IMALUX CORPORATION COMPLETES $3.5 MILLION FINANCING
Cleveland, Ohio, September 24, 2003 -- Imalux Corporation ("Imalux"), a developer and marketer of medical imaging systems based on Optical Coherence Tomography ("OCT") technology, announced today that the company has closed its Series A financing, raising a total of $3.5 million. The latest financing, totaling $1.95 million, was led by investments from Early Stage Partners, Reservoir Venture Partners, Biomec, and Symark LLC.
The funds will be used to prepare and submit the company's imaging platform for approval to market by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, additional clinical studies, and to lay the groundwork for manufacturing and marketing of the device, according to J. Lloyd Breedlove, President and Chief Executive Officer of Imalux.
"We are very pleased with the confidence in Imalux demonstrated by this financing, both by our current shareholders and new investors," said Breedlove. "This capital raise will permit us to aggressively execute a very important part of our commercialization strategic plan."
Optical Coherence Tomography uses light to create high quality, real-time medical images. It is the only technology that can detect, in vivo, structural disruptions in soft tissues, allowing clinicians to make earlier and more accurate diagnoses as well as enabling more precise surgical excisions of damaged tissues. The Imalux imaging device has the potential to create a large new segment of the medical imaging industry.
Imalux intends to deploy the technology as a diagnostic tool and as an adjunct to guided surgery to satisfy a number of unmet medical needs. The device is currently being tested by physicians in a variety of specialty areas at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, George Washington University Hospital, and other leading medical institutions.
“It’s been a true pleasure to watch Imalux develop over the last two years,” commented Jonathan Murray, managing director, Early Stage Partners. “At the core of the business is great technology from our partners at the Institute of Applied Physics. Added to that now are a product platform that will soon be ready to submit for FDA clearance, a high quality management team, and a strong and growing base of investors who are committed to the company’s success. Imalux’ ability to attract investment capital to Cleveland is a testament to a lot of hard work by a lot of good people,” he said.
Imalux investor and Board Member Joseph Teague, a veteran of the medical imaging industry as a founder of Technicare, acknowledges the strong potential of OCT technology to reshape the medical imaging market. “OCT offers unique characteristics, and is potentially affordable even to a physician in a solo practice,” he said. “I believe it could become the next major imaging modality.”
"We were attracted by an exceptional group of experience entrepreneurs and a unique technology with broad potential," said Curtis D. Crocker, Managing Partner at Reservoir Venture Partners. "We believe that Imalux's new class of imaging technology can be applied in a wide variety of healthcare settings."
Physicians who have tested the device on various conditions report positively on the potential impact of OCT technology in the diagnostic process.
"The Imalux device, which uses harmless infrared light, is able to separate normal from abnormal cervical cells, simply by touching the cervical tissue at the time of examination," said Jerome Belinson, M.D., Gynecological Oncologist, at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where the device has been tested on patients.
"OCT has the advantage of higher resolution than ultrasound - at least ten times higher," added Bo Shen, M.D., also from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, who has tested the device for Gastroenterology applications. "The Imalux OCT unit is completely portable - much more portable than ultrasound - and doesn't require any media, like ultrasound."
"OCT is a minimally-invasive diagnostic light technology that I have followed with great interest for several years," notes Michael J. Manyak, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology and Professor of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine at The George Washington University Medical Center, "Its development into a portable, efficient imaging procedure holds great promise to help identify bladder cancer, determine its depth of penetration, and to monitor treatment responses. This technique should be applicable to many types of surface tumors."
"Great products and great people attract investment," said Matt Jennings, President of BioEnterprise Corporation, a Cleveland developer of bioscience companies that works closely with Imalux. "Imalux has both. In recent months they've augmented their excellent management team with the addition of Lloyd Breedlove as President & CEO, and they are poised to significantly reshape imaging technology."
About Imalux
Imalux is a Cleveland-based corporation that is commercializing Optical Coherence Tomography ("OCT") technology originally developed at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the two main progenitors of OCT technology worldwide. OCT is a proven technology that is on the verge of becoming the sixth major imaging modality. The technology was brought to Cleveland with the help of local investors and service providers, and has been refined and tested on over 2,000 patients worldwide, including over 300 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
About Early Stage Partners LP
Early Stage Partners LP is an early stage venture capital fund based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company invests primarily in promising opportunities in the life sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing, and polymers and advanced materials. The company's principals have over sixty years combined experience in early stage company formation and development, with a significant network of relationships throughout the United State that can be used to attract management, develop strategic partnerships, and provide later stage funding.
About Reservoir Venture Partners
Reservoir Venture Partners, a venture capital firm located in Columbus, Ohio, brings capital, business-building acumen, and a strong network to entrepreneurs and their teams. Reservoir targets investments in seed and early-stage technology-focused companies with an emphasis on biosciences and information technology. The firm focuses on investments in Ohio and throughout the Midwest.
About Biomec
BIOMEC Inc. is a biomedical device company established in 1998 with the specific objective of accelerating promising technology from major medical and academic institutions, national laboratories, and from internal proprietary developments to successful commercial products. BIOMEC operates facilities in Cleveland and in Minneapolis. BIOMEC has more than twenty-five customers, which include both major medical device OEMs and start-up companies, primarily in the fields of cardiac rhythm management and neuromodulation. Additionally, BIOMEC has product development and investment coalitions with NeuroControl Corp. in Cleveland, and Imalux Corporation in Cleveland.
About BioEnterprise Corporation
BioEnterprise Corporation is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration company committed to supporting the growth of bioscience companies. BioEnterprise provides mission-critical senior management and support services to early stage and emerging growth companies. The BioEnterprise management team is comprised of executives with extensive experience in growing bioscience and technology companies.
Located in Cleveland, Ohio, its founders and equal partners are Case Western Reserve University, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and University Hospitals Health System, Inc. Additional regional technology partners include the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State University, and NorTech.
Contact information:
IMALUX:
J. Lloyd Breedlove
President & CEO
1771 E 30th street
Cleveland OH 44114
phone: 216.502.0755
mobile: 704.756.7984
email: jlbreedlove@imalux.com
web: www.imalux.com
BIOENTERPRISE:
Paul Nickels
Director, Corporate Communications
BioEnterprise
11000 Cedar Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
phone: 216.6589.3966
cell: 216.402.0510
fax: 216.229.7323
email: pnickels@bioenterprise.com
web: www.bioenterprise.com