Genetesis, a Cincinnati-based clinical decision support business that developed a 3D mapping tool to help clinicians spot underlying cardiac disorders earlier, has closed a $7.5 million Series A round, according to a news release. The new funding is intended, in part, to pave the way for a commercial launch of the technology.
CincyTech led the round and investors from the company’s seed round also took part, including Mark Cuban’s Radical Investments, Ohio Innovation Fund, and Raptor Group. Cuban is also known for being one of the sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.
The company’s device, referred to as CardioFlux, uses a shielded chamber to filter out magnetic sources. The scan takes 60-90 seconds. Algorithms convert the magnetic data into maps that zero in on coronary artery disease, specifically ischemia.
In an interview last year, Genetesis CEO and Co-founder Peeyush Shrivastava said the company’s technology is designed to address a significant public health burden.
“Where our technology fits in is we have a really high negative predictive value,” said Shrivastava, “giving physicians the ability to rule out cardiac-origin chest pain, very quickly, without any invasiveness.”
Looking ahead, Shrivastava said the funding would also be used for building more CardioFlux systems and launch new clinical trials.
Several companies are developing innovative approaches to ruling out cardiac events in noninvasive ways. Analytics 4 Life in Toronto is one example. It developed a device that uses algorithms to interpret electrical signals from the heart and convert them into images to help clinicians detect cardiovascular damage. It began a two-stage clinical trial at 13 sites in the U.S. for the device last year. The study, which had enrolled more than 2,000 patients as of September, is intended to measure the performance of an algorithm for CAD detection to gold-standard cardiac catheterization results.
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.
HeartFlow developed a way to create personalized 3D models of patients’ arteries to help physicians assess whether they have significant coronary artery disease. Last year it entered into a collaboration agreement with Philips. Earlier this year HeartFlow inked a licensing and technology transfer agreement with Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles for AutoPlaque technology to detect and characterize coronary artery plaque aided by coronary computed tomography angiography images.
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