Massachusetts' Mevion Medical has hauled in another $55 million to help commercialize its proton-therapy system for cancer, a device the company touts as smaller and more reliable than its competitors.
The cash is made up of equity investments from existing backers including Caxton Health and Life Sciences and ProQuest Investments, plus debt financing provided by Life Sciences Alternative Funding. The $55 million comes on the heels of Mevion's $45 million round early last year, money that helped the company pick up FDA clearance in June 2012.
Now, with cash and clearance in hand, Mevion plans to expand the marketing effort behind its S250 Proton Therapy System, which delivers a highly targeted treatment for tumors and lesions while sparing nearby healthy tissues, the company said. Mevion's device is more precise than X-ray treatments and more compact than other proton therapies, according to the company, and S250 is the only single-room device of its kind cleared by the FDA.
"Mevion was founded to provide cancer centers and patients around the world with cutting-edge proton therapy technology on a scale, size and cost that is accessible and practical for today's healthcare landscape," CEO Joseph Jachinowski said in a statement. "These additional funds will support the growth of our business operations in the U.S. and internationally."
So far, Mevion has installed the device at one medical center in St. Louis, with 5 centers undergoing installation and construction and more than a dozen in the planning stage, the company said. Now, with $55 million in hand, the company can amp up its sales heft and work to get the technology in more centers around the world.
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