Galvanize Therapeutics today announced a three-way merger and $100 million in funding for its pulsed electric field (PEF) technology.
Life sciences venture capital firm Apple Tree Partners (ATP) created and incubated Galvanize. Initially, three companies — Gala Therapeutics, Galaxy Medical and Galvanize — comprised the incubation. They recently merged into one firm under the Galvanize name.
The company develops the Aliya PEF energy platform. It designed it for the treatment of chronic bronchitis symptoms, cardiac arrhythmias and solid tumors. There is also potential in the drug delivery space.
San Carlos, California-based Galvanize raised $100 million in its Series B financing round. Fidelity Management & Research Company led the funding round with participation from Intuitive Surgical, ATP and Gilmartin Capital.
“We are energized by this vote of confidence from our investors in our technology platform and team as we seek to bring transformative electrosurgical therapies to patients worldwide,” said Dr. Jonathan Waldstreicher, founder and CEO of Galvanize Therapeutics and a partner at ATP.
Waldstreicher noted that Galvanize designed its customizable Aliya energy platform to treat a variety of challenging diseases and that the integration of different products and strategies within Galvanize is an exciting milestone. “We are investing meaningfully to prove safety and demonstrate enhanced outcomes in our initial clinical targets, and we continue to explore additional platform applications.”
More about Galvanize’s PEF energy tech
Galvanize designed Aliya to produce high-voltage, high-frequency electrical current to interfere with cellular function in tissue. Aliya energy is non-thermal, unlike other ablation modalities. Single monopolar electrodes deliver the waveforms to enable more consistent and predictable treatment zones with minimal muscle contraction.
The company is adapting Aliya for multiple applications.
Galvanize, for example, designed its RheOx minimally invasive bronchoscopic therapy to reduce the abnormal mucus-producing cells in the airways of chronic bronchitis patients. It has CE mark approval and breakthrough device designation from the FDA.
Galvanize designed its Centauri system to disrupt aberrant electrical signals in the heart that cause cardiac arrhythmias, such as AFib. It also has CE mark.
Aliya recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for soft tissue ablation. It is also being studied for treating solid tumors, while the company is developing a system for local delivery of therapeutic agents.
“ATP makes investments to translate incredible science into treatments that can transform lives, and I believe the Galvanize PEF energy platform exemplifies the remarkable breakthroughs we can accomplish with our singular investment and incubation model,” said Dr. Seth Harrison ATP’s founder and managing partner. “ATP invested over a period of years to build an adaptable therapeutic device platform capable of addressing some of the most intractable medical problems that have not been solved yet by drugs, and it is gratifying to see the vision being realized.
“The Galvanize team has developed ingenious solutions for patients and their doctors that they are now delivering to healthcare systems every day.”
