Monteris Medical raises $7m for NeuroBlate

Monteris Medical raised nearly $7 million of a hoped-for $10 million debt-and-options round for the NeuroBlate neurosurgery device it’s developing.

Plymouth, Minn.-based Monteris last month won FDA approval for an investigational device exemption trial of NeuroBlate in patients newly diagnosed with a form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme. The MRI-guided device is designed to ablate, necrotize or coagulate soft tissue during neurosurgery procedures using laser thermotherapy.

A pair of unnamed investors participated in the $6.8 million round, according to a Nov. 18 regulatory filing.

Monteris has said it expects to launch the 12-month IDE study for GBM during the 4th quarter, with enrollment slated for 5 sites in the U.S., evaluating the system in combination with standard-of-care radiation and chemotherapy. In April the company won another IDE from the FDA for a 45-patient study of the device in treating refractory epilepsy.

A year ago a pair of new backers joined a $30 million Series B round for Monteris. NeuroBlate won 510(k) clearance from the FDA and a nod from Health Canada in April 2013.