NORTHRIDGE, CA-- Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc. (“GMI”), a leading developer of digital molecular imaging systems, announced today that it had closed a $24 million financing, the company’s first institutional round, in order to support continued growth of the company’s proprietary digital SPECT, PET and CT technologies in current and new markets. The financing was comprised of $14 million in equity capital, $5 million in mezzanine debt, and a $5 million revolving line of credit. Psilos Group, a leading healthcare venture capital firm, led the equity round. Capital Resource Partners, a leading provider of hybrid growth financing solutions, participated alongside Psilos in the equity round and provided mezzanine debt. The technology lending group at Bridge Bank (NASDAQ:BBNK - News) rounded out the financing with a revolving line of credit.
GMI has historically served the pre-clinical imaging market, where the need for increased productivity is driving demand for medical research and drug discovery applications. Today, GMI’s groundbreaking, fully digital small animal imaging products are distributed exclusively by GE Healthcare globally and in Japan by SII NanoTechnology, a Seiko company. With this financing, GMI will leverage its digital imaging technology platform into clinical imaging markets where it believes their systems can lead to improved diagnosis at a lower cost when compared to other modalities. GMI’s initial product, LumaGEM, is focused on significantly improving the diagnosis of cancers in women with dense breast tissue. An estimated 30% of women have dense breasts, where mammography and other screening techniques are either insufficient or very expensive. GMI will sell its products directly in the clinical imaging market.
“We are ready today to demonstrate the strength of the technology platform with our product that we expect will have a huge impact in improving breast cancer diagnosis. We are now aggressively marketing our FDA cleared LumaGEM product for molecular breast imaging,” said Dr. Bradley E Patt, Ph.D., GMI’s co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, adding “The knowledge and expertise that Psilos and CRP bring to the company in healthcare, medical instrumentation and women’s health will add tremendous value as we penetrate the clinical market.”
“LumaGEM has the ability to diagnose breast cancers with accuracy rivaling that of MRI but at one-third the cost,” said David Eichler, Managing Member of Psilos Group. “This is exactly the type of opportunity that Psilos believes is best positioned for success in the new healthcare economy, where it is essential to find ways of delivering improved quality of patient care at a lower cost to the healthcare system. GMI is a great fit with our investment strategy and has a proven track record of success and growth. We are delighted to become a part of the GMI team.”
Nick Scola, Partner with Capital Resource Partners, added, “We believe in GMI’s technology and its potential for improved detection of breast cancer, as well as in other clinical markets. GMI is a pioneer in multi-modality digital molecular imaging equipment, and we believe that this technology can dramatically improve patient outcomes.”
ECA Securities, LLC, the broker-dealer subsidiary of Europlay Capital Advisors, LLC acted as financial advisor to the Company, and The DiBari Group acted as placement agent for the senior and mezzanine debt.
About Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc.
Gamma Medica-Ideas (GMI) designs, builds and services imaging systems based on novel technologies to improve patient health through early diagnosis of disease, improved patient treatment and by enabling new drug discovery. GMI is dedicated to leading medical imaging into a new digital era with its unique sensor readout systems. The company’s core digital imaging technologies also hold great promise for a new class of solutions for the safety and security markets. In the pre-clinical space, GMI’s FLEX Triumph(TM) imaging platform is marketed for medical research and drug development. The FLEX Triumph system combines PET (LabPET(TM)), SPECT (X-SPECT?) and CT (X-O(TM)) modalities in the world’s first tri-modality system. In the clinical space, GMI offers LumaGEM?, its dual-headed Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) based system for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. The digital gamma ray imaging technology in LumaGEM offers significant advances in resolution and contrast which has allowed for identification of millimeter sized breast cancers missed by mammography, especially in women with dense breast tissue. Visit www.gm-ideas.com.
About Psilos Group:
Psilos Group has been a successful healthcare venture capital firm since its founding in 1998. With more than $570 million under management, Psilos focuses its investments across the healthcare services, healthcare information technology, and medical technology sectors. Psilos invests nationwide in businesses that are poised to create enduring market value by fundamentally improving the U.S. healthcare system. Its portfolio companies have a demonstrated ability to reduce the costs of healthcare delivery, improve clinical quality, and advance the alignment of payer, patient, and provider incentives. Psilos has offices in New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit Psilos Group at www.psilos.com.
About Capital Resource Partners:
Founded in 1987, Capital Resource Partners (CRP) is an experienced provider of hybrid debt and equity financing solutions to the lower middle market. CRP invests exclusively in growth-oriented companies with proven business models and strong management. Though CRP invests across a number of industry verticals, the firm maintains a substantial focus on healthcare services and medical technology. With its investment in GMI, the firm has continued to leverage its experience within the diagnostic imaging sub-sector following previous investments in Solis Women’s Health, the leading independent provider of diagnostic breast care in the U.S., and Dynamic Imaging, a developer of proprietary Web-based PACS software technology. For additional information on CRP please visit www.crp.com.
About Bridge Bank
Bridge Bank, N.A. is Silicon Valley’s full-service professional business bank. The Bank is dedicated to meeting the financial needs of small, middle-market, and emerging technology businesses. Bridge Bank provides its clients with a comprehensive package of business banking solutions delivered through experienced, professional bankers. Visit Bridge Bank on the web at www.bridgebank.com.
Contact: Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc. Bradley E. Patt, Ph.D. 818-709-2468 Email Contact Psilos Group David Eichler 212-242-8844 Email Contact
