Stealthy Vergent Bioscience raises $9m for tumor-fluorescing tech

Vergent Bioscience came out of stealth mode today to reveal a nearly $9 million equity offering for the injectable molecular probe it’s developing to visualize tumors during surgery. Minneapolis-based Vergent Bioscience’s technology uses a proprietary injectable, tumor-targeting molecule that binds to tumor cells and fluoresces, president & CEO John Santini told MassDevice.com last week at the DeviceTalks Minnesota event in St. Paul. Based on research by Stanford University chemistry professor Matt Bogyo, Vergent’s VGT309 molecule targets an enzyme called cathepsin that’s found at the periphery of tumors, Santini told us. “It’s a small molecule; it has a dye on it that’s compatible with all current surgical imaging equipment; it’s activatable, meaning that the probe is off, it doesn’t light up until it hits its target, and then it lights up. And it also has a very unique attribute, unlike any of the others, where it actually binds to the target. So our molecule will float around and actually bind covalently and then light up,” he explained. The $8.7 million round, which began May 18 and involved 14 investors, was led by Spring Mountain Capital. “Vergent is developing a much-needed product for the surgical cancer market,” Spring Mountain managing partner Raymond Wong said in prepared remarks. “Positive tumor margins are regrettably common in surgery today and Vergent’s technology has...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Funding Roundup Imaging Oncology Wall Street Beat Vergent Bioscience Source Type: news