FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release
IMPRESSIVE COMBINATION OF STELLAR FUNDING AND NCI GRANTS READIES TECHNISCAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS FOR COMMERCIAL SALES
Ultrasound Technology Company Closes Record $13MM Financing Round
Salt Lake City, Utah; February 19, 2008. TechniScan Medical Systems (TMS) Inc., a Salt Lake City-based developer of ultrasound technology for breast imaging, today announced it has closed its Series E Preferred Funding round at a total of $13 million. The lead investor in this round is a strategic investor - the Esaote Group, an international leader in the production of ultrasound and MRI medical imaging technologies. Esaote was joined in this round by return backers from TechniScan’s entire Board of Directors and many Angel Investors.
“This latest funding round highlights the tremendous confidence that our investors have in our technology and the growing potential of its clinical applications,” noted TMS CEO David C. Robinson. “With the partnership with Esaote, we now have all the pieces we need to complete our technology testing and begin the next set of clinical trials that will take us all the way to the finish line.” Pending final FDA approval, Robinson expects commercial sales of the UltraSound CT™ Imaging System to start at the end of 2008.
TMS will begin its next set of clinical trials at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in May 2008. “By combining this sizable financing round with our current backlog of NIH-NCI grants,” Robinson commented, “we are now in the lucky position of being able to conduct clinical trials more quickly and at more locations than we had previously planned. The Company is hopeful that we can secure additional clinical investigation sites by late in 2008 here in Salt Lake City and at other luminary hospitals throughout the U.S. and Europe.”
The company’s proprietary breast scanning system is intended to provide physicians with new, automated, non-invasive tools for diagnostic breast imaging. “TechniScan’s innovative approach to breast imaging has the potential to change the way breast disease is diagnosed and treated in the United States and around the world,” said Esaote Group Managing Director and General Manager Fabrizio Landi. “We expect that this partnership will create new diagnostic solutions as well as fresh opportunities for both companies in the medical, scientific, and industrial sectors.”
Commensurate with the financing, TMS and Esaote have entered into an Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) agreement that allows TMS to integrate Esaote’s products and technologies in products developed by TMS while the TMS technology will be used in future Esaote ultrasound systems. The Companies have also executed an exclusive distribution agreement for the European market and are looking at developing further agreements for additional commercial cooperation for the American market.
Since July of 2001, TMS has raised nearly $30 million in equity financing and $4 million in federal grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
ABOUT TECHNISCAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS
TechniScan Medical Systems, Inc. (TMS) is a private company that grew out of the University Of Utah Department Of Bioengineering. TMS develops innovative 3D medical imaging technology using both reflection and transmission ultrasound to create tomographic images of the female breast. TMS’s unique UltraSound CT breast scanning systems are intended to provide physicians with new, automated, non-invasive tools for diagnostic breast imaging. TMS has developed this technology with the continued support of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Centers for Excellence Program in Utah, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Information concerning TechniScan Medical Systems, Inc and its products is available at www.techniscanmedical.com. The TMS breast UltraSound CTTM imaging device is limited by US law to investigational use until cleared by the FDA.
ABOUT ESAOTE, S.p.A.
With a 2007 consolidated turnover of about $370 million (USD) – of which approximately 60% was generated in international markets – the Esaote Group operates wholly owned subsidiaries in Holland, France, Germany, Spain, USA, Argentine, Brazil, China and India. Today Esaote employs 1200 employees, 20% of whom are employed in Research & Development activities. Information concerning Esaote and its products is available at www.esaote.com.
PRESS CONTACTS:
For Esaote (USA - Italy)
Mariangela Dellepiane
Tel.:
For TechniScan
Mary Kay Lazarus Office or Annie Last
About TechniScan Medical Systems, Inc.
TechniScan Medical Systems (TMS) is a publicly traded medical device company engaged in the development and commercialization of a revolutionary ultrasound imaging system, SvaraTM, that uses a process called Warm Bath Ultrasound (WBUTM) to provide automated, 3D, high quality ultrasound images of the human breast. SvaraTM is designed to provide physicians with a new, non-invasive, diagnostic imaging tool that will provide detailed information about the anatomy (i.e. physical structures within the breast) and pathology (i.e. bulk tissue properties). The Svara WBUTM is a B-mode and reflection tomographic ultrasound system for imaging a patient's whole breast.
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For More Information: Press and Media Andy Cier TechniScan Medical Systems |
Investor Relations Dave Robinson, CEO TechniScan Medical Systems ext. 103 |
