TORONTO, CANADA -- (January 5, 2017) Exact Imaging (www.exactimaging.com), the world’s leader in high resolution micro-ultrasound systems enabling real-time imaging and biopsy guidance for the prostate, announced it has secured CDN $21.5 million in a Series C investment to commercialize its ExactVu™ micro-ultrasound system. The financing, which closed late in 2016, was co-led by Lumira Capital (Toronto, ON) and Vesalius Biocapital (Luxembourg) with participation from numerous new investors including PMV (Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen) (Brussels, Belgium) and strong support from existing investors including iGan Partners/Rowanwood Ventures (Toronto, ON).
“We are very pleased to have been able to achieve an investment of this magnitude from such a high quality investment syndicate. This financing will allow us to scale our commercial organization, aggressively implement our product roadmap, and help us to realize the significant opportunity in the prostate biopsy and imaging marketplace”, says Randy AuCoin, Exact Imaging’s President and CEO.
“We have followed the evolution of the Exact Imaging story for a number of years and in May of 2016 we participated in bridge financing to support this financing process and to allow the company to achieve regulatory approvals in key markets. Having met those milestones, we are very pleased to be a co-lead on this financing which is one of largest financing rounds for a private Canadian medical device company in Canada for 2016”, said Peter van der Velden, Managing General Partner of Lumira Capital. “The Lumira Investment reflects both our view that the technology addresses a significant unmet market and patient need and that the Exact team is the right team to successfully scale the business globally”, said Dr. Jacki Jenuth, Principal at Lumira Capital.
Dr. Gaston Matthyssens, Managing Partner of Vesalius Biocapital, noted, “Exact Imaging’s micro-ultrasound technology has the potential to change the standard of patient care in the urological practice by providing the urologist with the very tool they have been seeking. Specifically, a solution for prostate biopsies that provides much better resolution, is controlled by the urologist and is based on a known technology and workflow. With resolution down to 70 microns or 0.07 of a millimeter, the ExactVu high resolution system provides a 300% improvement in imaging resolution compared to the traditional standard-of-care urological ultrasound systems. Urologists now have a tool, designed around their workflow, to facilitate the detailed interrogation and visualization of suspicious regions and perform targeted prostate biopsies.”
PMV’s Dr. Alexandra Tolia, added, “Our participation in Exact Imaging’s Series C financing reflects our fund’s investment strategy in healthcare. Specifically, we invest in companies with a disruptive technology, a unique product pipeline that addresses a highly unmet medical need and with an excellent management team committed to bringing these products to market and consequently, to the patient. Through this financing, we are excited to support Exact Imaging in realizing their international development plan, including the creation of its European headquarters in Flanders, which will be spearheading the commercial roll-out efforts for the ExactVu system in Europe”.
“As a founding investor in Exact Imaging and longtime supporter of the company, we have always believed in the potential of this high resolution micro-ultrasound technology and the impact it could have on the urology marketplace”, says Mr. Sam Ifergan, CEO of iGan Partners/Rowanwood Ventures. “Having worked with this management team in the past on other successful ventures, we were fully confident to further invest in this round to support the Company’s future and the pursuit of this next level of commercialization.”
Mr. van der Velden, Dr. Matthyssens and Dr. Tolia will be joining Exact Imaging’s Board of Directors along with existing Board members Mr. Ifergan (co-founder, iGan Partners/Rowanwood Ventures), Mr. William Wortman (Private Investor), Dr. Harold Wodlinger (Wodlinger Consulting) and Exact Imaging’s President and CEO, Mr. AuCoin.
Exact Imaging (www.exactimaging.com) is the world’s leader in high-resolution micro-ultrasound systems enabling real-time imaging and guided biopsies in the urological market for prostate cancer. Exact Imaging’s ExactVu™ micro-ultrasound platform operates at 29 MHz and enables a whole new level of resolution with the benefits of ease of use, affordability, and being an extension of the current urological workflow. Using the Exact Imaging platform, urologists will now be able to visualize areas of interest in the prostate and specifically target biopsies at those areas in addition to performing systematic biopsy protocols. The ExactVu™ micro-ultrasound system has recently been granted regulatory approval in the European Union (CE Mark) and the United States (FDA 510(k) where the company will initiate its commercialization focus. Exact Imaging was founded in 2013 by Mr. Sam Ifergan (iGan Partners) and Mr. Randy AuCoin to develop and commercialize this novel high resolution technology in order to disrupt the market and enable new levels of clinical imaging.
