TopSpin Medical today announced that it has raised $16.5 million in its second round of financing. The round was led by Pitango Venture Capital and Giza Venture Capital and was managed by the Israeli investment bank TopNotch Capital. Other participants in this round were Israel Seed Partners, Platinum and Neurone Ventures, Peregrine Ventures, IIRF, and Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital fund, for which it is a second investment in the company.
TopSpin Medical has developed a technology platform which enables MRI to be conducted with no external magnets. According to the company, the ability to perform local MRI with no external magnets is a breakthrough in medical imaging as it enables the extension of MRI technology to a wide range of applications, in which conventional MRI is simply too bulky and expensive. A miniature, portable imaging probe, containing all the magnetic field sources enables high-resolution local MRI to be conducted without the bulkiness of conventional MRIs and at much lower costs.
The primary application developed by TopSpin is high-resolution imaging of coronary artery walls during cardiac catheterization. “Interventional Cardiology is currently undergoing a revolution”, said Erez Golan, a physicist and TopSpin's founder and CEO. “Research has shown that heart attacks the leading cause of death in the Western world are caused by Vulnerable Plaques: fatty pools in coronary artery walls, which can undergo rupture without prior warning, leading to occlusion of vital arteries. To date, it has not been possible to detect these plaques. TopSpin’s miniature MRI probe, located at the tip of a disposable intravascular catheter, allows these plaques to be detected, leading to drug treatment or intervention, such as placing a coronary stent, in order to prevent future heart attacks”.
According to Golan, over the past year TopSpin received offers from leading cardiology companies to conduct joint clinical trials during 2003. The trials will test the efficacy of identifying and treating Vulnerable Plaques, a market estimated by ‘Fortune’ magazine to reach approximately $10 billion by 2010. “Aside from the cardiology market, we intend to develop other medical applications, such as imaging of the prostate and colon with a portable hand-held MRI probe, in order to assist the physician in detecting tumors and selecting a course of treatment”.
Dr. Avi Molcho, Managing Director, Life Sciences at Giza Venture Capital, said, “The current financing round is a significant achievement for the company in terms of the amount of capital raised and the funds that participated. Giza decided to invest in the round due to the company’s technological breakthrough and the quality of its management and development team, which work closely with top tier medical professionals worldwide. The capital raised by TopSpin will allow it to begin human clinical trials in the first half of 2003, receive marketing clearance in Europe and in the US and start marketing its products at the beginning of 2004”.
“Great efforts are currently being made by the industry to identify vulnerable plaques”, said Dr. Nissim Darvish, Vice-President at Pitango Venture Capital. “We believe that the MRI technology developed by TopSpin is the most promising. In addition, this technology can be used in other fields that also have a substantial market potential. The capital raised will allow TopSpin to become a world leader in its field”.
Udi Gilboa, CEO of the Israeli investment bank TopNotch Capital, which specializes in the life sciences sector, said that this significant financing round and the confidence in TopSpin expressed by a leading group of investors, is yet another proof that VC funds specializing in life sciences are ready to continue investing in companies with unique technology, a wide spectrum of applications and a highly qualified management team.
Dr. Ran Goshen, Director of Life Sciences at Israel Seed Partners, has outlined the major contribution of TopSpin's innovation towards a better tissue characterization, using a platform magnetic resonance technology. The technology will enable the clinician to achieve a better resolution of tissues under investigation, thereby improving diagnostic accuracy and patient management. "We are delighted to be a major partner in this round, in which all local top-tier healthcare investors have joined together to provide a strong financial backing for this highly innovative early-stage company" said Dr. Goshen.
TopSpin was founded in 1999. It R&D center is in Lod, Israel.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 22, 2002