A Medical Device Daily

Mirabilis Medica (Seattle), a privately held medical device company, reported the initial closing of a $4 million Series A financing that it said it will use to complete development, testing and introduction of its image-guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) system for treatment of gynecological diseases.

The financing was co-led by Charter Life Sciences (Palo Alto, California) and vSpring Capital (Salt Lake City).

Mirabilis describes its mission as the development of non-invasive alternatives to invasive surgery. The company's technology combines the application of therapeutic ultrasound HIFU under the guidance of conventional (diagnostic) ultrasound imaging. The technology is designed to allow the physician to target and destroy pathological tissue deep within the body without cutting, puncturing or damaging normal tissue, and while carefully monitoring effects with real-time imaging.

It says that this ability to simultaneously see and non-invasively treat could facilitate office-based therapy for a wide variety of conditions. But it says its initial focus is uterine fibroids.

It cites figures from the Department of Health and Human Services that 75% of women develop such tumors prior to menopause, although many remain asymptomatic or undiagnosed. Currently about 30% of women aged 25 to 45 have been diagnosed with fibroids, leading 7% of women in this age group to eventually seek hysterectomy.

It also cites figures putting annual U.S. spending on fibroids at $3.5 billion. “Transabdominal application of HIFU under MRI guidance is another new alternative, but the procedure is extremely expensive and time-consuming, and not typically covered by insurance,” according to the company.

CEO Michael Lau, MD, said that the company's technology “is designed to allow fibroid sufferers to be treated by their own physician in the office in about 30 minutes, and resume normal activities in just a few days.”

Nelson Teng, MD, PhD, managing director of Charter Life Sciences, said that Mirabilis “is applying truly innovative technology to offer the first effective non-invasive treatment for fibroids.”

Mirabilis was founded in 2004 by Michael Lau, MD, Alexander Lebedev and Shahram Vaezy, PhD. Vaezy was the lead inventor of the company's patented technology, which was initially developed at University of Washington and exclusively licensed to Mirabilis.

In other financing news:

• StemCells (Palo Alto, California) reported that it has entered into a license agreement with Stem Cell Therapeutics (SCT; Calgary, Alberta), a biotechnology company engaged in treating certain central nervous system (CNS) disorders by stimulating endogenous neural stem cells.

SCT will pay StemCells up-front and license maintenance fees, the amounts not disclosed, as well as potential milestones and royalties.

The agreement also provides StemCells with access to SCT's intellectual property portfolio for use in drug discovery, screening and testing, and therapeutic use of cellular compositions. StemCells will pay SCT a “commercially reasonable royalty to be negotiated in good faith” on products developed under the license.

“This is a mutually advantageous deal that we believe advances the adult neural stem cell field as a whole. The rights we have licensed from StemCells further solidify and strengthen our intellectual property position, and the agreement allows StemCells to use our intellectual property through approaches we are not currently pursuing in our own programs,” said Joseph Tucker, PhD, president/
CEO of Stem Cell Therapeutics. “

“Stem Cell Therapeutics is focused on a drug-based approach to treating disease, while StemCells is developing cell-based therapeutic approaches using adult stem cells. I believe that this agreement should help both companies achieve their ultimate goals of bringing effective stem cell therapies to the patients who need them,” he added.

• Kinetic Concepts (San Antonio, Texas) reported that its board has authorized an investment of up to $200 million for the repurchase of its common stock as part of a new buyback program through 3Q07.

Dennert Ware, KCI's president/CEO, said, “The strength of our financial position enables us to simultaneously execute this program while retaining significant flexibility to increase investment in research and development and to address potential acquisition opportunities.”

KCI specializes in the development of advanced wound care and therapeutic surfaces. It flagship system is the V.A.C. technology.