MRI surgery devices maker launches IPO following name-change

MRI Interventions (OTC:MRIC), a company developing minimally invasive neurosurgery systems, launched an initial public offering with shares at $1 apiece.

The Memphis-based company’s flagship ClearPoint technology allows patients to undergo surgery during MRI scanning, using the images to target areas of the brain for surgery.

The ClearPoint system includes durable equipment, such as a workstation monitor and patient fixation frame, as well as single-use instruments, and the device is already in use in 15 hospitals nationwide, the Memphis Business Journal reported.

The device maker was known as SurgiVision until just a couple of weeks ago when it announced its new moniker and re-launched its website, according to a press release.

"ClearPoint systems are installed at a growing number of hospitals, including many of the leading neurosurgical centers in the country," CEO Kimble Jenkins wrote in a recent note to stockholders. "We are making progress outside the US as well. At the end of last year, we completed our 1st installation in Europe and expect to open additional ClearPoint sites in Europe over the coming quarters."

Surgeons have used the ClearPoint system in treatment for a range of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, pediatric dystonia, brain tumors, epilepsy and Tourette’s syndrome, Jenkins added.

MRI Interventions last month won FDA clearance for its SmartFlow neuro ventricular cannula, an MRI-compatible injection and aspiration cannula for use in the brain, according to a press release.

MRIC shares were down 1% to 98¢ as of about 9:30 a.m. today.

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Funding Roundup

Analysts’ ups and downs

Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG): J.P. Morgan raises price target from $500 to $570, maintains neutral price target
Stryker (NYSE:SYK): Zacks maintains "neutral" rating