Israeli company Radiaction, which has developed a system that protects doctors performing catheterization and other surgical procedures under conditions of prolonged exposure to radiation, has raised $18 million. US private equity fund InnovaHealth Partners led the financing round.
Dr. Amir Belson founded Radiaction and Jonathan Yifat srves as CEO. Belson previously worked in the US, and sold three companies for a combined total of $250 million, among them NeoGuide Systems, acquired by Intuitive Surgical in 2009; Vascular Pathways, acquired by Zipline in 2015; and CR Bard, acquired by Stryker in 2019. Radiaction, the first company that Belson has founded in Israel, began in the Rad biotechnology incubator. Radiaction previously raised $6 million. Among its investors is SV Ventures.
At present, medical teams in catheterization and other surgical rooms are very exposed to radiation. The have to wear lead gowns to protect some of their organs, but heavy lead gowns cause severe back pain, a condition common among doctors in these branches of medical practice. Most of them develop cataracts because of the radiation reaching their eyes and the frequency of brain tumors among them is higher than in the general population, because their heads are not protected.
Radiaction has developed a device that shields the radiation source, instead of the doctor. At present, the radiation source cannot be shielded, because the device must move around the patient and photograph him or her from many angles. Radiaction's device also calibrates itself. At any angle at which the radiation source remains in one place, shielding walls emerge robotically, surround the radiation source, and form a partition between the radiation and the doctor. Initial studies conducted by the company showed that the device reduced radiation in the operating theater by over 90%.
InnovaHealth, which manages $200 million, announced that it would increase its exposure to Israel, after being a partner in a successful Israeli healthcare exit - OrthoSpace, sold to US company Stryker last year for $220 million. Radiaction is InnovaHealth's first investment since this announcement.
Yifat said today, "The current financing round is a significant step forward for the company, and will enable us to bring our groundbreaking technology into catheterization rooms - to move from development to production, hire more excellent personnel, enlarge our marketing set-up, and develop new products."
InnovaHealth managing director Dr. Ariella Golomb said, "We are impressed with the Radiaction team and the company’s innovative technology. We expect our investment to significantly accelerate Radiaction’s commercial development and expand its clinical leadership, with an initial focus on interventional cardiology and electrophysiology."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 21, 2020
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