A group of ProUroCare Medical investors have upped their anti, loaning the Eden Prairie medical device startup an additional $885,000.
The company is seeking approval from federal regulators to begin selling an imaging product it believes will help doctors detect and document abnormalities that could be related to prostate cancer.
ProUroCare's
device is inserted into a patient's rectum and applied against the prostate gland. It can then map how the tissue responds to pressure. Abnormal tissue tends to be denser and less elastic and shows up differently on the electronic image generated by the device.
The new financing, which comes from "a small group of existing investors closely aligned with the company," will be used to pay off debt, as well as boost manufacturing and marketing activities, expand the company's intellectual property portfolio and create a scientific advisory board, the company said. It brings the total amount the company has raised since 2007 to more than $9.3 million.
"We are very pleased by the support that we continue to receive from investors for the ProUroScan prostate imaging system and the market opportunities that exist for this technology," CEO Rick Carlson said in a
statement.
The device is not yet for sale in the United States. The company applied for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November. The Star Tribune
reported then that the company's next challenge would be convincing Medicare and private insurers that the scans result in improved medical care.
Source: ProUroCare Medical
Writer:
Dan Haugen