Delphinus Medical Technologies has landed a $39.5 million Series C funding round, the largest ever for a medical device startup in Michigan.
The Plymouth-based, breast-cancer detection startup has been growing quickly since it spun out of Wayne State University in 2010. It has hired 10 people over the last year, expanding its staff to 40 people.
"We're adding people pretty rapidly," says Mark Forchette, president & CEO of
Delphinus Medical Technologies. "Soon we will be at 50-55 people."
Delphinus Medical Technologies principal technology is SoftVue, a whole breast ultrasound system that allows physicians to image the entire breast, including the chest wall. SoftVue incorporates a circular ultrasound transducer, presenting cross-sectional ultrasound slices through the entire volume of breast tissue. The multi-dimensional imaging captures not only reflected echoes in a 360-degree array, but also signals passing through the breast, depicting tissue characterization.
The expectation is the technology will do a number of things to help improve the detecting breast cancer process. Patients no longer have to go through a compression or other uncomfortable moments when using SoftVue. The platform is also expected to help doctors find breast cancer with more accuracy and eliminate more false positives.
"We will have the ability to help so many more women when they go in for a screening," Forchette says.
The $39.5 million Series C round was led by Farmington Hills-based
Beringea. Other local investors include Ann Arbor-based
Arboretum Ventures and
North Coast Technology Investors. Venture Investors, Hopen Life Science Ventures, and Waycross Ventures also participated in the Series C.
Delphinus Medical Technologies will use the money to further the commercialization of SoftVue with a plan for launching it next year and doing a harder push in 2017.
It is planning to launch a large multi-site clinical study to support a PMA application for a supplemental screening indication for women with dense breasts later this year. Delphinus Medical Technologies will begin by prospectively imaging 10,000 women with SoftVue in eight centers across the country. The study will compare SoftVue to digital mammography, and demonstrate its effectiveness in finding cancers that are not seen with mammography, while reducing false positives, thereby reducing the need for follow-up testing
Source: Mark Forchette, president & CEO of Delphinus Medical Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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