CivaTech Oncology Raises $800,000
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.–CivaTech Oncology, Inc., an early stage company developing a novel medical device for the treatment of prostate cancer, has raised $800,000 in an oversubscribed private financing. The Company was founded in 2006 by Robert and Claudia Black (two of the founders of Sicel Technologies) and Suzanne Babcock (former VP of Troxler Electronics) and is headquartered in the Park Research Center in RTP.
The product focus is on low-dose-rate brachytherapy, a type of radiation treatment for cancer utilizing implanted radioactive sources to kill tumor cells. At present, this type of brachytherapy is used predominantly for prostate cancer and makes use of so-called “seeds,” which are implanted in a minimally invasive surgical procedure. CivaTech Oncology’s new device is more akin to a “radioactive string” that will replace the individual seeds and should provide more uniform and consistent radiation delivery to patients. Brachytherapy has been shown to be as effective as surgery and external beam radiation therapy in studies of long-term patient survival.
The immediate goal of the Company is to gather the data needed for FDA clearance of its first product. At this stage of development, the Company is maintaining a small headcount and making use of experienced consultants like Dr. Jeff Leung (Medvizon Consulting; former VP of Quill Medical) to nail down key prototyping and testing milestones. The Company has established strong proprietary protection with an issued U.S. patent and pending applications based on recent work.
Commenting on the growth in consulting and other services for medical device companies in the region, Dr. Black notes: “The Triangle is poised to ‘get on the map’ as a center for medical device excellence. Starting and growing a medical device company is less of an exception than it was 10 years ago. I am personally thrilled to see the momentum of new firms that complement the historical strength of software and biotech startups in our region.”
