A Medical Device Daily

Molecular Vision (London), an emerging developer of quantitative point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices raised £2 million in a funding round that was led by the Imperial Innovations Group (IIG).

IIG has committed £1.5 million, with Acrongenomics, another existing shareholder, also participating in the round. This takes the amount of money raised by Molecular Vision to £3.2 million. IIG investment manager Maina Bhaman will join Molecular Vision's board.

Molecular Vision, which was spun out of Imperial College London, is developing a line of low-cost disposable devices for medical testing that will greatly extend the diagnostic tools available to the general practitioner. By enabling on-the-spot diagnosis, Molecular Vision's technology could reduce the need for patients to make repeat visits, accelerate treatment, free up clinician time and lower treatment costs.

Molecular Vision's patented technology has great potential in other markets including veterinary medicine, forensic science, environmental monitoring and military applications. The company has recently begun a major research collaboration with a global cosmetic company.

"Through this investment, we are now well placed to drive the company forward and bring our technology to market," said Peter Woodford, chairman of Molecular Vision.

Misonix restructures, expands sales

Misonix (Farmingdale, New York), a developer of minimally invasive ultrasonic medical device technology, which in Europe is used for the ablation of tumors and worldwide for other acute health conditions, reported the restructuring and expansion of its sales organization in Europe. Two business units have been created; one for sales and service of the Sonablate 500 high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system and the other for sales and service of the SonaStar ultrasonic surgical aspirator, the BoneScalpel ultrasonic bone cutting system and the SonicOne ultrasonic wound cleansing and debridement system.

The new Misonix HIFU Technologies business unit, which will be headed by industry veteran Nick Stevens, will focus on a "fee for use" business model that will feature a combination of mobile services delivered directly to hospitals and "centers of excellence" to which qualified patients can be referred. The company's UKHIFU and Misonix France business units, which were created to support the "fee for service" business model, will be integrated into Misonix HIFU Technologies and will be overseen by the same management team.

Misonix EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will continue to sell and service the company's non-HIFU product platforms through a growing network of specialty distributors and will continue to be managed by Patrick Kyne, who has more than 20 years of experience with sales organizations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The company has more than 10 specialty distributors trained and operational with plans to rapidly expand the sales organization.

"We are confident that the separation of the European sales organization into two units will provide the market focus necessary to gain market share and grow revenues in key geographic locations," said Michael McManus, Jr., president/CEO of Misonix. "Both sales groups are staffed by seasoned, successful sales professionals dedicated to building customer awareness and brand equity for Misonix. We believe these sales teams will also provide us with the capability to effectively sell other Misonix labeled products to clinical customers in the years to come."

Cardiola places m.pulse in 10 hospitals

Cardiola (Winterthur, Switzerland) reported that it has placed its patented m.pulse system in 10 hospitals located in Germany and Switzerland, on the heels of the system's CE mark approval. MCP was previously only available in a clinical setting.

"We are extremely pleased with our headway in penetrating the European market with our breakthrough m.pulse system, based on Muscular CounterPulsation or MCP, for the non-surgical treatment of coronary artery disease. Certainly, it is well-documented clinically that MCP-the proprietary technology platform of our patented m.pulse device-is a safe and effective therapy designed to improve the hemodynamic function of a failing heart," said Christof Lenz, Cardiola's CEO.

The m.pulse is approved in Europe for treating chronic heart failure (CHF) as a non-surgical, at-home therapy. CHF is among the world's most prevalent diseases and the cause of numerous other serious clinical disorders. About 17 million people currently suffer from CHF in Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Some six million of these patients are classified as NYHA (New York Heart Association) classes II and III with systolic dysfunction, the primary patient population for the system.