ViewRay goes public via reverse merger, raises almost $77M since IPO cancellation

The MRIdian System--Courtesy of ViewRay

The maker of the first MRI-guided radiation cancer therapy system, ViewRay ($VRAY), has raised more cash since it cancelled a planned $52 million IPO in April than it expected to raise in that offering. It's raised a total of $76.7 million--$26.7 million of that in connection with a reverse merger that it just completed on July 23 and another $50 million in debt from royalty investor CRG in late June.

With a reverse merger into a similarly named shell company, ViewRay will trade on the OTC Markets. At the same time as that deal, it executed a private placement of 5.3 million shares to raise the cash. Investors included several of the company's venture capital backers; among them were Aisling Capital, Fidelity, Kearny Venture Partners, Montrose Capital, OrbiMed and Xeraya Capital.

"ViewRay's arrival on the public market and the associated financing in connection with the recent CRG debt funding enable us to expand commercially and drive toward profitability," said the company's President and CEO Chris Raanes in a statement.

"Clinical usage of MRIdian has already demonstrated an exciting new way of visualizing and personalizing radiation therapy through the use of real-time MRI-guidance," he said, adding. "Our goal to make MRI-guided radiation therapy a standard of care for cancer patients around the world."

ViewRay markets MRIdian--the first and only MRI-guided radiation therapy system that images and treats cancer patients at the same time, according to the company. It uses magnetic resonance imaging to differentiate between different types of soft tissue. It then delivers radiation treatment to the tumor, delivering less radiation to the surrounding healthy tissue than traditional radiation treatments.

The system can be used in more than 20 different tumor types, in some of which radiation therapy previously was not an option. MRIdian was cleared by the FDA in May 2012 and received a CE mark in November 2014. But it's had only $5.9 million in revenues for the 9 months ending Sept. 30 with an operating loss of $20.4 million during that period.

The MRIdian system is expected to improve tumor visibility and targeting, enable surgeons to adapt during a procedure as well as record and evaluate the delivered dose. All this could lead to better patient outcomes and reduced side effects from off-target radiation delivery.

- here is the release