XLumena Spots $6M For Ultrasound Devices
Mountain view
CA, June 4, 2008
XLumena Inc., a developer of ultrasound-guided endosurgical devices, has closed a $6.15 million Series A to introduce a series of devices for interventional endoscopists.
Prism VentureWorks led the round, which
closed on May 16, with participation from Ascent Biomedical
Ventures and Charter Life Sciences, said Chief Executive Michael
P. Allen. XLumena's valuation is undisclosed.
XLumena, based in Mountain View, Calif.,
was founded in July 2007 by Kenneth F. Binmoeller, medical
director of interventional endoscopy service at California
Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Binmoeller is XLumena's
chief medical officer. Allen joined the company last year,
having previously been founder and CEO of Metrika Inc., a venture-backed
company in Sunnyvale, Calif., that manufactured and marketed
the A1CNow+(R), a meter-based diabetes-monitoring system. Metrika
raised venture capital from Sutter Hill Ventures, Three Arch
Partners and others before being acquired for an undisclosed
amount by Bayer HealthCare LLC in July 2006.
XLumena is developing technology to enable
physicians to use endoscopic ultrasound to see organs around
the gastrointestinal tract. This will enable them to perform
surgical procedures on neighboring organs from within the GI
lumen. These procedures will be faster, less invasive and safer
for patients than conventional surgical techniques. "You end up with a simple, safe and effective procedure," Allen said.
Allen declined to specify the initial procedures
for which XLumena's technology would likely be used, but he
said the company over the next couple of year s will introduce
about half a dozen devices. Though gastroenterologists will
likely be the company's first target audience, in the future
surgeons may also become buyers of XLumena's devices, Allen
said.
The gastroenterology field initially centered
on diagnostic procedures and biopsies, but over time, gastroenterologists
have become more involved in therapeutic treatments as well.
XLumena's devices could further enable their progression toward
therapeutic procedures. "We're going to make their capabilities greater," Allen said.
Allen said he is not aware of any venture-backed
start-ups that are direct competitors in the emerging field
of translumenal endoscopic ultrasound therapy.
Anthony Natale, venture partner of Prism,
A. Barr Dolan, managing partner of Charter, and Arthur Tinkelenberg,
a partner of Ascent, have joined the board of XLumena, which
has three full-time employees.
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