InSightec said today that it reeled in a $59 million Series D round from institutional investors in the U.S. and Asia and named Dr. Maurice Ferré as chairman of the board.
InSightec developed the ExAblate MR-guided ultrasound targeting technology.
In September, the company reported raising $12.5 million from Shanghai GEOC Hengtong Investment and Fortune China in return for a 5% stake in the Israeli company.
Ferré was chairman & CEO of Make Surgical until its $1.68 billion acquisition by Stryker (NYSE:SYK). He replaces Tom Gentile at InSightec, who departed to assume the president & COO role at GE Capital, according to a press release.
“I am very excited to be part of the company transforming the way surgery is being performed. InSightec is at the forefront of the global shift towards non-invasive surgery that has the potential to improve patient outcomes, reduce morbidity and trauma while also reducing cost. The $59 million round of financing assures that InSightec’s impressive series of technological breakthroughs will continue. I am impressed that the company just completed enrollment of an FDA pivotal study for the neurosurgical application of essential tremors. InSightec will change the face of medicine and open a new therapeutic horizon that will benefit millions of patients," Ferré said in prepared remarks.
"We are pleased and honored to welcome Maurice to our board as our executive chairman. He has an impressive track record of building transformational companies. Maurice’s commercial and clinical skills will help InSightec achieve widespread awareness and commercial adoption of our technology," added CEO Kobi Vortman. "We would also like to convey our appreciation to Tom Gentile, our former chairman, who was recently appointed as president &chief operating officer of GE Capital. Tom led the InSightec board of directors through a critical period during which InSightec received its 2nd FDA PMA approval for the treatment of painful metastatic bone tumors, secured its 1st Chinese FDA approval for treating uterine fibroids, and successfully completed the feasibility study demonstrating the ability to treat essential tremor. Tom will continue as a director which will allow InSightec to benefit from his vast industry and medical knowledge."
"I am thankful for the opportunity to have chaired InSightec’s board of directors during a critical phase of its development. Dr. Ferré is a proven leader who understands the field of image guided non-invasive therapy very well. I am confident he will lead InSightec to achieve its full potential to impact patient outcomes around the world," Gentile said in a statement.
InSightec also said it’s extending a $3.5 million options round through Jan. 30, 2015.
The company has 2 primary technologies, the ExAblate O.R. and ExAblate Neuro, which both leverage the company’s MR-guided ultrasound targeting technology. The ExAblate O.R. won its 1st CE Mark approval in the European Union in 2002 and FDA approval in 2004 to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids. The company expanded its European approvals to pain palliation of bone tumors in 2007 and adenomyosis in 2010, and expanded its U.S. approval to pain palliation of bone metastases in 2012.
ExAblate Neuro won CE Mark in 2012 for treatment of neurological disorders such as essential tremor, Parkinson’s and neuropathic pain, expanding to other painful bone indications in 2013.