and included new investor Kent County Council as well as existing investors.
Related: OCT developments address skin cancer diagnosis
The $3.3 million investment will be used to expand the company's commercial presence in Germany, launch its next-generation VivoSight OCT tissue imaging system, complete the ongoing U.S. multi-center clinical biopsy avoidance study, and explore further applications of the VivoSight system in areas such as wound care and dentistry. The company is also in discussions with other investors regarding the $2.3 million (£1.5 million) second tranche of its Series B financing, which is expected to close in the coming months.
The VivoSight point-of-care tissue imaging system noninvasively obtains images of the epidermis and superficial dermis of the skin for accurate, pain-free diagnosis in real time. The company's initial clinical application is for the diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), the most common form of skin cancer.
In March 2014, the company announced positive top line results from the successfully completed multi-center, prospective clinical trial in Germany for the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma using the system at the American Academy of Dermatology's 72nd Annual Meeting (Denver, CO). Full results from the trial have been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the specificity and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of basal cell carcinoma diagnosis over both clinical and dermoscopy diagnosis.
VivoSight currently has regulatory clearance in Europe and Australia, and FDA clearance in the U.S.
Andrew Boyes, senior VP of strategic initiatives at Smith & Nephew, will join the company's Board. Together, they will collaborate to explore new indications for VivoSight, such as the investigation of burn depth assessment.
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