TMS closes final tranche of Series E Preferred Financing to a total of $6 million

Oct 1 2009

TechniScan Medical Systems (TMS) Inc., a Salt Lake City-based developer of ultrasound technology for breast imaging, announced the close of the final tranche of their Series E Preferred Financing of $1.1 million, bringing the total raised in the Series E financing to just over $6 million.

“The timing of this funding speaks to the promise of our new technology,” said TechniScan CEO David C. Robinson. “The worldwide economic crisis has all but dried up the funds available for early stage companies, our investors feel very strongly that TechniScan’s 3-dimensional Warm Bath Ultrasound has the potential to create a wholesale change in the way breast disease is diagnosed and treated.”

"This funding is an important step for us to complete clinical evaluations of our product now beginning at the University of California San Diego and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,” said TMS Director of Clinical Affairs, Karleen Callahan, Ph.D. “This latest series of clinical evaluations will be the largest TechniScan has conducted to date and will be an important step in evaluating the clinical utility of our automated breast ultrasound system. These studies are especially important given recent press about the enhanced value of automated whole breast ultrasound when used in conjunction with mammography.”

TechniScan’s imaging system, named Svara™, after the Hindu Goddess of Sound, surrounds the breast in a warm bath of water, which allows ultrasound transducers to transmit sound waves into and through the breast, capturing 3-dimensional images of the interior of the breast. The 3-D images potentially give the medical practitioner a clearer sense of the volume and shape of tumors or other abnormalities found in the breast, making it easier to identify structures that may show signs of malignancy.

Approximately half of the $6M investment in Series E came from The Esaote Group (www.esaote.com), an international leader in medical imaging and diagnostic technologies. As a part of this investment, TMS and Esaote executed an Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) agreement, which has allowed TMS to incorporate Esaote's products and technologies in the products developed by TMS, while the TMS technology will be used in future Esaote ultrasound systems. Furthermore, the Companies have executed an exclusive distribution agreement for the European market and a commercial cooperation for the American market.

TMS has raised more than $24 million in equity financing and $5 million in federal grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), bringing the total raised to approximately $30 million.

TMS is a private company that grew out of the University of Utah, Department of Bioengineering. TMS has developed their technology with the support of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Centers for Excellence Program in Utah, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Information concerning TMS and its products is available at www.techniscanmedical.com. The TMS Warm Bath Ultrasound imaging device (Svara™) is limited by US law to investigational use until cleared by the FDA.