A Medical Device Daily

ProCure Treatment Centers (Bloomington, Indiana/Oklahoma City), a developer of cancer treatment centers across the U.S. to deliver proton radiotherapy, reported receiving a $35 million equity investment from McClendon Venture Company (MVC; Oklahoma City) and related individuals, including Shannon Self and John Frick. MVC is owned by Aubrey McClendon, co-founder, CEO and chairman of Chesapeake Energy.

ProCure said the funding will support development and operation of a network of proton therapy cancer centers. It said that closing of the equity round occurred less than five weeks after the unveiling of plans to construct its first four-room, 55,000 square foot treatment center in Oklahoma City.

Hadley Ford, CEO of ProCure, said the financing “provides the capital necessary to accelerate the execution of our business plan, specifically for building, equipping and staffing our initial treatment centers as well as building a unique specialized proton therapy training center to support our planned national network.”

McClendon said, “I am pleased to participate in ProCure’s mission to make proton therapy affordable and accessible ... . This technology has shown remarkable success in effectively treating many forms of cancer, including brain and spinal tumors, as well as breast and prostate cancer.”

In addition to the financing provided by MVC and its associates, ProCure has partnered with Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates (both Oklahoma City), two private practices developing proton therapy.

Ford said, “The partnership we have forged in Oklahoma City with the two leading radiation oncology practices represents the execution of this strategy.” Ford reported the company is in various stages of discussion with several potential clinical partners in multiple cities.

Pioneer Surgical Technology (Marquette, Michigan), a manufacturer of spinal and orthopedic implants, reported closing a $30.5 million private placement. Pharos Capital Group led the syndicate of investors and was joined by Highlander Partners, Hopewell Ventures, and River Cities Capital Funds.

Pioneer said the funds will be used to support an investigation device exemption study of its NUBAC Intradiscal Device, distribution expansion and project development, including, it said, “motion preservation devices, biologics, and minimally invasive surgical approaches.”

Pioneer said it recently began implanting NUBAC, an “intradiscal arthroplasty device utilizing articulating PEEK-on-PEEK material,” as part of its IDE study. The device is designed to preserve most of the annular tissue while being less invasive than total disc replacement and fusion.

“The depth and breadth of expertise gained from our venture capital syndicate partners creates tremendous synergies that, along with the new capital, will propel Pioneer to a new frontier in the spinal medical device marketplace,” said Matthew Songer, MD, president/CEO of Pioneer.

In other financing activity:

• Mediscience Technology (MDT; Cherry Hill, New Jersey) reported hiring investment banking firm Empire Financial Group to raise $2 million in bridge financing through a private placement on a “best efforts” basis. The agreement includes investor conversion rights to participate in a prospective initial public offering, to be lead by Empire, expected to raise not less than $5 million and as much as $10 million, MDT said.

The goal of the funding is, together with Infotonics (Canandaigua, New York), to create an “ingestible photonic pill” enabling physicians to detect early-stage cancer of the complete auto-digestive tract.

David Smith, CEO of Infotonics, said, “With this bridge funding investment, Infotonics is forming a high-performance commercialization program team to transfer the photonic pill technology from research to market ... . Infotonics will provide incubation office and lab space in our Center for Mediscience’s subsidiary, NEWCO, to help accelerate the commercialization schedule and is assisting NEWCO with top talent for its management team.”

Ed Cabrera, head of investment banking, Empire Financial Grouop, said, “We believe [the two companies’] patented technologies and expertise, properly nurtured and matured, could experience rapid acceptance and revenue growth in their respective substantial target market. We are moving quickly to finance Mediscience’s NEWCO subsidiary, evidenced by our current private placement offering of securities. After closing, which we anticipate within 30 to 45 days, we will begin plans for the IPO.”

Infotonics is a not-for-profit corporation that operates New York State’s Center of Excellence in Photonics and Microsystems . Its founding participants include Corning , Eastman Kodak and Xerox .

MDT develops devices that detect cancer and physiological change using frequencies of light that are emitted, scattered and absorbed to distinguish malignant, precancerous or benign tissues. Its technology combines the advantages of real-time results with enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.