ViewRay Inc., which is developing MRI-based technology to deliver radiation therapy to cancer patients, drummed up $20 million in a Series C equity offering.
The company is in the late stages of developing its technology and the funding will be used to begin selling its Renaissance System 1000 product to hospitals, according to a statement from ViewRay.
The funding round was led by new investor Siemens Venture Capital GmbH and joined by existing investors Aisling Capital, Fidelity Biosciences, Kearny Venture Partners and OrbiMed Advisors. A regulatory filing for the round lists Andrew Jay of Siemens, Aisling’s Joshua Bilenker, Robert Weisskoff of Fidelity Biosciences, David Bonita of OrbiMed and Kearny’s Caley Castelein as ViewRay directors.
“You just don’t see $20 million medical device venture rounds very often,” said Baiju Shah, CEO of BioEnterprise, a nonprofit that helps Northeast Ohio medical companies secure funding. “It’s a very significant validation from the marketplace that this company and its products have lots of potential.”
ViewRay says its technology helps doctors see exactly where radiation is being delivered to a cancer patient’s body, unlike existing technology, which doesn’t account for the movement of internal organs. That movement can cause radiation to be delivered to healthy issue, leading to harmful side-effects. The company’s technology aims to solve that problem by providing continuous soft-tissue imaging for more accurate delivery of radiation therapy.
ViewRay moved to Oakwood, in suburban Cleveland, from Florida in 2008, lured both by the region’s imaging talent and tax incentives. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority gave the company job creation tax credits worth about $537,000 over the subsequent 10 years. ViewRay pledged to hire 25 employees.
The company announced earlier this month (PDF) that Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis would become the first clinical institution to test its device.
ViewRay secured a $25 million Series B round last year.
While the company’s fundraising thus far has been impressive, its success is far from assured. That’s due in part to increased scrutiny of radiation devices by federal regulators expected on the heels of an award-winning series of New York Times articles that focused on the dangers of radiation overdoses.
ViewRay CEO Greg Ayers didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.