HAYWARD, CA--(Marketwired - April 14, 2016) - RefleXion Medical, a medical equipment company developing the first biology-guided radiotherapy system for targeted, personalized cancer treatment, announced today that it has closed a $46 million Series B round of funding. The financing was led by new investor KCK Group, a family investment fund. Also participating in the round were existing investors Pfizer Venture Investments, Venrock and Sofinnova Partners, RefleXion's largest shareholder.
In conjunction with the financing, Nael Kassar and Greg Garfield from KCK Group will join the RefleXion Board of Directors. Current Board members include Antoine Papiernik, Bill Burkoth, Colin Cahill, Dr. Fred Moll, Jay Watkins, Dr. Samuel Mazin and Akshay Nanduri.
"KCK is extremely excited to partner with RefleXion, and is committed to seeing their technology transform care for patients suffering from cancer," said Greg Garfield, Head - Medical Technologies Division at KCK Group.
Radiotherapy is a non-invasive cancer treatment procedure, often used in conjunction with medical and surgical oncology therapies. In the United States, approximately 1 million patients receive some form of radiotherapy every year. RefleXion's biology-guided radiotherapy system (BgRT) could redefine the category by utilizing both anatomic (Computed Tomography) and functional (Positron Emission Tomography) imaging data to guide personalized radiotherapy. Delivering targeted treatment based on the patient's individual biology, PET-CT guided radiotherapy has the potential to deliver a higher dose of therapeutic radiation to cancerous lesions while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
"In just two years, the RefleXion team has mitigated the core technical risks in developing a disruptive biology-guided radiotherapy system," said Dr. Samuel Mazin, Co-Founder/President of RefleXion and inventor of the company's core technology. "PET has been an effective tool to help diagnose and stage cancer using a radiotracer to map the higher metabolic activity of cancerous lesions. With this metabolic map, we could track multiple tumors in real time and precisely deliver targeted therapy based on that patient's individual biology."
In addition to the potential of improving treatment efficacy for primary lesions and tracking of multiple tumors, the RefleXion biology-guided radiotherapy system may also enable several compelling applications of precision medicine. This may include the use of novel PET tracers to adapt treatment based on relevant biological tumor characteristics such as tumor hypoxia, cellular proliferation, DNA synthesis and genetic markers.
Proceeds from the Series B financing will be allocated towards expanding RefleXion's Engineering, Regulatory and Commercial organizations. "On behalf of the company and existing investors, I would like to welcome KCK Group as we work together to advance cancer care in a significant way. This major financing, along with the collective support, vision and guidance of Sofinnova Partners, Pfizer and Venrock, will allow the Company to achieve the development and regulatory milestones preceding a commercial launch of this paradigm-changing technology," said Jay Watkins, Chairman of RefleXion.
About KCK Group
KCK is a family investment fund that invests in a diverse set of industries, including medical technologies.
About RefleXion Medical
RefleXion Medical is a privately held medical device company developing the first biology-guided radiotherapy (BgRT) system for cancer treatment. By leveraging Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in a novel way, RefleXion's patented technology will allow tumors to continuously signal their location during treatment and potentially revolutionize the practice of radiation oncology. RefleXion is backed by premier investment firms Sofinnova Partners, KCK Group, Pfizer Venture Investments and Venrock. The company has also received grant funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
For more information, visit www.reflexionmedical.com and follow @reflexionmed on Twitter.
Contact Information:
RefleXion Medical Contact
press[at]reflexionmedical.com