Acuitas Medical on course for full commercialisation
17th June 2011
Award-winning MRI technology developer, Acuitas Medical Limited,
will use a further undisclosed round of investment from Finance
Wales to accelerate the development of its unique and patented MRI
technology which potentially represents a major advance in
non-invasive early diagnosis for a wide range of diseases including
cancer.
This latest round is the Swansea-based company’s second round
from Finance Wales in the last two years. Altima Partners, which
made the original institutional investment in Acuitas, also
participated in this round. Acuitas Medical will use the investment
to undertake further clinical validation and product development of
its fineSA™ software prior to full
commercialisation, along with QA and regulatory processes.
“fineSA is a completely novel
technology with the real potential to revolutionise the early
diagnosis of a range of diseases of the liver, lung and brain,
together with breast cancer and osteoporosis. It can accurately
pinpoint the early signs of disease by measuring the fine
structural changes that are early markers for disease which cannot
be imaged by current MRI technologies,” said Peter E Taylor,
Acuitas Medical’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder.
He added: “fineSA can be very simply
installed on any clinical or research MRI scanner without the need
for additional hardware. It dramatically improves the scanner’s
performance by distinguishing small structural changes and will
help radiologists to make more informed diagnoses.”
Acuitas Medical’s technology also has the potential to play an
important role in preclinical research and drug development. It can
monitor the effectiveness of treatment therapies over the various
phases involved in bringing a drug to market.
Dr Richard Thompson, Early Stage Investments Manager at Finance
Wales, said: “This is our second investment in Acuitas Medical in
the last two years and a very exciting time for the company.
fineSA has the potential to revolutionise
early diagnosis in a cost-effective way.
“We’re extremely pleased with the progress Acuitas Medical has
made since our initial investment in 2010. Not only has it
strengthened its management team, but it has also established a
number of world-class collaborations with clinicians, radiologists
and researchers. We look forward to the successful completion of
the company’s latest phase of clinical trials and then to full
commercialisation.”
Acuitas Medical collaborates with a number of prominent research
institutions to develop its software, including Emory University,
Atlanta; Oxford NHS Trust; Ludwig Maximilians Universität (LMÜ)
Munich; Cambridge Research Institute; Cambridge University; Oxford
University; University of California at Santa Barbara and Swansea
University.
November, 2010 saw Acuitas Medical win the Best New Radiology
Vendor award at the annual ‘Minnies’ at the Radiological Society of
North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago. The prestigious
‘Minnie’ awards are hosted by radiology website portal,
AuntMinnie.com and recognise global excellence in radiology and
medical imaging.
Advisors on the deal were John Collins & Partners LLP and
Hugh James.