Orasi Medical Inc., a University of Minnesota-bred software startup, has raised $1.8 million from the sale of equity, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Overall, the company hopes to raise $2.6 million by December.
CEO Shawn Lyndon declined to comment, citing SEC rules that prohibit public comments on fundraising activities.
The company, which generates less than $1 million a year in revenue, is developing software designed to help pharmaceuticals makers speed the development of drugs targeting neurological diseases, like Alzheimer’s.
Orasi has developed technology that can help drug makers determine if their therapies are working by comparing brain scans of patients with neurological diseases to its image database of people with normal brain activity.
Orasi says it owns the largest commercial database of magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans and is the only provider of MEG biomarkers — the genetic clues scientists use to identify diseases. Drug companies can use the database to determine whether or not to pursue a therapy rather than spend billions of dollars on a drug that has a high likelihood of failure.
The company is feeling good these days. Orasi recently signed licensing deals with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG and Danish drugmaker H. Lundbeck A/S. The startup also received a $245,000 grant from the federal Qualified Therapeutic Discovery program.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Orasi considers Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., which makes molecular imaging agents for diagnosing and monitoring diseases like Alzheimer’s, one of its closest competitors. Last week, Eli Lilly & Co. said it will pay up to $800 million to acquire Avid, including a $300 million upfront payment and $500 million milestone payments.
