HistoSonics announced today that it has closed a $54 million Series C financing. The round was led by Varian Medical Systems, Inc., the global leader in radiation therapy and oncology solutions, and included healthcare investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Lumira Ventures, Venture Investors, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, as well as participation from existing investors. The financing also included robotics pioneer Fred Moll, MD, founder of Intuitive Surgical and former Chairman and CEO of Auris Health. HistoSonics plans to use the proceeds of the financing to complete key regulatory and commercial milestones and expand development of its breakthrough platform.
“We believe that the HistoSonics platform offers a unique solution and significant promise to treat patients with a number of different diseases across global markets and care settings,” commented Greg Sorensen, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Varian and new HistoSonics Board of Directors member. Also joining the company’s Board as part of the financing are Gerry Brunk, Managing Director of Lumira Ventures, and an appointee from JJDC.
HistoSonics’ non-invasive platform, Robotically Assisted Sonic Therapy (RASTSM), combines advanced robotics and imaging with proprietary sensing technology to deliver personalized treatments with unparalleled precision and control, and uses the science of histotripsy and focused sound energy to generate pressures strong enough to liquify and completely destroy targeted tissues at sub-cellular levels. The company believes that the novel mechanism of action of their proprietary technology provides significant advantages to patients, including the ability of the treatment site to recover and heal quickly, as well as provides physicians the unique ability to monitor the destruction of tissue under continuous real-time visualization and control, unlike any modality that exists today.
“We are very excited to be adding this group of experienced investment partners who share in our vision and mission,” said President and CEO Mike Blue. “RAST will offer transformative change for both patients and physicians and will help overcome many of the major limitations and side effects of today’s cancer therapies. It has also shown great promise to work synergistically with other therapies and platforms, such as drug and immunotherapy, a big focus of our preclinical work, as well as with other surgical robotic platforms. We are confident that RAST will provide an entirely new experience for patients and physicians, as well as a more cost-effective alternative that better aligns with value-based healthcare initiatives, and we are thrilled to have such a strong syndicate joining us on this journey.”
The new financing follows a year of impressive progress at HistoSonics. The company achieved significant development milestones and generated compelling early clinical evidence, as well as continued to add deep domain experience and industry leadership to its team. HistoSonics was also recognized as one of the most promising start-ups with a top 10 ranking in The Observer’s “Top 20 Flyover Tech.”
Caution: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician.
The Edison® System is intended for the non-invasive mechanical destruction of liver tumors, including the partial or complete destruction of unresectable liver tumors via histotripsy. The FDA has not evaluated the Edison System for the treatment of any disease including, but not limited to, cancer or evaluated any specific cancer outcomes (such as local tumor progression, 5-year survival or overall survival). The System should only be used by persons who have completed training performed by HistoSonics, and its use guided by the clinical judgment of an appropriately trained physician. Refer to the device Instructions for Use for a complete list of warnings, precautions and a summary of clinical trial results, including reported adverse events.
